Dog homeowners allege neglect at Wag Hotels

The Chronicle additionally spoke with 29 present and former workers of Wag, lots of whom stated they have been employed regardless of having no expertise in animal care, then supplied with inadequate coaching or no coaching in any respect. Additionally, these employees stated, the amenities are sometimes soiled and understaffed. Legally mandated break durations aren’t at all times supplied, allegations which are mirrored in lawsuits and settlement paperwork reviewed by the Chronicle. 

Many of those present and former workers backed up shoppers’ claims that pets at Wag weren’t correctly fed or medicated, or have been returned reeking of urine and feces. They imagine Wag’s labor practices have contributed to the alleged points that, in some circumstances, left dogs with severe accidents requiring emergency medical remedy.

Brutus, a French bulldog, twice got here home together with his paw pads scraped off after visits in 2020 and 2021 to a Wag in Los Angeles, an damage that required his proprietor to present him every day iodine baths for weeks to cease the canine from vomiting from ache.

Paige, a Labrador retriever, was handled for a flesh-eating illness in 2021 after a weeklong keep at Wag Hotels in Redwood City. Paige’s leg was amputated; her homeowners, Alison and Jeff Wisdom, spent greater than $30,000 on her medical care.

“We consider this to be negligence,” stated Jeff Wisdom. “I love my little dog and seeing her suffer as her foot rots off. That was just a particularly horrible experience for her. And for me and my wife.”

BJ Kalay, Wag’s vp of selling and spokesperson, wouldn’t conform to an interview, and she or he declined the Chronicle’s a number of requests for an interview with CEO David Appel. Neither Appel nor former COO Griggs, who now not works at Wag, agreed to be interviewed when a reporter contacted them immediately.

Nevertheless, the Chronicle despatched Wag leaders an in depth memo outlining the allegations contained on this article. In response, Kalay despatched an emailed assertion during which she didn’t deny the allegations, reply the newspaper’s questions or handle particular circumstances, together with Shadow’s. 

In the assertion, Kalay acknowledged lapses in pet care at Wag that she attributed to navigating the coronavirus pandemic. She stated these points made up a small fraction of shoppers’ experiences at Wag, citing an inner survey displaying that the overwhelming majority of pet mother and father have been proud of the care their animals obtained throughout recent stays. The firm has dedicated to creating enhancements, Kalay stated, creating further senior employees positions to give attention to security and coaching.

“From our inception, we have been on a mission to provide the highest level of care and service in a clean, safe and hygienic facility designed specifically for dogs and cats,” Kalay stated. “We care deeply about pet care requirements, and have championed California laws to lift requirements regarding the care and boarding of pets.

“That said,” Kalay continued, “we want to be transparent in acknowledging that, during COVID, there were cases where the care we provided fell short.”

Last yr, a former worker sued Wag in a putative class motion, alleging labor violations together with failure to pay minimal wages and time beyond regulation, and failure to present employees correct meal or relaxation breaks. The firm settled for $730,000 whereas denying wrongdoing, Sacramento County Superior Court information present.

Several present and former workers, together with some who held senior management positions, instructed the Chronicle that they have been so overworked that they incessantly gave pets their meals or medicines late or missed them altogether. 

“We were told by our general manager to lie to the owners’ faces,” stated Hilary Fitzpatrick, a former shift supervisor at Wag’s business in Oakland. “This was especially common for if an animal got hurt, so we wouldn’t be liable.” 

Signs present in public areas all through Wag amenities state that the employees is skilled in pet CPR. No present or former workers interviewed stated they’d obtained pet CPR coaching from Wag. 

Kalay didn’t reply particular questions from the Chronicle about these allegations in her assertion to the newspaper, however stated the rebounding of journey two years into the pandemic compromised Wag’s means to rent and prepare workers.

“In late 2021, to accommodate the growing needs of our guests as work and travel began to return to near-normal patterns, we hired and trained a variety of new associates. As with other service companies, we experienced bumps in the road along that journey,” Kalay stated.

In October 2022, the Wag spokesperson related the Chronicle with two shoppers who she stated had optimistic experiences. Both stated they have been proud of their pets’ care at Wag.

James Hyland stated he has taken his 4 dogs to Wag’s location in Hollywood dozens of instances for in a single day stays. He described the check-in course of as he rushes to and from the airport as “seamless.”

“They have a computer system that has all your information on file in terms of when my dogs eat, any medication, you know, everything,” stated Hyland, who lives in Sherman Oaks (Los Angeles County).

Julie Jeremy stated she takes her golden retriever, Bandit, to the San Francisco facility, the place she stated workers engaged with Bandit and different dogs throughout a straightforward drop-off course of.

Jeremy stated she was unconcerned about allegations that pets have come home from Wag lined in waste. “Bandit will go to a dog park and roll in some crap and (I’ll) say, ‘Oh, man, Bandit, now I have to wash you,’ ” she stated. “Then, you know, you go to Wag and the dog is playing and it rolls into another dog’s throwup. That happens right? It’s a dog thing.”

When Susan Sanchez smelled her canine Shadow’s rotting flesh in July 2022, she turned incensed. She had instructed Wag employees to place her canine within the again brace solely throughout playtime with different pups, she stated, but it surely was clear the brace had stayed on all week. Three workers who have been working on the San Francisco location on the time instructed the Chronicle they’d by no means eliminated Shadow’s brace and didn’t see or hear that anybody else had.

Carlos Funes, a former worker at Wag San Francisco, was on shift when Sanchez first noticed Shadow’s accidents. He grabbed a towel to assist cowl the open wounds. 

“We were trying to calm (Sanchez) down. She was pretty frantic. I don’t blame her at all for reacting the way she did. That’s her dog,” stated Funes, who stated he was additionally shocked by the severity of the accidents. 

At Sanchez’s request, Wag paid greater than $3,000 to cowl medical care required for Shadow, together with in a single day emergency veterinary care, in line with medical information, emails and textual content messages.

But Sanchez stated the money doesn’t make up for her canine’s remedy at Wag, which she described as “absolute neglect and negligence.” 

“Assume the worst,” she stated, “and don’t bring your pet here if you care for your dog at all.”

‘The most grotesque thing I’ve ever seen’

Since launching practically 20 years in the past, Wag has opened 4 places within the Bay Area — San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Clara and Redwood City — and 4 in Southern California. The amenities are marketed like accommodations, with shoppers buying kennel choices known as “rooms and suites” and paying for upgrades equivalent to treats and grooming providers.

Wag was based by “pet lovers who couldn’t find a suitable place to leave their pets during business trips,” the corporate’s web site reads. “What started as a personal quest has grown into the ultimate boarding and daycare resort for dogs and cats. We provide the highest level of service … to delight pets and their parents.”

Pet homeowners pays for a canine boarding “suite” possibility that prices $128 to $160 if they need entry to a 24-hour digital camera feed to look at their pets of their kennels or rooms. Additionally, there are cameras in group day care rooms, known as “All Day Play,” the place dogs are separated by dimension. These feeds can be found without spending a dime on Wag’s web site.

Clients who spoke to the Chronicle stated they have been inclined to belief Wag with their pets due to its luxury-experience branding and the cameras, which appeared to vow transparency.

Instead, lots of them stated, their dogs got here home filthy, injured or traumatized.

The Chronicle started talking with workers and shoppers of Wag after Nguyen posted her video on Aug. 8, 2022, saying she had picked up Miso in a “horrifying state.” Nguyen stated Miso was panting and frantically pacing. The goldendoodle’s legs and abdomen have been lined in urine in photographs she shared with the newspaper. 

Nguyen had bought a set for Miso on the San Francisco facility that was supposed to return with a 24/7 video feed. In her TikTookay, Nguyen stated she didn’t obtain an entry hyperlink for the feed till two days after she had dropped off Miso, although she requested it a number of instances over the telephone. When she requested Wag employees about Miso’s situation when she picked him up, Nguyen stated she was instructed he had been “having too much fun in all-day play.”

“I never use my social media like this, but if you’re a dog or cat owner in California who’s thinking about using Wag Hotels, stay far, far, far away,” stated Nguyen in her video. In a separate video, she stated a lawyer representing Wag Hotels had known as her to supply a complimentary grooming. 

“When I told him Miso would never be stepping into a Wag Hotels ever again, a cease-and-desist letter was mentioned,” she stated, although she didn’t obtain one. 

In a second viral video, TikTookay consumer Priscilla Chan stated that her goldendoodle, Cobie, was not fed usually on the similar Mission District facility and was returned soiled, smelling like urine. “The playgroups are so oversubscribed, they’re so crowded, that it’s almost like, you know, those fishes that are in fish tanks where they can barely swim by each other,” Chan stated. “The dogs barely have space to move around. It’s honestly unethical.”

But “the worst part of the whole experience,” Chan stated, is that “they do not feed your dog.” She had entry to the video feed she paid for, she stated, and watched Cobie cry for hours for meals.

Cobie stayed for 2 nights and was fed round 9:15 p.m. on the primary night time, over two hours previous the feeding time that Chan had requested. Chan stated she known as 4 instances, getting no reply, and despatched an e-mail to the middle expressing her frustration and requesting her pet be fed round 7 p.m. the subsequent day. 

On the second night time, Wag employees fed him at 10:55 p.m., Chan’s screenshots of the stay video present — and solely after Chan directed extra offended voicemails and emails to the middle.

“Cobie is a sweet and quiet dog,” Chan stated in an interview. “Watching him bark and howl on a web camera feed for hours, knowing that he wasn’t fed and not being able to get through to anyone on the Wag Hotels team was the most distressing experience.”  

A Wag consultant instructed Chan that the corporate can not promise particular feeding instances for dogs, however goals for between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Wag instructed Chan that Cobie was given a “complimentary” tub and was not abused or uncared for throughout her boarding.  

In her assertion, Kalay, the Wag spokesperson, didn’t reply to the Chronicle’s particular questions on these circumstances. “Nothing operates perfectly 100% of the time in any business, so while it is true that we’ve had the occasional camera drop WiFi signal or we’ve missed a guest cleanup following fun-filled play group activities, our focus on safety, health, and care remains second to none,” Kalay stated.

Several different former shoppers stated they have been pissed off and alarmed after discovering that their pets won’t have been fed. In May, Mary Ignacio dropped off her Siberian husky at about 11 a.m. for day care at Wag’s location in Oakland. According to Ignacio, she gave the employees a blue bag that contained three luggage of portioned meals. When she returned together with her husband round midnight to choose her canine up, the blue bag was not returned. 

“They look to find it and can’t. They tell us that it’s lost,” Ignacio recalled. Finally, she stated, the bag was discovered — with all three meals luggage untouched.

Ignacio requested for proof that her husky had been fed. “They admitted that whoever worked before them failed to fill the chart out and they had no proof that my dog had been taken care of,” she stated.

A financial institution assertion that Ignacio shared with the Chronicle exhibits she was refunded $103 for her canine’s keep at Wag. But, she stated, “No amount of money will make up for neglecting an animal.”

Kalay didn’t reply to the Chronicle’s questions on Ignacio’s allegations, however stated that former shoppers who spoke to the newspaper characterize “an exceedingly small percentage of the thousands of pet families we serve every year.”

“Our clients trust us with their pets and we do everything we can to maintain that trust by continually enhancing our employee training and our care methodologies as well as by adding new services to the mix,” Kalay stated.

She cited an inner 2023 Wag survey during which, the corporate stated, 93% of three,097 respondents acknowledged that “our guest visits either met or exceeded client expectations for care and service.” Kalay didn’t share further particulars concerning the survey or its methodology with the Chronicle.

In some circumstances, animals left Wag with severe accidents that required emergency medical remedy.

Carter Shults, who works within the leisure business and lives in West Hollywood, introduced his French bulldog, Brutus, to Wag Hotels in Hollywood on Oct. 23, 2020, for what was described as an All Day Play session whereas he labored. When Shults picked his canine up later that day, he stated, Brutus might barely walk.

Carter Shults says his canine, Brutus, skilled broken pads throughout day care at Wag. Left: A element of Brutus’ pad. Right: Brutus lays together with his ft wrapped on Nov. 1, 2020, after leaving day care at Wag with cuts on his ft days earlier. Photos supplied by Carter Shults
Carter Shults says his canine, Brutus, skilled broken pads throughout day care at Wag. Top: a element of Brutus’ pad. Above: Brutus lays together with his ft wrapped on Nov. 1, 2020, after leaving day care at Wag with cuts on his ft days earlier. Photos supplied by Carter Shults

“I get him home. And I can’t even get him out of the car. … All four of his paw pads are hanging off his paws,” Shults stated. “It’s quite literally the most grotesque thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

When Shults requested what had occurred, he stated, a Wag supervisor instructed him employees members had not observed something uncommon. 

Shults spent $358.06 in vet payments, medical information present, and for weeks gave Brutus every day iodine baths, ointments and painkillers; the canine was throwing up resulting from his discomfort. His paws needed to be wrapped for 3 weeks.

Still, Shults stated, he wished to imagine that it was a fluke incident. The subsequent yr, in March 2021, he determined to present Wag Hotels one other attempt. But at pickup, he stated, he was horrified to as soon as once more see Brutus’ paw pads severely injured.

Kalay didn’t reply to questions on Brutus’ alleged accidents at Wag. 

Documents reviewed by the Chronicle present that Wag issued Shults a refund for the March 2021 keep. He has not introduced Brutus again to Wag since.

“It was absolutely psychotic,” Shults stated. “And I never got an answer about it.”

Understaffed and overwhelmed

While shoppers stated they have been stunned by the mistreatment their pets appeared to expertise at Wag, present and former workers stated such neglect was foreseeable. Although they wished to offer excellent care to the animals, these workers stated, they have been understaffed, undertrained and overwhelmed.

Josue Rodriquez, who was a bather at Wag in San Francisco throughout the time Chan, Ngyuen and Sanchez introduced of their dogs, stated he was aware of all three circumstances.

“All three of those situations were very preventable,” Rodriquez stated. “The owners were absolutely justified for being upset. It’s appalling. They are animals and people trust us with them.”

Rodriquez stated that in each shift, at the very least two or three animals can be soiled and lined in excrement from All Day Play or from being of their kennels. Managers would ask him to wash dogs earlier than returning them to their homeowners, who can be instructed their pets had obtained a “complimentary bath.”

Rodriquez stated he stop in September when a regional supervisor added three filth-covered dogs to his schedule, regardless of figuring out he wanted to go away for an internet coding class.

“She ended up saying, ‘Well, there’s three dogs and they’re small dogs. You can get them done. They’re dirty from All Day Play. We don’t want another Miso incident,’ ” stated Rodriquez, recounting the trade and the reference to Nguyen’s goldendoodle. “It really set me off because is she blaming me for why Miso was so dirty? I had enough. I grabbed my stuff and walked out of the door.” 

Rodriquez and different workers stated a scarcity of oversight of All Day Play can result in harmful and unsanitary circumstances. While greater than 50 dogs might be enclosed in a single indoor playroom, only one employees member is accountable for stopping behavioral points and fights and for retaining the room clear, they stated.

Photos and movies reviewed by the Chronicle present dogs repeatedly defecating bloody stool and pacing in circles. A former senior supervisor at a number of Wag places stated it was typical for puddles of urine and piles of feces to build up on the playroom ground, and for some dogs to lie in it.

“I’ve had to mop the whole floor because it’ll be covered in pee and poop,” stated Ashton Brewer, a former shift lead on the San Francisco location. “Dogs will be basically laying in pee all the time.”

Brewer and different workers additionally stated they incessantly noticed rodents within the facility in San Francisco. At the Oakland location, gnats would swarm the pipes urine drained into, stated Marilyn Schmalfeldt, a former worker. 

Individual kennels, which Wag refers to as “rooms and suites,” have suffered from soiled circumstances as effectively, in line with present and former workers. They reported that excrement wouldn’t be cleaned for hours, resulting in animals generally mendacity in it or consuming it. Photos supplied to the Chronicle confirmed kennels with uncleaned urine, feces and blood. 

“I remember spending maybe three hours cleaning one of those rooms, because people just neglect the rooms pretty badly,” stated Brewer.

One picture from the Redwood City location confirmed a bowl of cat meals that had grown mould.

Kalay didn’t reply to the Chronicle’s particular questions relating to these allegations about circumstances at its amenities. “We believe in continuous improvement and are laser-focused on delivering the industry’s best care and service across our 15 locations,” she stated in her assertion.

Wag’s web site says, “Our staff hails from the best animal science programs in the country. We have worked in notable institutions like the San Diego Zoo and in prominent veterinary offices throughout California.”

But a number of workers who spoke to the Chronicle stated they’d by no means labored with animals earlier than becoming a member of Wag. All however one stated they’d obtained insufficient coaching earlier than being assigned to handle a room or perform different duties. 

Fights between dogs happen incessantly, present and former workers stated. Clients self-report if their animals have had any earlier temperament points. 

“I dreaded going to work,” stated Marina Fernandez, a former worker on the Redwood City facility. “It was just disgusting, it’s filthy, it’s heartbreaking. It’s a terrible facility.”

During a shift in October 2021, Fernandez stated, she was feeding dogs and administering treatment — duties that made her uncomfortable, she stated, as a result of she had not obtained coaching to take action — when a supervisor requested her to assist carry dogs to a play group.

“So there are these two bulldogs and one of them was aggressive and the other one was fine. I accidentally grabbed the wrong dog because I was rushing to finish feedings and also to help the other employees,” Fernandez recalled. “I took the wrong dog out and it unfortunately attacked another dog and broke the other dog’s neck. I fully took responsibility for it because I felt so bad.”

Tatyana Knowles instructed the Chronicle she was working the identical shift, and ran to the playroom after an worker known as for assist over a walkie-talkie.

“They were holding the dog that was attacked,” Knowles recalled. “It was a white poodle mix so she was all white and fluffy, but she was almost completely red. She was very badly injured. There was blood everywhere. And the other dog had blood all over its mouth.”

Knowles stated the dogs, who normally put on color-coordinated collars to label if they’re reactive, didn’t have collars on. 

Fernandez was fired after the incident, each Knowles and Fernandez recalled.

“Marina, she was really upset about it. She was crying,” stated Knowles, who was there when Fernandez was instructed of her termination and escorted off the property. 

Knowles was 19 when Wag Hotels in Redwood City employed her in June 2021. It was her first job, she stated.

She stated that in her second week of labor, with out finishing coaching, she was scheduled to work the night time shift alone. When she expressed concern to her managers, she stated, they instructed her to name them if she wanted something. 

“I was like, ‘You’re going to leave me in a place alone with nobody and over 200 dogs?’ ” Knowles stated. “I was extremely stressed. I didn’t get to all the meals I was supposed to.” 

During the shift, she observed {that a} canine was bleeding so badly that blood was dripping out of the kennel. She known as two managers, she stated, however neither picked up the telephone. Knowles took a video of the canine’s situation, which she shared with the Chronicle. 

Kalay didn’t handle questions on any of those particular circumstances or worker allegations in her assertion to The Chronicle, however attributed basic points to pandemic-related stressors.

“New and variable return-to-work policies by employers, higher-than-normal separation anxiety in both pet parents and pets themselves, and accelerating travel post-COVID strained our ability to provide quality care 100% of the time,” she stated.

Before then, although, present and former Wag workers stated it was widespread for them to really feel like administration had set them as much as fail, generally with dire penalties.

Left: Moldy cat meals is overlooked for cats to eat on the Redwood City Wag Hotel on Nov. 7, 2021. A former worker explains the cats have been typically uncared for, with recent meals not given usually. Right: A screenshot of messages between Taylor Soetje and her boss on June 13, 2019. Soetje was within the hospital after being mauled by a canine on the Santa Clara location. Photos supplied to the Chronicle
Top: Moldy cat meals is overlooked for cats to eat on the Redwood City Wag Hotel on Nov. 7, 2021. A former worker explains the cats have been typically uncared for, with recent meals not given usually. Above: A screenshot of messages between Taylor Soetje and her boss on June 13, 2019. Soetje was within the hospital after being mauled by a canine on the Santa Clara location. Photos supplied to the Chronicle

On June 13, 2019, on the Santa Clara location, a pit bull attacked and mauled 4 workers, in line with police information and Cal/OSHA, the state’s office security regulator. 

Taylor Soetje, a former head canine coach at Wag in Santa Clara, was a type of injured within the incident. She stated she heard screaming and rushed to the playroom, the place she noticed a employees member “being dragged by her ankle. He’s just dragging her like a toy and there’s blood everywhere.”

Soetje stated she grabbed the canine by its hind legs, not figuring out what to do as a result of she “was not ever trained from Wag Hotel on how to handle a mauling like this.”

The canine attacked her, she stated, pulling her to the ground and ripping chunks of flesh from her legs. Her account of the incident aligns with a police report obtained by The Chronicle. One by one, workers tried to cease the assault, solely to be attacked themselves. Soetje stated she ran and locked herself in an empty canine kennel to name 911, because the canine attacked her supervisor. 

Kalay didn’t reply to the Chronicle’s questions on this incident.

Photos supplied by Soetje present the deep, bloody gashes on her legs, now scarred. She stated she developed PTSD from the mauling and continues to attend remedy.

In response to the incident, Cal/OSHA fined Wag Hotels $18,000 for a “serious” violation of security requirements.

Employees raised issues

More than six months later, when she returned to work after the assault, Soetje stated she realized that Wag hadn’t made vital adjustments. 

“There was never a safety protocol put in place at the locations of the hotels, even after that,” stated Soetje. “Just carried on as if nothing happened. There was a little video that barely covered what to do in case of an accident and the advice was to curl up in a ball and wait for help. That was it. I was like, ‘I’m out of here.’ ” 

Eight Wag workers instructed the Chronicle they’d requested firm management to make adjustments to make sure the security of pets and folks, however administration resisted these concepts, they stated.

Kris Kates, who was the director of habits and coaching for Wag Hotels from 2013 to 2017, stated she had conversations with company leaders about rising coaching for brand new hires and including extra canine handlers.

“If you hire inexperienced people, you have a level of training you should give them when they are caring for living things, or you hire experienced people that know how to care for living things,” Kates stated. “Neither one of those things were happening, and it was becoming evident.” 

Kates stated she spent her final yr at Wag speaking to different managers about shared staffing and coaching issues. But, she stated, when she talked to then-COO Griggs, he instructed her that making the proposed adjustments was too expensive for the business.

Days after their dialog, Kates stated, she was terminated. She stated she was instructed by one other administrator that they have been discontinuing her place. 

“But it was because I made those arguments. And I was adamant about it,” Kates stated. 

She stated she warned Wag administration that the dearth of applicable measures could possibly be expensive: “I would say: ‘You can’t keep this up. Something’s going to happen. A person’s going to get hurt or worse, or a dog is going to get hurt or worse.’ ” 

Aubrey Sanders, who was the top of coaching at Wag in Oakland on the time of the 2019 pit bull assault, stated she was haunted by it.

“I couldn’t sleep for weeks. This was preventable and I did everything I could to prevent it and was shut down every time,” Sanders stated in an interview.

Six months earlier than the mauling, Sanders stated, she had proposed a brand new complete coaching program to Griggs that included methods to forestall and de-escalate fights between dogs. She stated she obtained a response much like what Kates had skilled beforehand. 

“Corporate saw the training as a waste of time and money,” Sanders stated. “But if you end up spending an insane amount of money on lawsuits and vet bills, are you actually saving money?”

Sanders was laid off on March 18, 2020, initially of the COVID-19 pandemic. She stated she was one of many solely workers to be completely laid off reasonably than furloughed, and noticed the choice as retaliation for the issues she had raised.

Kalay didn’t reply to the Chronicle’s questions concerning the particular allegations made by Soetje, Kates or Sanders, however stated that Wag had thought of shutting down operations on the onset of the pandemic, “however elected to stay open mainly to serve the medical doctors, nurses, EMTs, different well being care professionals and first responders who have been working exceedingly lengthy hours and had an pressing want for pet care.

“Despite the added challenges the situation presented, we do not regret that decision,” Kalay stated in her assertion.

She stated that Wag created new positions in response to some lapses that she attributed to the pandemic.

“To address the situation and ensure our care and service would return to pre-COVID levels as soon as possible, we added three senior-level positions around care, safety and training in 2022,” Kalay stated. 

Marilyn Schmalfeldt, the previous worker in Oakland, stated she pursued a employee’s compensation declare after she was injured thrice on the facility, however the declare was denied. In interviews with the Chronicle, Schmalfeldt stated she was bitten by a canine and sustained a again damage from lifting giant dogs. She was directed to carry out labor that conflicted together with her medical limitations whereas therapeutic, resulting in a second again damage, she stated.

Schmalfeldt additionally stated she was denied mandated breaks and must work off the clock as a result of the power was understaffed.

“Sorry, there’s not enough people right now. You’re just going to have to wait. Can you wait until your lunch?” Schmalfeldt stated, recounting responses she stated she acquired from her supervisor when asking to take a toilet break. 

According to the California Labor Code, workers who work greater than 5 hours in a day are entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal break and a 10-minute paid relaxation break for each 4 hours labored. If an employer doesn’t enable an worker to take their meal or relaxation break, the employer should pay the worker for an extra hour of labor per break. 

Schmalfeldt agreed to a settlement pertaining to her employees’ compensation declare with Wag Hotels for $30,000 final yr, paperwork supplied to the Chronicle present. The firm denied wrongdoing, she stated.

Pay stubs reviewed by the Chronicle present Wag Hotels needed to pay meal penalties, equal to an hour of labor, to workers who missed breaks. Kalay didn’t reply to questions on Schmalfeldt’s allegations or the settlement.

“I probably lost around 15 pounds while I worked there because I was always working the entire time I was there,” stated Hilary Fitzpatrick, the previous shift lead supervisor at Oakland. “We’re so understaffed, it was extremely hard to make sure that people got breaks.” 

In 2021, one other worker, Melissa Duffell, sued Wag Hotels, additionally alleging violations of state labor regulation. Duffell’s criticism doesn’t specify which location she labored at from July 2017 by means of February 2021.

A subsequent e-mail despatched to workers from a human assets specialist at Wag Hotels stated, “There is currently a lawsuit pending against Wag Hotels where an employee has alleged violations of the Labor Code related to off-the-clock work, and meal and rest periods, among other things.” Employees have been requested to finish a telephone interview with an organization lawyer relating to the matter. 

“I laid it out for the lawyer very vividly,” Fitzpatrick stated. “I was told by my general manager that the graveyard shift didn’t get a break. They (the general manager) thought that we just weren’t clocking out for our breaks, but we weren’t ever taking them.”

A $730,000 settlement was reached final yr. Of this sum, $113,000 was to be divided amongst roughly 1,100 workers who labored at Wag between July 2020 and July 2022.

Some present and former workers at Wag Hotels stated they obtained checks in December from the settlement.

Kalay didn’t reply to the Chronicle’s questions on Duffell’s allegations, Fitzpatrick’s feedback or this second settlement.

A choice: ‘amputate or put her down’

Wag Hotels continues to see hundreds of pets every month. Some former shoppers say they really feel compelled to warn others to not take their animals to Wag. 

In September 2021, Alison Wisdom and her household have been on the final day of a nine-day trip once they acquired a telephone name from Wag Hotels in Redwood City. They have been instructed that their canine, Paige, had an infected paw. Wag employees members have been taking Paige to a veterinarian.  

When they picked the canine up the next night, the Wisdoms realized Paige wanted emergency care that night time and the next day. A veterinarian instructed Jeff Wisdom and his spouse, Alison, that the labrador had acquired necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating illness that spreads quickly by means of the physique.

“We were faced with a decision to either amputate or put her down,” stated Alison Wisdom. 

Paige’s leg was amputated Sept. 24. Between the surgical procedure, her nine-day keep in an intensive care unit, medicines and a number of other months of rehabilitation and associated vet visits, the Wisdoms spent greater than $30,000 on her care, medical information present. 

Because of the size of Paige’s keep at Wag, the Wisdoms stated, they imagine that their canine will need to have acquired the illness throughout her keep there. Five contagious micro organism strains have been discovered on Paige by the veterinarian — who needed to put on gloves to deal with the canine — after her keep at Wag Hotels. 

“I suspect some type of puncture wound that developed abscess and cellulitis, probably didn’t get noticed right away at boarding, can’t rule out some type of bug/snake bite but think less likely,” the physician wrote in Paige’s medical information on Sept. 21, sooner or later after she left Wag and three days earlier than the amputation.

The Wisdoms stated they desperately tried to talk with Wag representatives concerning the incident and what was being achieved to make sure different dogs’ security. 

“Just getting to the point where we could talk to anybody, either communicate over email or communicate over phone, was such a ridiculous, slapstick routine of incompetence. It was stunning,” stated Alison Wisdom. 

In an e-mail to Kristin Rau, Wag’s director of buyer success, Alison Wisdom requested 15 questions on Paige’s keep, together with if Wag had information displaying that employees accomplished cleansing protocols throughout Paige’s keep and whether or not employees had logged Paige’s well being points in any method.

Rau responded to 11 of those questions by writing that the knowledge was confidential to Wag Hotels, in line with emails supplied to the Chronicle.

“Any logs or records of such incidents and health related issues at the WAG Hotel at which Paige boarded and/or similar such health-related issues at other WAG Hotels during her stay are confidential and proprietary to WAG,” Rau wrote.

To Alison Wisdom’s query about staffing ranges, Rau once more responded that the knowledge was confidential, however instructed Wisdom that Wag had a “sufficient number of handlers” throughout Paige’s keep.

No adjustments have been made to cleansing protocols after the incident, Rau stated, as a result of Paige’s situation was not identified in different dogs staying with Wag at the moment. Wag Hotels didn’t supply to pay Paige’s medical payments.

In her assertion, Kalay didn’t reply to the Chronicle’s questions on Paige’s case.

“We realize you’ve spoken to some former employees and a handful of less-than-satisfied clients as well as the client contacts we shared with you several months ago,” Kalay stated. “While you may want the facts to fit into a particular thesis, when you look at the big picture, Wag Hotels is an 18-year-old pet care company that consistently receives positive ratings from the vast majority of clients in an industry that, by its very nature, has more than a normal share of daily challenges.”

The Wisdoms wished to sue Wag Hotels however determined to not, they stated, afraid they may not deal with an extended authorized battle after the emotional toll the expertise had already taken on them. The couple stated they have been upset by the expertise, and the “cold” response they obtained from Wag, saying they have been drawn in by advertising that portrayed the boarding facility as “super loving towards animals.” 

“If you want to make a safe environment,” Jeff Wisdom stated, “you get information out there, because everybody wins if things are safer.”

Melissa Newcomb is a former Chronicle employees author. Email: [email protected]