Anyone who has owned a boarding kennel for any length of time knows that operating a kennel occasionally leads to vet bills. Dogs, just like humans, will get injured or become ill regardless of your best efforts to keep your facility clean and safe. Certainly a clean facility will have far fewer cases of contagious illness, and safe operating procedures and equipment will go a long way to preventing injuries, but every once in a while a pet in your care will need to go to the vet. So who pays?

The answer to that question largely depends on your personal business philosophy, and the nature of the injury or illness. Sometimes it is difficult to ascertain whether or not a client has a legitimate right to expect a refund or reimbursement for veterinary bills. Classifying the injury or illness can sometimes help you make a decision about how to deal with the bill.

Illnesses can generally be defined two ways: contagious illnesses, and unpreventable illnesses. Common contagious illnesses found in kennels include canine cough, Giardia, pneumonia, canine papilloma virus, and whatever strain of dog flu - particularly the stomach flu - that happens to be going around. Contagious illnesses are usually not reimbursed by kennels - and are far more common in kennels with daycare or group play because the dogs are sharing the same space and all their germs.

A good compromise to reimbursing vet bills is to offer a coupon for free daycare if the dog contracts kennel cough or a stomach bug. This way you are not out any money, but the owners feel that you have made an effort. More importantly, you get the dog back in the building again, because even though owners know that illnesses can be common, they still occasionally harbor hesitations about returning to a kennel. Another goodwill gesture is to provide partial reimbursement, for example to pay for antibiotics if the dog needs it but not the full vet exam. This is a lower cost alternative if you have a difficult client who demands some kind of financial reimbursement.

If you refuse to reimburse a client for vet bills for contagious illnesses, it is important that the client feel that you are doing everything possible to prevent an outbreak, including extra disinfection measures. Print out a list of preventative measures you take, including information on all your disinfecting procedures, and have it available for clients to read.

Education about contagious illnesses in the form of PCSA handouts or articles can help owners understand these diseases. However, make sure that you have these brochures available before an outbreak occurs, and address these issues in the screening interview so that a client is adequately prepared if a pet does come down with an illness.

Unlike contagious illnesses, unpreventable illnesses are things like seizures, neurological disturbances, kidney failure, hip dysplasia, diabetes, or other medical conditions that have an underlying cause and are not caused by the immediate environment. Unfortunately for the kennel operator, these conditions are sometimes brought into the open while the pet is boarding, because the stress of a kennel environment may trigger symptoms that otherwise are largely dormant. In all but the rarest cases, kennels will not reimburse owners for these medical conditions, even if the change in environment triggered a seizure, for example. Occasionally, an irrational and angry client will take issue with this and blame you for their pet's condition, but thoughtful and patient client handling can help explain your position. The best way to sum up contagious versus unpreventable illnesses it is to think about it this way: If you go on vacation to Mexico and get sick to your stomach, you might blame the hotel's water. If you go on vacation and get diagnosed with cancer, you certainly won't blame the hotel.

Injuries can be divided into two general categories as well: injuries that are your fault, and injuries that aren't. Injuries that the kennel inadvertently causes, such as grooming mishaps like an ear nicked by clippers, or a dog cutting himself on a cage or kennel, are the fault of the kennel, and any medical expenses should definitely be reimbursed. The primary reason that you are being paid to watch over someone's pet is to provide safety, care, and comfort. If your facility or your staff cannot do this, you shouldn't be charging for services. If a difficult dog injures himself by climbing fences or by squirming too much during a haircut, you should not board or groom that dog. If you refuse to reimburse a client for an injury clearly caused by the kennel equipment or staff, you are headed for trouble and possible litigation for gross negligence. Proper equipment and training of staff - including when to turn away difficult pets - can drastically reduce the incidence of injuries directly attributable to the kennel.

Injuries that are more difficult to define fault usually involve dog fights or injuries during daycare. Here is where kennels deviate in their handling of vet bills. Some kennels believe that injuries during group play are a part of the risk of cage-free boarding and should be accepted as such by the client. The line generally used on the client when they undergo an evaluation is that it's "just like school - your dog may get scratched or nicked just like a kid may skin his knee on the playground." The problem with this is that more and more, people are expecting reimbursement from schools for their children's injuries, and if their dog becomes injured in daycare from another dog, they do, in fact, blame the kennel for not adequately screening or supervising the dogs.

Some kennels deal with this in a novel way and, using surveillance systems, play back dog squabbles for the owner and bill them for the injuries their dog caused another. However, in most cases, it is a gesture of goodwill to reimburse dog fight injuries, even if you are not to blame. Owners will be happier in the long run and believe that you are looking out for their pets, even if it costs you a few hundred dollars now and again. If the vet bills really begin to pile up, this is an indication that you have another problem: poor screening of dogs, understaffing, or poorly trained employees. If you do not reimburse for injuries during group play, you should define this early in your relationship with the client. Setting expectations is the best way to prevent problems later on, so that the client knows what could happen and is prepared if it does happen.

Vet bills are an unavoidable part of running a kennel, and deciding when to reimburse for injuries or illnesses will come down to an intuitive decision about the nature of the mishap, the cost of the bill, and the individual client. What it eventually comes down to is this: If you can keep a client happy by paying for a vet bill, they'll repay you in repeat business and referrals over time.

Source: By Jaime Van Wye Pet Services Journal November / December 2008