Elmwood-Grove Animal Hospital

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:They are simply changing the story to put them in a better light and admitted to breaking the law as pointed out in my original complaint Few keys points to pay attention to They claimed to have called the Police, but when I called the Police after the time they had told me they made the claim I was told that no found dogs had been reported They also claimed that I was informed by the Police that they had my dog This is not the case as I was told by the police that they had no reports of found dogs (as stated above) I was informed by my wife who was in a meeting during the time the good samaritan lady who found my dog had tried calling I never "said I was going to fire my landscaping crew They suggested I fire them, which is not really any of their business Another made up part of their story She said that once she told me about the fee, I became very angry and started yelling This is another fabrication on their behalf I calmly had a discussion about how that seemed unfair for near minutes I explained that I did not ask them for their service, enter into any verbal or written contracts for service with them, therefor shouldn't be held liable for their bill I explained that while I was grateful for the lady helping, and them holding him, I entered no binding agreements with them for their services Someone else did on my behalf without my permission They explained that it was their policy, and they would not be giving me back my dog until I paid I explained that their policy only affects customers of theirs, which I was not I cannot be forced into a binding agreement with them, especially since they do not have a legal contract with any of the surrounding villages This would be no different than me finding a dog, calling the owners, and when they get to my house, demanding money before I release them They have no official capacity to act as a shelter and charge for those services Once, I was continuously told I would not be given my dog, I became frustrated and demanded my dog be returned Againthey are breaking the law in demanding payment prior to releasing the animal in a situation where they not in direct communication with the owner of the animal about their services prior to charging for them Their phone call to the Police Department (which the Police had no record of) is unofficial and in now way, shape or form, gives them legal authorization to do so They must have an official contract to act as a local shelter on behalf of County County Animal Shelters where there is no other feasible option The comment to my child about the "mean ladies who won't give us back our dog" was made after they had spoken to me in a very disrespectful manner and my year old son asked why they wouldn't give him back his doggy They then fabricated the part about them calling the Police I called the Police You can call them and confirm Their explanation of why they charged me what they did, seems as if it is a way they recoup their expenses when owners actually come to pick up a lost animal Again, it does not account for a REASONABLE EXPENSE they may have incurred in the hour they had my dog They did none of the listed services to my animal Again, this is not allowed legally according to the attorney I spoke with.Please let them know my next step is to file for a freedom of information act for all income for the past years, whereas we can collect information on how many others have experienced a similar situation as ours where they broke the law Once we have that information, we can contact all of those affected about filing a class action lawsuit for refunds on all accounts which suffered this injustice The attorney has already given interest in such a scenario All I am asking for now, is the refund in full and an apology for how the situation was handled.Thank you again for your time! Sincerely, [redacted]

This is what really happened that day as annotated by one of my very nice employees who felt threatened by Mr [redacted] s demeanor and verbal abuse:On July while I was on break, a woman dropped off a dog she had found in River GroveShe said she was on her way to work and didn't know what to do with itI called the River Grove Police Dept and I got an authorization from her to keep itShe told me to put Captain [redacted] on the stray chart as the authorizing person About a half hour later a man came in with a baby and a small boy and said that he found out (by the police?) that someone had dropped his dog off hereHe said his landscaping workers had left the gate open and that he was going to fire them when he got back I asked him what the dog looked like and his description matched the dog we had gotten in When I told him there was a $stray at large fee, he became very angry and started yelling at meHe told me he was not going to pay the fee and DEMANDED that I go and get his dog immediatelyI told him I would, but first he needed to pay the feeI told him that I was an employee of this animal hospital and did not have the authority to not charge himI told him that if he were to be upset with anyone, it should be the person who left the gate open [redacted] was in the back and came up when she heard all the yellingShe told the man to calm down and proceeded to try to explain to him the same thing I didHe kept interrupting her and wouldn't let her speakHe kept saying, "YOU WILL GO GET MY DOG!!" and wouldn't let us try to explain to him that we couldn't release the dog without payment He made a comment to his son, saying that the "mean" ladies wouldn't give him his dog back [redacted] told the man that she was going to call the police so that we could resolve the issue The police arrived a few minutes later and we each explained what had happenedThe police told Mr [redacted] to pay the fee so he could take his dog home and try to resolve the problem later Mr [redacted] did not want to give me his address or phone number to put in Avimark (our computer system)He said he did not want to receive any junk mail from usI assured him that once the payment was made I would make his account inactive and he would never get any communication from us Upon leaving, he told me and [redacted] that he worked in marketing and would leave negative feedback on all the social network sites and warn people not to bring their pets hereWe perform a service for the villages of River Grove and Elmwood Park and for Leyden TownshipThey collect stray animals and bring them to usWe try to reunite pets with their familiesIf they are unowned, we keep them for days at police expenseIn most cases, if they are adoptable, we keep the pets for much longer until we find appropriate homes for themDuring that time we spay or neuter, vaccinate, microchip and give them careAll of that is done as a service to the community and is direct, out-of-pocket expense to the animal hospitalThe woman who brought in the [redacted] dog, the policeman who authorized us to keep it, and my staff saved Mr [redacted] s dog's lifeThe fee he paid was in lieu of a dog-at-large citation, and it is reasonable and justThere will be no refund

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:They are simply changing the story to put them in a better light and admitted to breaking the law as pointed out in my original complaint.  Few keys points to pay attention to...1.  They claimed to have called the Police, but when I called the Police after the time they had told me they made the claim I was told that no found dogs had been reported.2.  They also claimed that I was informed by the Police that they had my dog.  This is not the case as I was told by the police that they had no reports of found dogs (as stated above).  I was informed by my wife who was in a meeting during the time the good samaritan lady who found my dog had tried calling.3.  I never "said I was going to fire my landscaping crew.  They suggested I fire them, which is not really any of their business.  Another made up part of their story.4.  She said that once she told me about the fee, I became very angry and started yelling.  This is another fabrication on their behalf.  I calmly had a discussion about how that seemed unfair for near 5 minutes.  I explained that I did not ask them for their service, enter into any verbal or written contracts for service with them, therefor shouldn't be held liable for their bill.  I explained that while I was grateful for the lady helping, and them holding him, I entered no binding agreements with them for their services.  Someone else did on my behalf without my permission.  They explained that it was their policy, and they would not be giving me back my dog until I paid.  I explained that their policy only affects customers of theirs, which I was not.  I cannot be forced into a binding agreement with them, especially since they do not have a legal contract with any of the surrounding villages.  This would be no different than me finding a dog, calling the owners, and when they get to my house, demanding money before I release them.  They have no official capacity to act as a shelter and charge for those services.  Once, I was continuously told I would not be given my dog, I became frustrated and demanded my dog be returned.5.  Again... they are breaking the law in demanding payment prior to releasing the animal in a situation where they not in direct communication with the owner of the animal about their services prior to charging for them.  Their phone call to the Police Department (which the Police had no record of) is unofficial and in now way, shape or form, gives them legal authorization to do so.  They must have an official contract to act as a local shelter on behalf of County County Animal Shelters where there is no other feasible option.6.  The comment to my child about the "mean ladies who won't give us back our dog" was made after they had spoken to me in a very disrespectful manner and my 6 year old son asked why they wouldn't give him back his doggy.7.  They then fabricated the part about them calling the Police.  I called the Police.  You can call them and confirm.8.  Their explanation of why they charged me what they did, seems as if it is a way they recoup their expenses when owners actually come to pick up a lost animal.  Again, it does not account for a REASONABLE EXPENSE they may have incurred in the hour they had my dog.  They did none of the listed services to my animal.  Again, this is not allowed legally according to the attorney I spoke with.Please let them know my next step is to file for a freedom of information act for all income for the past 3 years, whereas we can collect information on how many others have experienced a similar situation as ours where they broke the law.  Once we have that information, we can contact all of those affected about filing a class action lawsuit for refunds on all accounts which suffered this injustice.  The attorney has already given interest in such a scenario.  All I am asking for now, is the refund in full and an apology for how the situation was handled.Thank you again for your time! Sincerely,
[redacted]

This is what really happened that day as annotated by one of my very nice employees who felt threatened by Mr [redacted]s demeanor and verbal abuse:On July 28 while I was on break, a woman dropped off a dog she had found in River Grove. She said she was on her way to work and didn't know what to do...

with it. I called the River Grove Police Dept and I got an authorization from her to keep it. She told me to put Captain [redacted] on the stray chart as the authorizing person.
About a half hour later a man came in with a baby and a small boy and said that he found out (by the police?) that someone had dropped his dog off here. He said his landscaping workers had left the gate open and that he was going to fire them when he got back.
I asked him what the dog looked like and his description matched the dog we had gotten in.
When I told him there was a $62 stray at large fee, he became very angry and started yelling at me. He told me he was not going to pay the fee and DEMANDED that I go and get his dog immediately. I told him I would, but first he needed to pay the fee. I told him that I was an employee of this animal hospital and did not have the authority to not charge him. I told him that if he were to be upset with anyone, it should be the person who left the gate open.
[redacted] was in the back and came up when she heard all the yelling. She told the man to calm down and proceeded to try to explain to him the same thing I did. He kept interrupting her and wouldn't let her speak. He kept saying, "YOU WILL GO GET MY DOG!!" and wouldn't let us try to explain to him that we couldn't release the dog without payment.
He made a comment to his son, saying that the "mean" ladies wouldn't give him his dog back.
[redacted] told the man that she was going to call the police so that we could resolve the issue.
The police arrived a few minutes later and we each explained what had happened. The police told Mr. [redacted] to pay the fee so he could take his dog home and try to resolve the problem later.
Mr [redacted] did not want to give me his address or phone number to put in Avimark (our computer system). He said he did not want to receive any junk mail from us. I assured him that once the payment was made I would make his account inactive and he would never get any communication from us.
Upon leaving, he told me and [redacted] that he worked in marketing and would leave negative feedback on all the social network sites and warn people not to bring their pets here. We perform a service for the villages of River Grove and Elmwood Park and for Leyden Township. They collect stray animals and bring them to us. We try to reunite pets with their families. If they are unowned, we keep them for 7 days at police expense. In most cases, if they are adoptable, we keep the pets for much longer until we find appropriate homes for them. During that time we spay or neuter, vaccinate, microchip and give them care. All of that is done as a service to the community and is direct, out-of-pocket expense to the animal hospital. The woman who brought in the [redacted] dog, the policeman who authorized us to keep it, and my staff saved Mr [redacted]s dog's life. The fee he paid was in lieu of a dog-at-large citation, and it is reasonable and just. There will be no refund.