Dog Owners, Stay Away From PAWS ALLEY Pet Center

Posting this story to serve as a reminder for Dog Owners not to leave their dogs for grooming, that no matter how good the feedbacks are for a certain Pet Grooming Center, it would be best that you observe while the groomers do their thing. 

One afternoon, while waiting for Mom and Dad's go signal to fetch them at the airport, we decided to bring our shih tzus with us since nobody was available to look after them at home, we killed time by having our oldest shih tzu, Hachi groomed at Paws Alley (bad choice!) in Hobbies Macapagal. 

It was Hachi's first time to be groomed and we were watching throughout the procedure to help our little baby feel at ease. 

There was minor struggling throughout the procedure but we were assured it was normal for dogs that are groomed for the first time, so we decided to let the groomer finish all that he has to do to our little ball of happiness. 

Hachi struggled a little and cried a little but he looked okay after the grooming. He was sleeping while we were driving home and it was just when we reached our house that we noticed that Hachi feels something unusual since he was always crying each time we put him down on the floor or each time he moves to another spot. 

We never knew what it was that causes his discomfort but it went on the day after, he wouldnt leave this spot beside my bed, he wouldnt eat nor pee/poo (sorry for the term). I was observing his condition and all the while we thought that he was just traumatized by the grooming procedure, It was when I carried him that I noticed nicks (with pus) on his tummy, his testicles and on the tip of his thing (they shaved the fur off the area around his thing up to his butt to keep the area clean from pee and poo). 

*I wanted to insert the picture of his wounds (and how bad they were) on this space but I thought I shouldnt because some of you may be squeamish* :( 

Thats when I thought thats the reason why he doesnt wanna pee, it probably stings and my dog is in major pain, his tummy was distended from holding or being not able to pee nor poo! 

We observed his condition for a couple more days and noticed he wouldnt really pee or poo unless his tummy is so full already.  So I decided to bring him to Cassandra Care, its by far the best doggie hospital there is here in the South, and the Vet said it was from the grooming tools that were used, its either they failed to sanitize their electric shaver or the blade was already faint/unsharpened or both. 

I came back to their Store a week after my dog has fully recovered and reported what happened to my dog, I never gotten any apology from them and all they did was they got my dog's name and the receptionist said theyre gonna report it to the owner of the shop. Lame. I just left the store and sworn Ill never bring my dog there ever again. 

Not even a full refund will pay back how much I spent for my dogs hospitalization, and whats more important is, they dont handle the dogs with care like dog owners do. We manage to pay hefty amounts (even more expensive than getting our own haircut) just to get our babies groomed and thats the kind of service we get. 

I was not really gonna share the experience here in my blog but what forced me to do this was when I witnessed AGAIN earlier how bad they handle dogs, My family and I had dinner at YakiMix Macapagal, just a few stores away from Paws Alley and we parked our car in front of their shop. 

While we were waiting for our driver to come back, we witnessed how bad they handled this puppy, I have no idea what breed it was but the Groomer was forcefully pulling (combing off) the furball from the poor dog's ear, we were outside and we could hear the dog crying. 

My mom called their attention and told them "Ang pangit nyo mag-handle ng aso" (You are not handling the dogs with care), the Groomer and all the other sales attendants of that store were just giving us weird stares, so I knew I had to enter the picture, I went inside the store and reminded the receptionist of my own experience with them. 

The groomer answered, "May buhol sa tenga ng aso oh, dahan dahan ko naman sinusuklay" (There's a bunch of tangled fur on the dog's ear (showed it to me) but im combing it carefully"), what the heck? cant they just cut the furball off rather than pulling it forcefully with a wide-toothed comb and hurt the dog in the process? We wouldnt really react if the dog doesnt look like he's in pain, he was trying to run away from the groomer and he was crying like crazy, the place was enclosed and we can hear the dog cry even from the outside.

Animal cruelty at its finest. That is not what we actually pay for. 

I had a little chat with the owner of the Pet Grooming Center just beside Paws Alley, she told me the trained Groomer of Paws Alley just left and that guy that's grooming that poor dog isnt a trained one, he was just hired to bathe the dogs prior to the actual grooming and that Paws Alley always get a lot of complaints (same nature as mine) from previous customers. 

Oh well. That prolly sums up why we shouldnt bring our dog there ever again.

For all the Dog Owners out there, never ever bring your dogs to Paws Alley Macapagal, and each time you have your dogs groomed, make sure you are watching. 

Apologies for the rant.