Wag Hotels Lawsuit Claims Dozens of Pets Have Gotten Sick Due to Overcrowding, Unsanitary Conditions

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A new proposed class action lawsuit alleges dozens of pets who have stayed at Wag Hotels have contracted life-threatening infections and other severe health issues due to the boarding, daycare and grooming facilities’ failure to maintain a safe, clean and habitable environment. 

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The scathing 27-page Wag Hotels lawsuit relays that the animal boarding facility operator’s apparent “systemic, pervasive and longstanding neglect” for customers’ pets was exposed when the San Francisco Chronicle published last August the findings of an in-depth investigation that detailed the allegedly “horrific conditions that have plagued Wag’s California facilities for years.” Many of the allegations in the Chronicle report were “corroborated by current and former Wag employees,” the complaint states. 

According to the case, although the defendant assures the public of its commitment to providing a safe, clean environment for pets, billing itself as the “ultimate stay and play resort,” the volume of complaints from Wag Hotels customers and employees over the years “indicates that these instances of neglect and abuse are not one-off occurrences” and are instead “the product of systemic issues” stemming from the lax policies and practices at the company’s nine California facilities. 

The lawsuit, citing the Chronicle article, shares that Wag Hotels facilities were found to have “overcrowded group play areas” contaminated with urine, feces and blood, and the suit claims the company has failed to consistently sanitize or clean its kennels and group play areas. Further, some pets were “left to starve” or left unfed until “hours after their scheduled feeding time,” the suit says, and medical staff allegedly failed to tend to pets when they displayed “clear signs of pain or discomfort.” 

Lastly, the Chronicle article revealed that Wag Hotels facilities were understaffed and that it was common for them to hire untrained individuals with “little to no experience in animal care,” the filing relays. 

As the case tells it, current and former Wag Hotels employees have revealed that many pets are left in kennels without blankets or bedding to sleep on, “even though customers paid for […] blankets.” Moreover, many pets are regularly given the wrong food or wrong amount of food, which can cause serious dietary problems, the suit adds. 

Two plaintiffs allege their dog, Paige, was “the victim of Wag’s neglect.” During a nine-day stay at the defendant’s Redwood City, California, facility in 2021, the suit says, the pet contracted necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacterial infection that spread rapidly and required immediate care. The infection eventually required one of the dog’s legs to be amputated, and the plaintiffs incurred more than $30,000 in medical bills related to the infection, the lawsuit states. 

“Plaintiffs believe that the infection was caused by the unsanitary conditions at Wag’s boarding facility,” the complaint reads. 

Another plaintiff alleges that their dog, following a stay at Wag’s South Bay/Carson, California, facility last September, began to scratch herself “an unusual amount and had open sores throughout her body” that were not there prior to her stay at the boarding hotel. The plaintiff also claims that, despite paying for a suite that was to include access to a live video stream of the dog during her stay, the pet was placed “in a room without a camera,” and the consumer “could not determine how Mercedes was treated during her stay.” 

The proposed class action contends that the plaintiffs are “hardly alone” in their experiences with Wag Hotels. 

“The Chronicle Article references several tragic and heartbreaking stories from pet owners whose trust in Wag’s services and staff quickly turned to shock and anger when their pets returned from Wag’s care with bruises, cuts, infections, urine and feces-covered bodies, and other serious health conditions.” 

The suit pins the allegedly “egregiously unclean and unsanitary” conditions at Wag Hotels on the company’s apparent failure to adequately staff its facilities with workers experienced in animal care. Per the case, many of the 29 current and former employees with whom the Chronicle spoke for its August 23 article “confirmed that they were hired with little to no experience” caring for animals and received “inadequate training” upon getting the job. 

“The company’s failures to properly staff its facilities; to hire adequately experienced employees or train new hires; and to oversee the hygiene of its facilities collectively created the circumstances that caused customers’ pets to experience abuse and neglect,” the lawsuit summarizes. 

In light of the foregoing, San Francisco Animal Care & Control, the city’s animal welfare department, initiated an investigation into Wag Hotels’ San Francisco facility. The investigation is ongoing, the lawsuit states. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all persons who used Wag Hotels’ services in California within the last four years. ClassAction.org will update this page with any major developments in the case, including in the event of a class action settlement, so be sure to check back often. 

Warning: The complaint embedded below contains images of pets that some readers may find disturbing. 

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