Review Time
I visited animal trust today to pick up my beloved pets ashes after a short battle with parvo. We went to reception & said why we were there - (in a waiting room of two other dogs and people including a child).We were left standing at reception to my dismay in front of other clients whilst the receptionist went to ‘find’ his ashes. She came back twice saying she couldn’t find them and didn’t know where they’d been placed (completely nonchalant with no empathy or apology). She finally found them and brought a box out into reception in front of a waiting room of other people... it was already difficult enough seeing people leaving with their pets etc., but to have other clients have to witness me picking up my beloved pets ashes was just horrible I felt violated.When I asked if everything I had asked for (paw print & fur clippings) was in the box I was told they don’t know as they don’t check the boxes but it should be if it’s what I requested.I left upset & had to check the box in my car as we were given no privacy & noticed the clipping of his fur was missing from the box. I then had to go back into a waiting room of strangers visibly upset asking for his fur and was told ‘I’m with someone’ the other lady on reception went straight into the back for me and came back out with his fur clippings in a plastic bag with his wrong details on & 'unknown gender' on the packet just no care what so ever. Also in plain view of the whole reception again. Again no apologies but instead receptionist 1 shouted some defensive explanation as to why I wasn’t given it all at once (whilst another client was stood in front of her at the desk). It might just be a job to you but you are communicating with people who are grieving from the loss of their pets surely there is basic training around this? In my opinion someone with such a severe lack of compassion for owners who have just lost a pet under their care should perhaps not be working in veterinary services.This was suppose to be a special day for my boy who I am absolutely heartbroken over & sadly it feels like it has now tainted my view of animal trust & made an agonising day unnecessarily worse. The process of giving owners their pets ashes needs to be looked at and improved with some compassion.I will note that prior to today my experience with Animal Trust had been positive, the vet (sorry I don't know her name) who admitted my pet into their care, was so kind & knowledgable. The nurses who provided daily updates on his progress were also compassionate & thorough. Chloe who looked after him in his final hours was also lovely & made a heartbreaking appointment a lot more comfortable for us. I also speicfically chose Animal Trust over PDSA despite the significant difference in distance due to the reviews. But sadly today just tainted that whole experience for me as it was like walking into a completely different vet with staff completely the opposite to what I have experienced before at Animal Trust.There also seems to be several negative reviews about a receptionist, curious to know whether it’s the one I had the misfortune of dealing with today & why nothing has been put in place to improve said processes from reception staff!
Animal trust DewsburyShame I can't give 0 stars absolutely appalled by this vets. Sorry this is a long one.Our 13 year old dog was seen in January due to falling and hurting his leg and I wanted some small lumps checking over that we had found. The vet was not overly concerned by the lumps which in turn made us less worried by them. I've had older dogs with lumps and bumps that were nothing to worry about so I felt a bit better. He prescribed antibiotics and anti inflammatory believing our dog may have some dental issue that was draining down to the lymph nodes in his neck. Came back 2 weeks later for a checkup, dogs weight was fine it hadn't changed and was told lymph nodes still up wait until all medication is finished and if you want to have a blood test to see what it shows you can do, still did not seem concerned.Our dog was not behaving any differently in the following couple of weeks so we were just monitoring. He took a drastic change towards the end of February so I made an appointment straight away. Saw a different vet this time I think her name was Beatrice and she was good I have no complaints there at all. I explained about the lymph nodes and a possibility of needing dental work as advised by the previous vet and his sudden change in breathing he was having. She asked if we had had the lymphs checked and I explained we were advised to have bloods done so could we go ahead. She told us that was a pointless test it wouldn't show what they needed so that would have been a waste of £85 along with the £90 medication that probably wasn't needed that he had already been on. She explained that samples need to be taken directly from the lymph nodes. We had her do the test there and then, she said she thinks our dog has lymphoma but would ring when the results were back to confirm. The results were back the following day and did confirm large cell lymphoma which was present in all of them.Unfortunately the cancer made our dog very sick very quickly, I can't help but feel if the diagnosis had been sooner we may have had a little longer with our dog. I knew he wasn't fixable but maybe if he had been given the steroids sooner he wouldn't have gone downhill as quickly as he did. Just over a week after diagnosis he had lost weight and muscle and then suddenly started passing blood and clots in his urine. I contacted animal trust straight away and was advised no appointments that day and to ring first thing in the morning. I spoke to them the following morning, explained he has cancer and was passing blood and was given an appointment with Nina for that afternoon. As a family we had discussed letting him go if that was the way it had to be to avoid him suffering and in between tears I asked the receptionist if it's worse case scenario will it be done today to which she replied yes.We hit a bit of traffic in Dewsbury so by the time we had parked up and got inside we were 7 minutes late. I gave our dogs name and was told we wouldn't be seen as we were late. I pointed out our last 2 appointments we had been made to wait 30-40 minutes. She went to ask the vet if she would see us and came back to say no she's fully booked. The waiting room was empty apart from one person who left as I went out to the car park after telling the receptionist it was f-ing ridiculous. As I stood in the car park upset not knowing what to do my son went in to speak to them and told them look we came here today expecting we may leave without our dog this isn't on. Can we not be seen as there isn't anyone else here. He was told the appointment was down as a checkup only no mention of euthanasia if required and the vet was busy taking phone calls which angered me even more. I asked why is the appointment down as a checkup and one of the receptionists said it was me who booked you in sorry I didn't check his notes. So not only did she not listen to a word I had said or asked on the phone that morning whilst crying at her, she didn't even bother to press a couple of buttons to look at our dogs history. We were told we could drive over to Barnsley branch or come back the next morning and by this point I was done and adamant I wouldn't be stepping in any of their branches again.We left with our poorly dog feeling even more emotions than what we arrived with and the staff just didn't seem to care less. We were very lucky and found a vet closer to us who were caring, compassionate and clearly in the job for the pets and their owners not just for how much money they can squeeze out of you. In a way it was a blessing in disguise that animal trust were not the ones to look after our dog in his last moments after going home and reading other reviews on here and google, especially the one saying they came into the room with the card machine for payment as their pet was being put to sleep....how vile can you get!! I would strongly advise to use a different vets, Animal trust needs to be shut down.
My boxer has come home today after spending 4 days at animal trust in Shrewsbury where he had a vital operation on his prostate which was about to rupture. I cannot thank all the staff enough. Communication was excellent, I had updates at least by telephone calls 3 times a day. The expert, knowledge and care shown to us all was second to none, I am eternally grateful to all staff at this practise.I would like to make a special mention too Owen, Mark, Becky, Harri and Caroline who offered the best treatment possible to my boxer.Thank you.
Absolutely shocking behaviour from Animal Trust Vets in Bolton!! Brought our dog last night due to him urinating blood. To be told they had found a shadow/mask on his bladder and would need to be put under anaesthetics and could result in him dying! AND would cost £500.Our household were devastated last night.Went to get a second opinion from another vets today that actually let us be in the room whilst they did the ultrasound to comfort our dog, to find out there was NOTHING on his bladder at all!!! A course of antibiotics needed. How you can charge just under £200 for the check and FAKE ultrasound is beyound acceptable. Didn't allow us in the room and were no pictures or proof of the "shadow" You clearly have no time or love for animals! You should be ashamed of yourselves!!
Animal trust Blackburn..from the first phone call to our Westie's discharge, everyone at Blackburn could not have been more helpful and caring. Molly needed to have her eye removed..after an exorbitant quote from our vets we asked to be referred to Animal Trust..not only were they £1000+ cheaper, they actually cared about her. The proof of this is that she happily walks in there and there is no hiding or shaking which happened every time at the previous vets..we can't recommend Blackburn Animal trust highly enough..Thanks for everything.
We had the most gorgeous blonde Imperial Shihzu called Harley who was 6 years old. From the age of 9months he had a lump at the bottom of his tail which Animal Trust said to just keep an eye on, so every time we took him we got them to check it. December 2024 he developed a new fleshy lump next to it. We booked him in straight away . They did a needle test and they said it was not cancerous but he was producing too much testosterone and we could have him chemically castrated or a op to have them removed. My husband said the easier of the 2. We took him back on 5 different occasions and was sent home with antibiotics and pain relief. The 4 time the lady vet said he needed to see Matt who does the operations, and was horrified at what he saw and asked for biopsies to be done, which was another weeks wait. By the time we got to take him back for the results the infection had totally took over bum and he had to be put to sleep.He died 19th February 2025 😢apart from the lump he’d had since 9 month old and his new lump he was a very healthy dog. I don’t take my other dog there anymore as the answer I got after asking what went wrong was the practice manger was leaving the company and someone else had investigated it and all they could say was lessons were to be learnt. Me my husband and his other dog friend of 6 years still cry over him still feel very angry towards the vet’s practice but will always now get a second opinion if not happy. They are the vets we put are trust in and they let poor Harley down terribly. We have a new family vet for are remaining beautiful dog and when she went for a first health check they said she has a heart murmur which in the six years at Animal Trust they never picked up on it.I still have my other dog but there is such a big empty space in my heart and home and my little girl is lost without him. Very sad 😞
My puppy got hold of a 2 week old kitten and hurt it quite badly, we rushed him to the vets to be told he should be ok even tho he had bites all over him and wasn’t moving his back legs properly, when we went back in the morning they said the bites are too bad, I told her to check his legs which she then told me he was paralysed as a tooth had gone through his spine!! My children were with me and I don’t understand what I have paid for, He came home for a night in absolute agony an then they put him down! Alls they wanted was me to pay money and I don’t know what for
Visited today with my Chihuahua Rocky and as always the Staff were so nice and friendly. Waiting area and consult room spotlessly clean. Vet Olivia is the best she has a lovely gentle calming approach when examining Rocky and he is very trusting of her.
It is with regret that I must rate the Ashton Practice with only three stars as I read they do so much better.However, when you wish to make a complaint it is not easy. Two weeks ago we had our beloved Shar Pei put to sleep at this Practice. I am disabled and the lady with whom I shared the dog has a heart condition. We were in an examination room for one hour with one chair available. The vet never even gave his name and was initially unaware that the decision to have Harley put to sleep had been notified and it was a decision taken on the advice of the Practice vet leading our case. We were told that if this was her dog she would have it put to sleep. No further treatment could be given. I have since wanted to discuss what took place with the Practice Manager. I have left messages and I understand that she has tried to contact me on my home phone, but no message was left.I still await speaking to her and when I have done so, I shall put my comments in an e mail to the Head office.We were recommended to use this Practice by a regular client. We would not go again and I even had to follow up when the ashes for Harley would be available. No information was given after Harley had been put to sleep.Communication, empathy and compassion are so important and we found this surgery to lack these important factors at such a sensitive time.————————-o————————-Since writing the above, I have had a full discussion with the Practice Manager, who was both understanding and gave me a full apology. I do accept their operational difficulties in terms of accommodation and also that their staff do work hard to try to provide a quality service. I think their Head Office needs to be more proactive in directing some change and with a little more common sense applied, I am sure the experience we endured, could be avoided in the future.
I am a little surprised at these reviews and scatching my head a little. They are not for profit which means they are prevented from profiteering, they must adhere to specific laws and regulations that prevent profiteering and ensure ethical operations. Or am I being naïve? All I can say is that they have dealt with us fairly and priced treatment fairly. My only frustration with them is their contact phone number - it takes about 30 minutes to an hour to get through but they have a chat bot service which works ok and email correspondence is ok.
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