West Side Pet Clinic

NEVER GO TO THIS CLINIC!! I am so disappointed to say that our entire family has been using West Side Pet Clinic for over 10 years. We used to be so happy with their care and treatment of our animals. This have changed so much for the worse. Almost all of their vets have changed practices and their front desk help (Jackie) is about the rudest person I have ever encountered. Two years ago, our black lab was old and very ill. We had a vet that used to be at their practice, come to our home and assist in her passing. The cremation was sent to West Side for our pick up. We never received a phone call telling us her ashes and paw print were ready to be picked up. I did receive a call 4 days after her passing asking if we cared enough to ever pick up her ashes since it’s been almost 6 months! What? It’s been 4 days. No apology from them at all. This was just the first of the inexcusable actions. Fast forward to today. Our 14 year old chihuahua passed away. The new vet, who was a tech there, had so much difficulty putting in the catheter and the correct dose of medication. This made a difficult situation, so much worse. He had to be taken in the back so she could try again. It prolonged trauma for our dog and family there with us for him. I specifically told the front desk that we want private cremation both on the phone and in person. We paid the amount, did not receive a receipt and was asked to sign. Now almost 2 weeks later, still no call to say that we could pick up his ashes and paw print. I called and after much time on hold, was put on with the owner, Dr. Stevens. He said that he was sorry for our loss and this confusion but he promised he himself would call me on Monday after he looked into the situation. He said our beloved pet was put through as group cremation and not private. I have 2 witnesses that this is absolutely not true. He agreed. I asked if he could tell from the amount paid if I was charged for one vs the other…..no true response. To say that myself and children are heartbroken that at this point, no ashes or paw print is an understatement. Dr Stevens said they only do paw prints if specially asked for or private cremation. Yes! That is what I asked for and obviously did not receive. At 3:30 on Monday…. No phone call as promised. I called West Side only to be told by the front desk that it was group cremation and Dr Stevens wasn’t calling me back, but their office manager who is very busy running 3 offices as if this was a minor error on their part. She said she would get a message to the manager and I would get a call back today. Now it’s 4:50 on Monday and no call from either one. I called their office and asked for Dr Stevens to call me. I was told the dog is gone, Stevens won’t be in until Wednesday and the office manager is busy with 3 offices so I may not get a call. Their lack of respect is not something I would ever want anyone to experience. Think twice before bringing your loved dog or cat here. I will be contacting the news so that this story can get out to the public. People think their prices are slightly cheaper than most vets, but looking at the care they now provide, it’s not worth it. I wish they were the clinic that I wrote a five star review on 5 years ago but I removed that review since it is not accurate for the way they are currently. Things are so different and sadly so.

posted: 08/14/2023

Sadly after five years as loyal clients, we’ve left the WSPC. The clinic has gotten progressively worse since covid. The final straw was a flaw with their online appointment service resulting in an erroneous appointment that the receptionist took absolutely no responsibility for and instead gaslit me saying I must had made the mistake. If you have a sick pet, forget it because they don’t set aside time for sick visits and they don’t take walk ins and you’ll wait at least a month for an appointment. I’m only giving two stars because the doctors and techs have always been kind and wonderful but the clinic overall has gone to the dumps. We’re sad to go!

posted: 07/27/2023

Mosts dogs are nervous even going to the vet however, my one-year-old Mastiff mix is terrified. Our last vet would not even approach her and we were still charged. After the third visit, I knew I had to get her out of there. I asked around and this place came highly recommended. They made the transition easy and were able to get us in quickly. The staff was so kind and patient, offering her treats, respecting her boundaries, and maneuvering their approach to ensure she was calm. Needless to say, they were able to give her shots and draw blood. It was a wonderful experience and was about $300 less than I would have paid elsewhere. Highly recommend!

posted: 01/05/2023

I'm not sure what happened to this place. For years we brought our cats here but it has truly fallen off. We've never had a perfect experience, but the good ones made up for it usually. After bringing our cat's blood work came back abnormal, all of our concerns were basically ignored by the vet who apparently started the clinic. He said it may be cancer but then didn't let me ask questions when I was concerned. Immediately I called a new vet who brought us in for a follow up. The new vet ran better tests, and found other issues that westside failed to find. Westside told his teeth were perfect, but new vet showed us how they weren't. The new vet also looked over our other cat's past blood work, and we were told Westside misdiagnosed and misinterpreted the blood work. I no longer trust anyone at this facility, I would recommend folks find different options.

posted: 08/14/2023

DO NOT GO HERE!! I have been a loyal client here for years- since their old location. I have grown up going here, taking my foster dogs here and my family dogs. I had nothing but great things to say up until last year. The front desk service got terrible and still is. The one receptionist Jackie, is the most non-empathetic person i have met. She is constantly rude and makes calling for an appointment dreadful. My mom also has had bad experiences with her, so i know it’s not just me, and i can see from the reviews that a lot of others feel the same. More recently though, I came in to the clinic with my mom and dad to put our family dog of 14 years to sleep. He has gone to WSPC his whole life. We made it clear we wanted an INDIVIDUAL cremation, we would never do anything different. When in came to the procedure, the vet (who made it known she just got her vet license and last time she saw our dog she was just a tech) could not properly euthanize him. He had to have been less than 10lbs but they didn’t put the catheter in correctly, so she gave him TWO doses of euthanasia meds because he wasn’t passing. Then she realized the catheter must not be placed correctly and took him in the back to fix it. When they returned, he had already passed. Our last moments with our boy were stolen. But the most unfortunate thing about our experience was not the inexperience of the vet, but rather the lack of care and organization from the front desk. Two weeks later when we hadn’t heard anything about picking up his ashes, my mom called to see if they were ready. Dr Stevens was stuttering and all over the place when he explained that something had gone wrong and he was GROUP CREMATED. We know for a fact that we said individual, and also WSPC does NOT do a paw print if you choose group cremation (unlike other vets who give EVERYONE a paw print) so we have nothing left of our sweet boy. (groups cremations also don’t get ashes of their pets, so left with literally nothing). Steven’s broke the news to us friday and told my mom he would look into what happened and call her back on monday, promising that he would call her and she wouldn’t have to reach out. Monday has come and gone and despite us calling the clinic 2x, we have not spoken to Dr Steven’s or even a manager. Just Jackie who is gaslighting us saying we asked for group cremation, which is a flat out lie. Would also like to add that Jackie is the one that cashed us out. Finding the truth would be as easy as listening to the recorded phone calls and listening to the lobby video tapes, because your staff is not listening to the wishes of their clients and then blaming the client during one of the worst days of their lives. WSPC couldn’t even properly euthanize or cremate a dog, do not trust them with your pet. Our babies deserve better than this. And we as the owners deserve to be treated better than this. None of my family or friends pets will be going here ever again, and my special needs dog who goes to ellicott for more in depth care will also be changing practices, as ellicott street animal hospital is also owned by Dr. Steven’s. EDIT- Dr Steven’s called and admitted it was a mistake on their end, he knows we said we wanted individual cremation. He said they added procedures to ask people multiple times which cremation option they want to avoid this happening again in the future. But where does this leave us? As Jackie said “Your dogs gone”. Do not trust them with your loved pet, they don’t care. I do not trust their staff and neither should you.

posted: 08/14/2023