JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman who boarded her dog with Northside Animal Hospital said her dog was returned with wounds that required stitches and that she was never notified of the injuries.
Paris Woods told News4Jax she dropped her dog, Champion, off at the animal hospital July 3. It wasn't until she picked him up a week later that she noticed the injuries while on the drive home.
Once she noticed the wounds, Woods said she turned around and returned to the hospital, where her dog was treated with two stitches and a round of antibiotics.
She said Champion was never supposed to be around other dogs, so she was trying to piece together exactly how her dog was bitten in the first place.
"My boyfriend felt something, and he was like, 'Hey, it feels like glue,' and he lifts it back and it was a bite mark," Woods said. "It was a deep hole and was pussing out yellow."
At first, the animal hospital did not acknowledge what happened, according to Woods.
"Then they finally told the truth and was like, 'Hey, another dog got into it with him,' and that's when we found out the truth," Woods said.
She said she was never notified until she pressed the staff for answers. "He went seven days with no treatment in an animal hospital; I went seven days with no calls," she said.
Dr. Ralph Sevelius, the owner of Northside Animal Hospital, said the veterinarian techician didn't notice the dog was hurt. "She thought they were just roughhousing," he said.
The hospital's standing policy is to keep dogs separated. Asked why Champion was around another dog, Sevelius said it's because the dogs are brothers and the owners also are related.
"The tech just thought they played all the time," Sevelius said. "She is new to us, she's 18 years old she's essentially learning to be a groomer, and like I said she just assumed something that shouldn't have been assumed."
Woods confirmed the dogs are related, but she told News4Jax they were not raised together and that they did not have permission to be around each other.
"We're sorry that this incident happened," Sevelius said. "But the tech has been reprimanded and is undergoing intensive training for it."
According to a copy of Champion’s paperwork, all pets are "kept in spacious individual lodging facilities." Woods said she also signed something saying Champion was not supposed to be around other pets, but the hospital said there is no record of that paperwork.
The hospital waived Woods’ boarding fees and medical care fees following the incident.