This Dog Had Something Strange On Her Neck — What Her Owner Discovered Shocked Everyone

Everyone thinks they have the best dog and none of them are wrong, are the words from a person who definitely has closely analyzed humans' strong bonds with their furry friends. Dogs are the best buddies who don't mind spending time with us 24-7 and we treat them as part of our family, so how could anyone possibly hurt our family? Moreover, expect us not to react. Isn't that outrageous? Something similar happened when a shocking discovery became the reason for this dog owner's anger. Animal shelters aren't the only places which don't treat pooches well. Daycares stand in this line, too. Luke Mulaney and his girlfriend Lauren Mayer live in Chicago, Illinois, with their adorable German Shepherd mix pooch, Mia. They adopted Mia two years back from a German Shepherd adoption agency. Trust us when we tell you that they managed to spend quality time with Mia every day even after their full-time jobs and they never felt the need to enroll Mia in a daycare center. But due to other circumstances, they gave it second thought. The trend of doggy daycare started in New York City's Yuppie Puppie Pet Care, owned by Joseph S. Spohn, that is said to be the first care center in the U.S. that started in 1987. Since then, the concept has been widely recognized and people have not just spent a large amount of time in buying food dog products but many have shown interest in opening dog daycares within their homes and now there are local pet grooming services everywhere. Today, however, we're going to expose just what happens in doggy daycares. There are a lot of dogs across the U.S. and the need of a daycare center is increasing every day as with pet dogs comes a lot of responsibility. After coming home from a tiring day, all we want is to lay down and relax while our dogs are always super active, ready to hit the road for long walks after staying quiet the whole day and doing almost nothing, so the excitement is justified. Owners wish that their dogs were equally tired and just cuddled with them and that's the role of daycare. Luke was happy to do all it takes for Mia. Somewhere early last year, Luke and Lauren decided to enroll Mia in a nearby dog daycare. After checking out a few options, they finalized with Posh Pet Day Spa, one of the best places for dog grooming according to them and not because they weren't able to give Mia all the time she needed but for a different reason and we find it valid enough. As you know, every dog is unique in its own way and accordingly, their needs are differing and only their owners can understand that. Poor Mia was neglected by her previous owner and now she has separation and anxiety issues and wasn't open to socializing. So for this reason, Luke wanted to introduce her to other pups and let her spend time with other dogs at the spa. For around one year, Luke had been dropping Mia at Posh Pet Day Spa two times a week, expecting that Mia would feel less anxious in the company of other dogs and would slowly come out of her shell and start feeling safer. All his hopes to see improvement in Mia's behavior shattered when he found something strange on Mia's neck. I noticed there was a big box on the side of the collar and that box was almost directly on her throat, recalled Luke later in an interview. On March 11, 2017, like any other day, Luke was on time to pick Mia up when he noticed an extra collar which at first he thought was an identification to classify dogs but then it was something weird that he never noticed in the last year. He was unable to understand why now after a whole year, there was a big black band with a box tightly wrapped around Mia's neck and what he did next was obvious. As Luke was unable to understand why anyone would put a collar that tight on Mia's neck and he was looking for an explanation, he asked the staff. Therefore, he immediately walked into the daycare to ask them what it was all about. A reasonable question but the response he received from the caretakers was disturbing. Luke later recalled the first response of the daycare staff in an interview. The troubling thing was the first thing she said when I walked in the door and held it up. It was uh-oh. That was a rude response from people who are supposed to take care of Mia and other people's pets. They definitely owed Luke an answer but they seemed not interested in conversation. Luke was assured by the staff that there was nothing harmful about the collar and it just made a mere sound to prevent Mia from barking if she ever did and that was all. With all the information, Luke still wasn't convinced as he was sure that something was suspicious about the collar tightly wrapped around Mia but he didn't have any evidence to prove his words. She didn't seem apologetic, more defending herself, the couple stated about the dog daycare spa owner. Although Luke asked for clarification from the daycare center staff, he wasn't convinced at all with the replies he received. When he came home, he looked up what exactly the collar was for and what was the purpose of this black box that was closely stuck to Mia's throat and he found out the same product on an online shopping website. He was appalled by what he saw. When Luke reached home and told Lauren about the day's incident, she checked Mia's additional collar and she was stunned to see that there was a number six on it. The first thing I realized that if there's a number six on it, there must be five others. Lauren recalled her experience. This was something that was a complete disappointment for them. Luke and Lauren were daunted as they realized they left Mia at such a place where she wasn't even treated well, when actually Mia's past demands utter kindness to grow out of the anxiety caused due to her previous owner's negligence. They regretted their decision of sending Mia to the daycare but they were not ready to settle for this treatment of their beloved pet. Lauren was angry and she wanted to spread the word among other dog owners who were sending their pooches to a daycare, unaware of what goes on with their dogs and how they're handled. So, she posted on a dog owner's group on Facebook about that day's incident and the daycare staff's reaction to it and what this collar was for. When other dog owners shared their experiences, the word went viral. Many people commented in support of the daycare stating that this might be a special case as Mia might have some issues and shared their personal experiences when they'd even dropped their dogs to the place overnight and picked them back as happy as they were before. Therefore, it seemed confusing in the beginning but soon a few more comments told the truer story. There were other people who had similar experiences with a posh pet day spa. One lady even shared an image that was similar to what Luke and Lauren found on Mia. It was identical to the collar they found on Mia's neck with a number 7 on it. Now, they were sure something sinister was going on but what was it? An anti-bark shock collar, as stated in the manual attached, activates at the sound of a bark and gets only more intense if it is continually activated, Lauren mentioned in her Facebook post. I have dropped off my dog every single time at Posh Pets and you can hear the dog's barking in the back, so my dog was wearing this collar and barks from other dogs when activating the shock on her when she probably wasn't even barking, Lauren further added. But did they have any proof of it being a shock collar? How were they even sure? When Luke researched on the basis of the photos he took, it was clear that it was a Petrainer Pet 853 anti-bark electric collar. The instructions clarified, stops barking with progressively increasing sound and shock. To control a dog's behavior, shock collars are used. This was a confirmation about what was really going on. And, aside from that, what the Posh Pet day spa owner had to say about it was even more disturbing. As we told its owner, the dog in question was mistakenly wearing the collar due to an error by her staff. The collar belonged to another dog whose owners requested that it be put on them. The daycare owner, Lynn Mulronan, who is running the daycare as her family business over past years claimed. What she said wasn't even an adequate justification for what they did and the strangest facts are still missing here. There's nothing wrong with using these collars, they're valuable and humane training devices and they're also regularly used in settings where many dogs are in close proximity, said Lynn in her defense and further added, I used one on my own dog, he's a Beagle Basset mix, my daughter uses one on hers, it's a correction collar. There's absolutely nothing wrong, I mean they wouldn't sell them in the stores if they didn't work. Luke had something to add and comment on the lady's behavior. I asked her why it was on the dog, she said obviously the dog was barking too much, Luke said. However, Mia is a happy dog who loves to play and never makes much noise. She's a smart dog with a playful nature, is it fair to treat her like that? Meanwhile, Luke had other things going on. Luke and Lauren received a complete refund of the amount they paid in advance to the daycare and now the couple is looking for a responsible daycare for their Mia, the best German Shepherd mix. This time, they're more alert and careful in taking visits and knowing the owner better and the most important thing is the feedback from other dog owners about the place. Yet, there are regular customers who deny this story and speak out in support that they've been taking their pets to Posh Pet Day Spa for years now and have never noticed anything like that. Also, they speak of Lynn as a kind person and have claimed the best dog boarding in Chicago. This story leaves us at a point where we wish our loving dogs could speak and tell us their side of the story. Well, that's not possible so why can't we think of them from our end? Well, we do what's best for them to be sure but we should be more alert and questioning and do more research before we assign someone as our buddy's caretaker. Many facilities offer boarding without cages. Our dogs can't but we can choose the best place for them.