A woman pulls up at the dog kennel where she boarded her dog, excited to pick up her pup. However, her excitement quickly turns to alarm when she realizes no one is answering the door.
In a video with over 217,000 views, TikToker Dixie Grace Wilkerson (@dixiegracewilkerson) sits in her car in the parking lot of the kennel.
“I pull up after driving five hours back from our vacation to pick up our dog. Our appointment time is at 5pm,” she says. However, she notes that she arrived over an hour early.
“Usually it’s not a big deal to get here early, but I just pulled up and the doors are locked. Lights are off. Nobody is here,” she says.
Wilkerson says she called the kennel multiple times and reached out via Facebook, but did not hear back from any of its staff. She waits until her appointment time, but no one arrives to let her retrieve her dog.
Was she able to pick up her dog from the kennel?
In a follow-up video, Wilkerson says she waited until 5:05pm and then left without picking up her dog.
“At 5:05pm I messaged them and was like, ‘It’s currently 5:05pm, no one is here. I will be there first thing in the morning,” she says. “They have yet to read my message.”
The next morning, she goes back to the kennel to try to pick up her dog. Luckily, the manager is there to let her in.
“I explained the whole situation and she was like, ‘Oh, we closed at 12:30pm because its Labor Day,'” she recounts. Wilkerson tells the staff that she was able to select a 5pm pick-up slot on their website.
“They were like, ‘Well it was just a miscommunication.’ So they didn’t charge me for last night,'” she says. “But I will not be using them again.”
She briefly notes that this incident is not the first issue she had with the dog kennel. Previously, her dog came home with fire ant bites, which the manager later back tracked and insisted was a hot water burn from a bucket.
In a final update video, Wilkerson mentions that the manager assured her she stopped by the kennel at 5:30pm to feed the dogs on Labor Day.
“So, they were fed. I don’t want anyone to think they just left them to not eat,” she clarifies.
Should staff stay at a dog kennel 24/7?
In the comments, other dog boarding facility owners and workers warn that it goes against best practice to leave pets unattended for any length of time, regardless of a holiday. On Reddit, some dog owners warn that certain chain boarding facilities often go staff-less overnight, which can be dangerous if a dog experiences an emergency.
“No! As a boarding facility owner that is not ok. Please find a new boarding facility! ASAP,” one writes.
“I own a boarding facility. We are closed to the public on holidays, but we have staff that comes in to take care of the animals,” another says.
“There should absolutely be someone there 24 hours a day. I used to work graveyard at the petsmart pet hotel and you never know what kind of emergency a dog could have in the middle of the night,” a third adds.
@dixiegracewilkerson And I’ve called about 10 times ? #helpme #dogboarding #dogmom ♬ original sound – Dixie Grace ?
Other pet owners say Wilkerson’s story dissuades them from using a boarding facility for their dogs.
“That’s a bad place!! I would never trust them with my baby!!!” a commenter exclaims.
“I would never ever board my dog. Those people don’t care about my dog like I do! He goes with me or I don’t go,” another says.
The Mary Sue reached out to Wilkerson via TikTok direct message and comment.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
