Memorial Drive Veterinary Clinic

Very seldom have I ever written a poor review for anything, but due to our most recent bad experience with Memorial Drive Veterinary Clinic and Kennel, I felt it necessary to do so. As a businessman, reviews help me in my corporate travels, purchases, as well as in my personal life and family decisions. When the owners of our long time Kennel retired and moved to Savannah, Georgia, we began to search for a new Kennel for our boxer, Capt. Jack. Boy, we miss our old kennel and friends. We asked neighbors and friends. We read reviews, etc., and we decided to bring Capt. Jack to Memorial Drive. We were pleased with the initial welcome and visits. As a businessman who travels, I was glad to know the clinic also had a kennel side to it. Initially, we were pleased. We left Jack several times, and each time we were told how much of a treat Capt. Jack was with everyone including the other dogs. We were told he was a great dog and they had no troubles with him. We were always told, “See you guys next time!” This leads us to this past New Years Eve weekend. With confidence, we booked and left Capt Jack for the weekend as we traveled to St. Augustine, Fl for a long weekend celebration. When we got home and picked up Jack, we were told by the staff that Jack did not do well on this visit, he snapped at the staff, they were heavily booked for the weekend with many dogs, etc. The staff stated they had experienced some bad storms during the weekend, that a water pipe in the ceiling burst, and it caused the ceiling to collapse in the veterinarian office. They stated it was a pretty traumatic event for dogs and staff alike. Upon arriving to pick up Jack, we were also told Jack was a completely different dog once we were there. Needless to say, we were shocked at the news. Capt. Jack (if you know anything about classic boxers) is a great family dog, playful, loving, and his former kennel described him as “Mr. Social Butterfly” among the other dogs and staff. He had never responded bad to anyone or any other dog. I do know that dogs will communicate when treated well or poorly. When we got home, we noticed Jack was very sick. Not just sick, but throwing up solid dog feces for 2 1/2 hours. It was his own feces from his kennel stay. Boxers are very smart clean dogs and he was basically left in his kennel where he ate his own feces in order to clean his area up. We’re sure his experience those days were pretty traumatic. It was a perfect storm for Jack and I’m sure other pets, etc. With an upcoming business trip, we didn’t want to think poorly about Memorial Drive, and giving them the benefit of the doubt, we decided to drop by the clinic with Jack to book another stay. Upon arriving with Jack, one of the girls who works at the kennel came out from the back, sat down on the floor in front of Jack, and preceded to love and pet Jack. Of course Jack was doing what boxers do … giving her kisses and being his typical boxer wiggle butt. After this fine welcome, we were told Jack has been marked as a ‘caution dog’ and they wouldn’t allow him to stay at the kennel any more. Once again, we were shocked, this friendly loving dog, greeted by one of their staff members sitting on the floor with him loving and kissing her was marked as a ‘caution dog’ and not allowed to stay there any longer. Our initial thoughts…Why would a staff member sit on the floor, in front of a ‘caution dog’. This was a huge contradiction, but spoke volumes of the inconsistency of care from the clinic and kennel. With all this being said, in good conscience, we can not, and will not recommend Memorial Drive Veterinary Clinic and kennel. Interesting enough, read some of the other bad reviews. There’s a pattern, in the mix of good reviews, with some similar bad stories we overlooked attempting to think the best of these folks. It’s nothing personal. We liked some of the staff, but the bottom line, it’s about our pet and family member, Capt. Jack .. We mark this business as ‘A Caution’.

posted: 01/24/2023

We took our dog, Toby to the vet. Dr. Busbin and staff were wonderful! Very attentive and even returned phone calls about Toby promptly. Highly recommend them.

posted: 07/06/2023

I have been taking my chihuahua to memorial drive vet for about 9 years. I have always been extremely satisfied with the way they have treated her. They are kind, friendly, and compassionate. She has had the best care. They are all wonderful vets. They always take time with me and make sure I understand her needs. She just had surgery there this week and is doing great. She is my baby and I wouldn’t take her anywhere else. The whole staff is wonderful.

posted: 06/01/2023

First of all, the staff are excellent! I called yesterday to see the process for getting an appointment, and they are walk-in only! So I came in today at 8, got called back in 15-20 minutes, and was out of there by 9! And I’m glad I went to them too, because they were so affordable! I will absolutely be back ❤️

posted: 07/19/2023

Awful. I am new to the area and was looking for a vet for my 9 year old puppy. I tried to do paperwork prior to bringing my large German Shepherd in and was told no. I parked in the only parking place available in the lot and was told to move by the lawn company cutting their grass. They said they needed it to load their mowers. Finally, I got inside to a completely full and crowded lobby and was told to fill out the paperwork that I asked to do either online or on the phone the day before and was told no. It is extremely hard to hold a leash with a large dog and fill out paperwork at the same time with all the distractions in the lobby. I'm sure the vets are wonderful, but I'm also sure the front lobby could be managed a bit more efficiently. I left and scheduled an appointment with another local vet who allowed all the paperwork to be done online and actually schedules appointments.

posted: 07/26/2023