Dog Play N Stay Resort shuts down after customers complain of staff issues affecting their animals

Print More

Julianne Noye

Dog Play N Stay Resort shut down permanently on Jan. 20, after about two years of business. The animal daycare facility, located in Mason, Michigan opened its doors in 2021 and included services such as daycare, grooming and overnight boarding. Throughout their time of operation, reviews of the business have been mixed.

It was not a shock to some Mason residents when news broke that the resort was closing for good. Some expressed their suspicions about how the staff treated clients’ pets, as well as concerns about their overall experiences with the service. A former employee who wanted to remain anonymous, discussed her short-lived position at Dog Play N Stay. She said she decided to quit because of how some staff was treated and the questionable actions they observed from their fellow co-workers. 

“They’d overbook so they can fill more space with not very many employees. Sometimes dogs wouldn’t go out for hours because the staff wouldn’t take the dogs out,” the former employee said. “I also noticed employees and managers smoking their vape pens in the play yard with the dogs.”

E. Stein, a former receptionist at Dog Play N Stay, who only wanted to be identified by her first initial and last name, recounted her experience with the job she had for only a few months. Stein said that employees “left doors open, did not clean when they needed to, missed notes about a dog’s needs and assumed someone else did the thing that needed to be done.”

While some staff had bad experiences with the business, some clients had nothing but great things to say regarding the service their pets received. 

Marsha Allen, 50, a retired teacher from Mason, was one of the few people who commented on Facebook about her gratitude for what the place has done for her pet. 

“I have to say this in defense of Stay and Play – if it reopens – if the ’said’ employee doesn’t work there, I would return. I only have good things to say about our experience there,” Allen said.

Before the closure, a GoFundMe page was organized by former senior manager Elizabeth Embry in hopes that the business would continue. Embry also made a statement about the allegations. Embry stated that she and other management are sorting through internal work and other legalities to ensure that the business can take care of pets if it reopens in the future. 

“The new owners and myself, the mgt, would like an opportunity to create a new culture where staff are properly vetted and increased policies and procedures are put into place to ensure the safety of all pets,” Embry wrote.

Raven Flanner, the kennel manager for the resort, was saddened by the negative comments she saw on Facebook after she made a post about how she would miss the business she had worked at for two years.

“I’m really heartbroken to read comments from staff who were fired, or quit, and those from people who were never our customers and hadn’t set foot in our business,” Flanner said. “They have no idea the day-to-day amount of blood, sweat and tears we all put into that place,” she said.

Comments are closed.