A DOG lover is furious after a kennels failed to spot a large gash in her dog’s tail.

Tracey Farrant, 41, of Karen Close, Wickford, returned from her week holiday in Bulgaria to find her ten-year-old Beagle Bobby “just was not right”.

On closer inspection, she discovered he had suffered an injury to his tail.

He was one of eight beagles, dachshunds and pugs Mrs Farrant had put in the care of Sorata Kennels in Woodham Road, Wickford, who claim they have no idea how he sustained the injury – but agreed to pay the vet’s bill as a goodwill gesture.

Mrs Farrant said: “We found it strange when the woman wanted us to pay the £720 before we could see the dogs. They all came out and they stunk, and Bobby just was not right.

“He had his tail tucked between his legs.

“By the time we got out to the car park we had spotted the problem.

“We just did not know what the hell had gone on.

“We did not want to jump to any conclusions until after we had seen the vet.”

Mrs Farrant suspected the dogs had not been let outside and hadn’t been kept clean while in the care of Sorata.

She further found it unsettling that she had not been allowed to view the kennels before letting her dogs stay there.

Bobby also suffers from a heart murmur and epilepsy and his owners say they supplied tablets for the kennels to give him throughout the week.

David Pagan, manager of the kennels which has a Google rating of 4.9 stars, has defended their service and said the dog was not behaving out of character while in their care.

He said: “Bobby was on medication but they did not have enough for him when he arrived at the kennels.

“Perhaps we should have picked up on the injury but from what I had seen, it was in an area under his tail that generally we may not have looked at.

“We do not normally go checking in the groin and the area of the dogs’ rear.

“She had told us the dog was in pain, but in our care he was not in pain or showing signs of distress and things like that.

“There were no signs he was behaving differently.

“I apologise to the lady for what has happened and we have paid the vets bills for her as a goodwill gesture.”

Despite Mr Pagan’s apology and the payment of the vets’ bills, Mrs Farrant is still not happy.

She believes the injury should have been spotted as it was in fact on the top side of the tail.

She said: “He was holding his tail under his legs and he was in a lot of pain.

“Bobby is a happy dog, he loves people and he is always jumping up.

“How is it he was in their care for a week and we had him for minutes and we spotted it straight away.”