Peninsula Animal Referral Center Yorktown, North Carolina

Despite our vet calling ahead to make arrangements for our dog who needed oxygen overnight the clinic acted like we arrived out of the blue despite the receptionist saying they knew were were coming. Our vet had already forwarded all relevant medical documentation (3 times over after hours for our vet) l. Despite this we were still harassed upon walking in the door to sign that out pet needed urgent care despite our vet saying all she needed was overnight monitoring and oxygen (which was refused until she was examined by their own vet). In addition the they tried to bully us into x-rays and bloodwork that was already done less then a hour ago because they couldn't figure out how to open one of the 3 emails sent to them (one by us to them) to get this documentation. After a 3 hour wait we were greeter by the vet finally who proceeded to tell us that there was still a decent chance of our pet dying unless we agreed to pay for immediate treatment. After checking the bill, which included the oxygen and a battery of antibiotics included on the invoice was a $500 misc fee which, after asking the vet, covers all treatment beyond what was listed. This treatment by the way does not require your consent to provide unless it's demanded and even when demanded was cited as often as possible when asked if this was on a quote. The night vet was absolutely present to talk to and is the only reason this place didn't get a 1 star from us, he was prompt in the morning and answered all of our questions which was a delightful change of pace. This however was the last pleasant expirence as the attending vet who was supposed to check us out after we called ahead an hour in advance tried to rope us in for more x rays and blood work to determine the cause of some vomiting the dog had had earlier but had not show since she arrived. When we refused the vet dragged her feet for an additional hour to charge us to watch our pet in the treatment room while she prepared some very basic notes on her medicine she needed and some generic Google search quality descriptions of her ailment. This place is around to take as much money from desperate people as possible and mascaraed it as a service. If you have any other choice I would consider it before coming here.

I understand being short staffed. I understand having to wait. My cat was hospitalized for 38 hours, and never once did I receive an update. I called several times and was told "she was resting comfortably" I retrieved my cat AMA, and when checking out asked for an itemized bill and saw that they gave her three meds including a heavy pain killer (she only went in for nausea and vomiting) performed multiple tests and x-rays. Never got those results. They've been faxed to my vet and I guess I'll get those in the morning. I had to pre-pay a deposit of $2000 just to admit her. I will never go back. Imagine if your family member was hospitalized and they ran all those tests and medications and gave you no results and gave no updates over 38 hours.

We brought our dog in last night 11/17/21. We waited outside for an hour before being brought in. A nurse/tech? came in a few minutes after and took her history and more info for why we were here. The doctor came in 10ish minutes after the tech left. We were there for a total of five hours. I think there were some critical cases that came in right after us. Bella was not critical so I didn’t really mind. They kept me updated on how long things would take in terms of next steps and when they were with Bella I never felt like they were rushing out to take care of someone else. They treated Bella with incredible patience and compassion. She can be reactive to strangers touching her and was muzzled the whole time. They still baby talked her the whole time which sounds very small but more often than not people treat her less like a loved pet because she is muzzled. Everyone I spoke to was incredibly kind. I am on a pretty tight budget and told them upfront that well I want to do what is best for her I can’t afford $1000 vet bill. They came and approved everything they did and told me how much it would be upfront. They worked with me to get her more generic medicine and things I could get over the counter at a convenient store. If you are on a budget tell them upfront and they will do their best to work with you to stay within what you can afford. I’m so grateful that they were also so patient for this part of the process as I decided what we could afford and also what was in Bella‘s best interest. I know they have some bad reviews about rushing around and wait times and general emergency room complaints and I was a little bit nervous to bring Bella here. But they so obviously care about the animals they work with And provide high quality care.

Service sucked, was waiting 4 to 5 hrs to be seen. Felt like my dog being injured wasn't even an emergency just bc she wantsnt bleeding everywhere. They couldn't inform how long I had to wait they just kept saying im up next and that theyd call me wen a room is ready but I kept waiting. Won't come back here

Customer service is a joke. Your pet better be near death otherwise, they won’t consider taking for exam. Was told there is only 1 doctor on duty—that’s normal. Empathy was nowhere to be seen.

Walked in to have a C-section done on my female french bulldog.. Walked out with four dead puppies, my dog Spayed without my consent and a extremely high bill..

We were on vacation when our pet became extremely ill. She was transferred here from Animal Emergency Center at 3am. When we arrived they took our pet straight back. She spent 4.5 days in the hospital. They were very good about giving updates at least twice a day and they allowed us to visit her daily. She had 6-7 vets taking care of her. All were knowledgeable, caring, compassionate, willing to answer our questions and prepared when they met/called us with the exception of 1. They were able to stabilize her and get her through a life threatening situation. Even the front desk personnel were friendly and showed compassion and concern. I was very thankful to find good emergency care while several hours from home and so grateful that they were able to save our girl.

We were told we had to pay half the bill before they would do anything to our cat and then we could do a payment plan for the rest. We put down $2100 on a $3100 final bill. We went to pick him up and were told we could not have him until the bill was paid in full! This place cares nothing about animals and everything about money! Stay as far away as you can from them!

Please do not go here!!! They are terrible. They gave me only two options, pay $2000 for the surgeries or to put my dog down. I told them I couldn’t afford the surgery and they told me they would call animal control on me and an hour later animal control showed up. I was basically told that if I couldn’t afford surgery then I need to put my dog down, and those were the only two options. I highly recommend not going here, every person I spoke to about this place has informed me that the experience that same services I have; either pay for the surgery and if you don’t, they recommend putting your animal down. I went to another veterinary place and they informed me that it was terrible of this place to give me those two options and that my dog was not in the stages to be euthanized.

I have nothing but good things to say about PARC...My experience here was fantastic...my 3yr old kitty was In an urgent situation (blocked) and needed immediate life saving care...after literally 7 places couldn't see us this place did... they were extremely busy but got us in immediately...Midnight was in this hospital 6 days!!! We got phone calls EVERY DAY from the Dr's there and could call anytime day or night and speak with someone, most time the Dr him or herself ...they were very competent, caring and compassionate...yes it cost money but what doesn't...they have to pay their bills like everyone else and the care they give your pet is well worth it...that being said, they were reasonable in my opinion...especially for the care they provide...we are not rolling in doe by no means but they were able to take what we had and work with us on the rest..I would not hesitate to bring my kitty here again! Ty!

PARC took great of my kitten Tamaki! It’s an ER, so wait times were pretty long, but worth it for the quality of care. Staff were friendly, professional, and made sure I understood how to take care of my pet upon discharge. Prices were very reasonable for the services my pet required. Thank you PARC for taking such good care of my kitten!

Got there around 1:30pm & waited in my car literally 4 1/2 hours with my yorkie while he was severely lethargic throwing up barely able to even move or hold his head up from being so weak. Went inside at about 4pm to ask how much longer the wait would be they told me i had 1 person ahead of me still. I went in again at about 5:30 to check on the wait and was then told i had 3 more people ahead of me after just telling me that i had 1 person in front of me the hour before. Literally every owner who came after me and brought their pets in got pushed ahead of mine and i was basically told they were more of an emergency than my sick dog who couldn’t even pick his head up anymore by this time. Very poor customer service .. thankfully i found somewhere else to take him just in time after waiting here all day for literally no help at all. Would not recommend. And let me not forget to mention i was the only BLACK person who had come in also, everyone white coming in with their pets were being seen immediately.

I had an emergency at 3am. I called and they told me to come in as soon as I could. They were very compassionate and helpful. They took care of everything. They gave me all the time I needed and I would recommend them to anyone else that needed help on short notice.

This place is TERRIBLE! The staff we encountered was not caring or empathetic. Apparently our dog was not any type of a priority. Our 12 year old shepherd was referred here by his regular vet (Banfield Pet Hospital in Petsmart) for an abscess on his paw that was free bleeding. The vet said it was infected and may be in the bone so the would not do anything. After waiting two hours at PARC we were told it could be up to three more hours. We waited three hours and asked again for if they knew how much longer the wait would be. We were told they were getting a room ready and we were next. We waited another 45 minutes and still had not been placed in a room. When I asked again I could not be given any sort of a wait time. I was only told the vet was in emergency surgery. I then explained we where to the point we could not wait much longer and asked if I could at least purchase an e-collar to stop our dog from licking the abscess all night until he could be seen. I was told they could not do that to go buy one from Petsmart... the same place that saw our dog over SEVEN hours prior and sent us here. I can not express in words how frustrated we were with place. We should have taken it as a sign when we saw another man clearly upset about how kind it was taking for his dog to be seen because he had also been there for hours. I can’t believe that between eight hours and two vets we got zero help for our beloved dog. Thanks for nothing, word of mouth is a powerful thing.

Stay away from this place. Go to the one up the road closer to walmart. I arrived at 12:00pm today and it is now 5:24pm and I still haven’t been seen. My dog is in so much pain and the doctor just told me he can wait because there’s more “critical” pets. He hasn’t even seen my dog to see how critical he was. Super inconsiderate, i would not trust these people with my pets anymore.

I arrived at 430, it is now 7:52 and when I call to check I am always behind 1 person. Lack of communication is very frustrating. I could have stayed home and had my cat in more comfortable place until they had time for her.

I called about my dog having diarrhea and bloody stool. I'm from out of the area and all they were concerned about is getting a print out of shot records before being seen. I had partial records from the time I've owned the dog available but not the first 3 given by the breeder. If my vet were open to print records, I wouldn't be coming to an expensive emergency vet. So, evidently, if you find an injured animal or adopted a stray, don't take it here. They need full vet records to be seen.

Not a single staff member was wearing a mask! That should have been the first sign this business was awful. The front desk workers are incredibly flippant with understandably worried pet owners. Awful experience and ended up leaving because I did not trust them to care for my cat. I was told "try somewhere else" when expressing concern over my cat and how long i had been waiting (over 5 hours) DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU LOVE YOUR PET! There are many other 24 hour pet places, please use them instead

I would never take my baby here again. I definitely would never refer anyone here. On Monday, Feb 1st. at 4:30pm. I took my baby Buddy here because his legs were shaking, while he was laying down. I thought maybe a bad dream but it happened again with his eyes open. I'm thinking maybe he was having seizures and of course I was worried. As I arrived here I was greeted with a one page clipboard that asked nothing "much" about him! It mentioned fees of $400 to $600, or $300 to $500. For 2 different services I didn't "fully" understand. I believe one fee was for CPR, if Buddy should need CPR. okay? Unless CPR was given in front of me, How would I know whether you gave my Buddy CPR or not? I believe another fee was to help make him comfortable as we arrived? Comfortable? He was jumping around and didn't look uncomfortable to me? I think I was the one that was uncomfortable. Again, I was explained nothing, just handed a clipboard. Honestly, I was nervous and afraid, because I didn't know what was going on with Buddy and his shaking. In shock from this one page clipboard full of these enormous fees, etc. I stated "oh my God I don't have this kind of money, right now" I don't know the girls name who said to me "do you at least have the $100 for the dog to be seen" She didn't ask his name or look on the paper to address him by his name. SMH  I can't even tell you anyone's name there because I wasn't greeted properly and wasn't introduced to anyone. They took Buddy in the back right away, and came out of room 4 with him all to tell me, that we could wait in there? Hmmmm??? I didn't understand that, at all. That seemed odd, and a bit weird. We waited in there a little until the girl came in for the one page clipboard, that we were initially greeted with. I asked her "do you want any info about my dog" She said someone else would be in to do that. So again we waited some more. Buddy is very important to our family. He is not a pet, he is my boy. He is my daughter's bff and her registered emotional support animal. I'm sure everyone feels the same as I do about their babies, so this place needs to do better. As I stated I initially brought him in because of his shaking, nothing more, but that night he threw up? Weird, no? Only ... because Buddy is my daughter's pup, I let her call it. When she said "Mommy let's please leave here these people are unkind and are worried about money only" So we did just that. I took him off his normal diet, as my "late mom" did when I was young, if our dogs were acting unlike "themselves" and did her home-made thing. He seems to be doing great now. Please watch closely, at everything that's done here OR anywhere to your babies. Pandemic or not! I do see some good reviews, they may be from people who probably have the money to pay the outrageous fees this place requests. But I feel people who do not have the money to pay these fees are and will be treated differently. I get that a place can get busy, but if you are understaffed and don't have anyone to greet your patients in a more dignified, sensitive, and caring manner, maybe you should hire more staff. Yes, more staff for that position only. Lord knows you make enough money there to do so, I'm sure of it.

Took in for emergency. Friendly and professional staff. They did not charge me (not all about the money!), since my dog was ok.

I'd like thank the staff for all they did for us when my baby Cookie went into distress, from the first phone call on what to do I knew she was in good hands. They did a awesome job, to comfort my family,unfortunately Cookie crossed over the Rainbow bridge on the ride to the hospital they were so sweet and empathetic to my grief, the sympathy card is greatly appreciated, I received her remains on a not so good day and when I opened the mail to see the sympathy card signed by the staff gave me comfort. Cookie had been a loving and loyal companion for 13 years and I miss her dearly, but every time I think back on that day, I'm glad to have had such a caring and supportive team. Thank you all

Absolutely horrendous, forced us to wait nearly 5 hours to have a vet look at our pet, forcing us to stay in the car while several other people (who were white while my family was black) we’re able to come and go as they please. They were very condescending to us as we asked how much longer we would have to wait and told them that we were concerned for our pet’s health. Will never come back, do not bring your pet here if you actually love them.

I cant say enough great things about this facility. From the moment my pup and I walked in they were helpful. My puppy was injured and they got us in quick with a consult and same day surgery. Dr. Dassler was super professional and answered all of my questions. Unlike alot of the other Doctors I had experinced prior to going in he seemed like he really cared about my puppy, Im forever thankful for him and his staff for having amazing communication skills and keeping me updated through the entire process. Thank You Dr. Dassler and Staff at Penisula Animal Referral Center, my pup and I are very grateful for all of you. If you are having an emergency or your Pet is in need of some medical care I highly reccommend you coming here. :)

They euthanized a pet without authorization from the pet owner, took no accountability for the situation and handled the situation highly unprofessionally. If you love your pet do not take it to this place.

Do not trust these people with your pets. They only care about money. They prescribed my dog a medication that they knew was dangerous for her breed just to get a kick back from Pfizer. She died the next morning. Suffocated by an airway swollen shut from the medication as we were rushing her to the emergency vet, her name was Scarlett and she was only 3 years old. When I called to speak with the owner (Dr. Dressler) about it he admitted that it was the wrong medication for her breed. And had he been her doctor instead of Watson (who I won't even dignify with the Dr. title) he would not have prescribed that med. However, when I pointed out that the med in question was illegal in several states and the manufacture requires vets to inform the pets owner before giving it. He just dismissed it by saying, "well, it's legal in Virginia so I'd don't owe you an explanation". I made several attempts to at least get a refund on the procedure, which I though was only fair sense they admittedly killed my dog. They refused each time, once again stating the med given was, at that time, legal for use in Virginia. Even though they ignored the manufactures requirements, legally speaking they didn't owe me anything and felt that they had a right to keep the payment sense the procedure had been completed. The behavior of the so called doctors at this place was beyond horrible. Even when we first called Watson about it, she had already heard from the receptionist and got on the phone and immediately started screaming and cursing at my wife before I could get a sentence out. Watson even tried to get the emergency vet to falsify the documents on Scarlett's cause of death. Luckily the emergency doctor wouldn't do it but that may be because I had already obtained copies and changing it after that would make them look even more guilty. Then Dressler told me there was no way for me to prove anything because I would have had to send her body to a university in NC and it was already to late to do that. And even if they had properly informed me of what I should do, the autopsy would have a hard time "pinning" it on them due to the time it would have taken just to get to her case. It's like they've done this to people before and learned the tricks to avoid responsibility for their negligence. I'm sure PARC will attempt to deny my claims and say I'm lying. But before you do, just keep in mind that I recorded every single conversation with Dressler and Watson and still have them saved on my desktop. When I told Dressler this, played a clip of one of the conversations and told him that he had been and was being recorded at that time. His response was, "So what, you can't use that in court anyway". I corrected him on that and let him know that VA is a 1 party consent state for recordings and I knew I had missed my chance to sue. His response to that was to hang up on me and refuse my calls. I just wish I had been using Google reviews at the time this happened. If I had then over the last few years I could have possibly saved some people from what I went through. Once again, these so called doctors are only in it for the money, they made that grossly obvious with their behavior in this case.

Took my dog and was told it would be an hour and a half wait. No problem. But after 6 hours, still waiting. No phone call at all.

After she decided, even though the odds weren't good, to try, my daughter Paula waited all day and paid thousands for the wait, while nothing was done for Emmy except tests and oxygen. And yes, I spent time there with them, I didn't only hear her side.

Had quite a scare with my 8 year old husky and my primary vet was not available for walk ins and referred me to this emergency vet and they were amazing. Explained everything clearly did professionally and took great care of my baby. They took a ton of precautions with us being in the middle of a pandemic which put me at ease and let me focus on my fur baby.

If I could give negative stars I would. I came into their emergency center with my weak, barely responsive, lethargic dog at 7:30 in the morning. She couldn't walk and had jaundice but I guess that wasn't cause for concern because it took more than an hour just for an assistant to check her vitals and then HOURS to get a blood test done and even then, I got minimal info on what tests they ran. I NEVER turned down anything for my dog. I specifically asked them to get her fluids and was told no.They recommended a specialist to get an ultrasound due to a mass and low red blood cell count but in the mean time my dog got no fluids, no pain meds and no suggestions beyond euthanasia. Again, she was never offered these things and I did not turn them down. Getting time with the specialist took another few hours. He finally did an ultrasound. At this point I was not satisfied with my dog's care bc she was declining and literally nothing was done for her directly but JUST as I was looking for another place the assistant came in and conveniently told me she had taken a turn while I was talking with the doctor and I risked killing her if I moved her elsewhere. So despite my dog's incredibly low RBC count from the 10am blood test, new change in status and hours of having nothing done for her, she didn't have a thing done for her all day other than be put in a cage. She didn't start a blood transfusion until 5pm. She then started to show signs of organ failure. Maybe her sitting around all day having no real treatment or sense of urgency for her care could have contributed to that. I took her home rather than leave her there. All in all for no real direct care and a 15 hour day, I paid $2,000 for a blood test, x-ray, ultrasound and 1 bag of blood transfusion. Guess since I was paying the assistants by the hour they wanted to elongate her stay. The ONLY person there that I can say helped me was nurse Kami. She was phenomenal. I highly recommend saving your pets life and taking them to Blue pearl in Greenbrier. I arrived there the next day and within 45 minutes had a full break down of her condition and a new blood test done. The people at PARC cost my dog critical hours of her life and I'm forever remorseful that I ever took her here.

I brought my baby Khalo in yesterday he had some kind of episode such as a stroke or some like that and was told he had many masses in photos and his prognosis was poor, I feel I was told it would cost $2000 - $3000 to run further tests and he may not make it through the tests and feel I was pressured into letting him go and my own veterinarian at Woodland Veterinary hospital did not have a available doctor yesterday and won't comment on whether putting my baby down was the correct thing to do. I'm heartbroken that I lost my Khalo to aledged masses of possible cancer and feel I should have gotten 2nd opinion. Staff was very nice and offered condolences but just felt I was given no choice now I'm at a loss and will be searching for a new veterinarian for my other babies.