Luxury pet-boarding company Wag Hotels has agreed to make a series of changes to address allegations in a lawsuit that conditions at its facilities in Santa Clara, Redwood City and San Francisco broke state laws on pet care and reporting of dog bites.
District attorneys from Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco alleged in the lawsuit that the company, which for the three locations charges $70 to $96 per night for overnight stays, and $52 to $117 for full-day stays, violated eight provisions of California’s Pet Boarding Law.
“Wag Hotels is required to properly maintain its facilities, ensure such facilities are free of pests, ensure pets are provided adequate food and water on a timely basis, and to ensure pets are properly and regularly inspected for health issues and that various protocols are in place for potential emergencies,” the lawsuit filed Friday in San Francisco County Superior Court said. “Due to inadequate employee training and a failure to maintain sufficient staffing levels, especially during high-occupancy periods, Wag Hotels fell short of these obligations.”
Wag Hotels earlier this year settled another lawsuit accusing the company of improper pet care.
Wag Hotels, headquartered in Sacramento, on Tuesday noted that in settling the latest lawsuit, it admitted “no wrongdoing for isolated incidents that occurred several years ago that are exceptions to the millions of visits to our facilities over our 20-year history, and have been addressed by the practices we have in place.”
The lawsuit claimed that the company, whose other facilities in Oakland, Sacramento, Southern California, Colorado, Texas and Illinois were not named in the lawsuit, also broke a state law requiring that local health officers be notified any time a dog bites a person in state-designated “rabies areas,” which included the three counties in 2018 to 2020 and 2022 to 2024.
Which pet-boarding violations allegedly occurred at which of the three locations, and how many times, was not specified in the lawsuit. Among the eight purportedly broken provisions of the pet-boarding law were requirements to ensure pests are not present in quantities harmful, threatening or annoying to pets; that food and water are properly provided; that enclosures are kept clean and comfortable; that staff observe pets effectively enough to note signs of illness, injury or distress; that sick or injured pets receive appropriate care and any needed veterinary treatment; that pets that may have contagious diseases be isolated; and that staff notify pet owners immediately if their animal is ill or injured.
Kimberly McCarty, a trainer and behavior coach who co-owns South Bay Dog Training in Campbell and is familiar with Wag Hotels, said Tuesday that “providing a pest-free environment, fresh food and water in a timely manner, and keeping pets safe in their care is the absolute minimum.” Such facilities should have educated, certified staff to train employees on pet care, emergency responses, animal body language and stress levels, and “proper defensive handling to mitigate dog bites,” said McCarty, who does not have a connection to the lawsuit.
The company in a settlement agreement also filed Friday in San Francisco Superior Court agreed to make a series of changes.
Wag Hotels is to create a department to oversee pets’ safety and welfare, supervised by an “animal safety coordinator” with a post-secondary certification in animal science or equivalent education.
Wag Hotels must also appoint a full-time employee with the same educational qualifications as the coordinator, to lead staff training on pet welfare, safety, health and first aid, along with responses to altercations between animals and between animals and humans.
A third, similarly educated employee must be given responsibility for managing buildings, equipment and supplies, as well as pest control.
At night, Wag Hotels must have at least one staffer on site and another on standby.
In a separate case, nine dog owners claimed in a January 2024 lawsuit against Wag Hotels that in its California facilities, it consistently returned pets to their owners “smelling like urine or feces, with injuries — both minor and severe — and with weight loss to the extent of indicating they had not been fed.” That lawsuit, first filed in San Francisco County Superior Court then moved into San Francisco U.S. District Court, was dismissed in April after the owners and Wag Hotels reached a confidential settlement, court records show.
Wag Hotels said of that lawsuit’s claims, “The matter has been settled and resolved.”
In that case, former Mountain View resident Kerri Rosenberg claimed that when she left her dog Jenny at Wag Hotels’ Redwood City facility one day in 2023, the dog began vomiting and became lethargic around 10 a.m., but was not taken to a veterinary clinic until around 1:45 p.m., and died soon after, before Rosenberg could get there.
Southern California residents Alison and Jeffrey Wisdom claimed in that lawsuit that their dog Paige, during a nine-day stay at Wag’s Redwood City facility in September 2021, contracted a flesh-eating bacterial infection they believed was caused by unsanitary conditions, that led to amputation of the Labrador’s right hind leg.
LaDonna Shuttleworth of Oakland claimed that she dropped off her dog Ziggy at Wag Hotels’ Oakland facility for a one-night stay in 2023, and when she retrieved her pet, he was lethargic and later had blood in his stool. “Ms. Shuttleworth called her vet who advised to check on Ziggy in the morning,” the lawsuit said. “By morning, the next day, Ziggy was dead.”