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October 2024 by Vicki Rodriguez Kerr
They’re a joke. They’re rude. They take advantage of the elderly. They turn you away and don’t give you good advice. Avoid them like the plague.
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October 2024 by Shi Sub
In 2020 my lab suffered a really bad slipped disc. What we thought would be a simple surgery and rehab ended up being a 4 year long battle with cancer. Throughout that time, Beacon was there every step of the way for our girl. The level of care that Dr. Fitch and Amy Reichert provided for our dog was not only professional, but given with so much compassion and empathy. They went above and beyond for our dog like she was their own and we appreciated the straight forward feedback we were given about her care. We recommend Beacon whenever anyone asks for emergency care and we're forever grateful to them.
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October 2024 by Michael S
Honest honest vet who does not overcharge I was getting way overcharged for test from other doctors until I came here 20/10 customer service and honesty and explanation of everything
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October 2024 by Alex Sung
Be CAREFUL this place is a SCAM!! My elderly mother took my bleeding cat to this place for ER and waited over 3 hours!
My cat just stayed in the cage on their table bleeding. And only after my elderly mother asked to leave, did they finally bring out a $$$$$ invoice
Imagine ignoring an elderly lady with a cat for the ER for over 3 hours!!!
Ridiculous
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October 2024 by morales borre thru cali
My german shepherd was injured very bad he cut vines and tendon from hes leg with a glass at the park, and he was about to die and they help me save his liva thanks MIA THE BEST PERSON AND HER SUPERVISOR THANKS FOR EVERYTHING ?
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October 2024 by Carole Gwynn
We have taken our labrador retriever, Wyatt, to Doctor Fitch for the last 6 years, since the time he was a puppy diagnosed with double elbow dysplasia. Doctor Fitch’s multiple surgeries were all very successful at allowing Wyatt to live a normal and active lab life, and we are very happy with his communication with us, as well as his surgery skills. He has a wonderful staff who all really care about our dog. Wyatt’s rehab therapist Amy R has been a godsend, and her treatments have truly made a huge difference in Wyatt’s ability to walk, run and swim like a lab should. We highly recommend Doctor Fitch and his team.
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October 2024 by Derrick Buckhalter
My big Rottweiler, Rocky, went through a series of seemingly back to back to back issues, from TPLO, to a horrible reaction to pain meds, to now a recurring appointment for blood work, the teams at Beacon Veterinary have been great. They showed true care and concern for my Rocky, and even propped my big silly dog as Top Rottweiler Ever! And although services can be quite expensive, I have found that the extra pennies I may spend there is worth the happiness Rocky has everytime we go back for a recheck, or a visit to use the scale.
In addition to everyone that Rocky has called "friend" at Beacon, thank you Dr. Fitch for your unmatched expertise with TPLO and working with large breeds, Dr. Murphy during our blood work rechecks, treating Rocky like his is one of her own, and Amy Reichert for all of the rehab work, cheese and love a Rottweiler can get while being out through on his way back to being healthy and strong.
Rocky just seems to get excited about anyone he sees approaching him wearing a black Beacon shirt. Coming from a Rottweiler visiting a vet? A hospital? That should tell you something about Beacon...
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September 2024 by Hana Lee
Beware of Beacon Veterinary Specialists--Unprofessional, Money-Driven, and Lacking Compassion!
I had an incredibly disappointing experience at Beacon Vet, specifically with Dr. Julie Damron, who not only lacked bedside manner but was completely unprofessional and rude throughout our visit. This place is clearly a money-driven business that takes advantage of pet owners in vulnerable situations.
When my dog was feeling sick, they ran bloodwork and took X-rays, but Dr. Julie Damron never took the time to thoroughly explain the results or have the patience to answer my questions. Instead of walking us through my dogs hematology results, they handed me a printed sheet as we were heading out the door, leaving me to Google how to interpret my dog's bloodwork on my own.
The worst part? Dr. Damron misdiagnosed my dog's condition, claiming he had ingested "tons of sand," which was supposedly visible on his GI X-ray. She insisted that my dog needed to be hospitalized immediately for three days and possibly undergo surgery--if not, his health would be in serious danger. This didn't sit right with me, so I told Dr. Damron I wanted to get a second opinion. Instead of respecting that, she gaslighted me, saying if I didn't move forward with the hospitalization plan with them, I didn't love or care for my dog! She spoke very condescendingly, demanding to know why I needed a second opinion when I had the "radiologist's report in my hand". According to her, "The radiologist report is right!" She pushed relentlessly for us to commit and potentially sign a new cost estimate as she wouldn't take "no" for an answer.
NOTHING was resolved during our visit, yet I was still forced to pay $1,500.
Later that day, I went to another vet hospital for a second opinion. They re-ran the same diagnostics and gave us a completely different diagnosis: a simple fix that just needed antibiotics! They confirmed there was no "sand" or sand like material, and that he does NOT need immediate hospitalization. They were kind, patient, and took the time to explain everything thoroughly, which was a night-and-day difference from the treatment I received at Beacon Vet.
I wouldn't trust Beacon Veterinary Specialists, especially Dr. Julie Damron, with the care of any pet. Their lack of compassion, pushy sales tactics, and failure to properly diagnose my dog was infuriating. Save yourself the heartache, money, and emotional distress--go somewhere else!
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August 2024 by Sabrina Vogeley
SHORT STORY: Dr. Johnson and the incredible staff at Beacon saved my senior golden retriever Abby’s life.
LONG STORY: We have a beautiful tree in our yard that, for the first time since we moved in a year ago, shed hundreds of seeds. One night, we let our pups out in the evening as we always do, and Abby decided to eat as many of these seeds as she could before I could get her to stop eating weird things. That night, Abby began dry heaving, vomiting, and had diarrhea, so we rushed her to an ER across the peninsula. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, suspecting that she had probably just eaten herself sick.
The next morning, Abby began having severe seizures. We rushed her to Beacon at the peninsula ER hospital’s recommendation, where the Beacon staff was waiting for us with a gurney. They began treating her inside immediately.
Dr. Johnson spent the morning calling me hourly as she investigated the culprit for the seizures. She offered a creative idea to post photos of the plants around the area she was eating in our yard to a Facebook group devoted to poisonous plant identification. Within minutes, the Facebook group had identified the plants in our yard, the culprit being a brunfelsia pauciflora tree, which is highly poisonous to humans and dogs when parts of the plant and seeds are ingested. With this new information, Dr. Johnson spent hours devising a treatment plan for Abby with poison control.
Throughout her treatment, the staff sent us regular photo and video updates, and eventually allowed us to come visit her in person. They did everything they could to make Abby feel comfortable, including allowing her to spread out on a mattress pad outside of her kennel, and gave her an eye mask and cotton balls in her ears to help her sleep more comfortably in the bright ER. They were compassionate and kind, and were super communicative about every step of her treatment process.
After 72 hours in Beacon’s care, Abby has pulled through and is now home and resting comfortably. Even though she was off shift, Dr. Johnson followed up with us to make sure Abby was doing well, and to make sure the cotton balls had been removed from her ears before coming home. ?
The team here is compassionate, kind, communicative, and gave us incredible, focused care. It’s safe to say without Beacon’s rapid response and creative resourcefulness, Abby wouldn’t be here today. They treat their patients as if they were their own pets, and I am so, so grateful to them for saving my fur baby’s life.
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August 2024 by Karina gabriela Aguilera
Worst emergency vet on less your baby is dying they will not see you. they will be pushing the time frame for hours after you check-in. So sad and so expensive still think that that's going to be my last place to call next time my dog needs an emergency vet.
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August 2024 by Henry Rubio-Ventura
Dont ignore the reviews my tabby cat was attacked by a dog and when I came in the lady at the front desk had no empathy and told me that there was a wait on patients. This was the closest vet and begged them to do something as my cat was becoming unresponsive. I was given directions to another vet and drove there only to be in the wrong place, my cat passed in my arms. The people that leave one stars have a reason people need to avoid this place especially if you’re poor i’ve heard other stories of them refusing to accommodate with payments and just charging them after telling them that they should just put them down. Everyone else that gives good reviews has money for sure but poor owners and senior dog owners STAY CLEAR.
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April 2024 by Judy Huynh
I hope the multiple one star reviews from several pet owners within the last month is enough for anyone to NEVER bring their pet here. Our experience with them was terrible and the staff here especially Ariana should not be working in this profession if they cannot show any compassion or empathy towards pets or pet owners.
I'm incredibly disappointed with how Beacon responded after injuring my dog during his routine exam. My dog came in walking perfectly fine, when he got home he suddenly could not put any weight on his left paw and would cry anytime someone would touch it. My sister called them and spoke to Jessica who said that he was a bit fussy and they had to use more force than usual in order to do his exam. We monitored for a few days and he was not getting any better. My sister called them again, and this time she spoke to Ariana who said that if they did anything wrong they would pay for his medical expenses, but if he had arthritis or bone degeneration prior to his office visit, we would have to pay for his exam. She also said that she spoke to the vet tech who we had the initial phone call with and she denied ever holding him down.
First, my dog Charlie is a senior dog so of course with old age his bones will become more fragile. It is also incredibly common for senior dogs to develop arthritis and/or osteoporosis. They are clearly trying to deflect liability by trying to blame his injury on a condition that is common in senior dogs.
Secondly, it is NOT normal for a dog to go into a check up perfectly fine and able to walk, then come out of the check up injured and unable to walk.
Third, I was present for both phone calls because my sister had put it on speaker so that I could hear what was being discussed. I heard Jessica say that he was held down during his exam so they outright lied to us. I was appalled by Ariana's lack of professionalism and compassion towards my dog. She continually cut my sister off during the phone call.
I hope others read this review and never take their beloved pets here.
BEACON, DO WHAT'S RIGHT.
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April 2024 by Loren Dhaliwal
This place deserves a 0/5 stars. The workers need to learn compassion. Hurting dogs, especially elderly dogs, and then lying about it to the owner is sickening. I hope you lose all your business and shut down.
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April 2024 by Jackie
PLEASE DO NOT BRING YOUR PET HERE. Long story short, the staff here injured my dog while completing his exam, then denied wrong doing and are not holding themselves accountable.
On 4/08/24 we brought our dog in for a follow up appointment with his internist/cardiologist. When he was brought out, they handed my dog to me and I carried him to my car, put him in his car seat, and when we got home, I carried him inside my house not thinking anything was wrong. As soon as he stepped foot onto the ground he could not bare any weight on his left paw. I thought this was odd so I called Beacon and spoke to Jessica on the phone. She told me that Charlie was a little more nervous and fussy during his exam so he needed to be restrained with more force than normal. She explained that he could possibly be sore and to monitor him to see if he gets any better. Not once did they mention this to me initially when I had picked him up. I thought everything in the appointment had been fine and it would just be like any other day. I would like to add that they called me around 10:30AM to pick him up and I drove there immediately within 10-15mins, but ended up waiting an additional 45 mins in the waiting area after being notified that he was ready for pickup which I thought was odd.
The next day, there was little improvement and he was yelping in pain every time someone touched his paw. I instantly knew that something was very wrong as he had never acted this way before. I called Beacon and spoke to the manager, Ariana after monitoring him for three days and not seeing any improvements. I explained that he was still in pain and how a staff member had told me over the phone he had to be held down during his exam. I was worried that excessive force was used during his exam and wanted them to check his paws for any fractures or broken bones and possibly get an X-ray. She said that they would re-examine him but if it showed that he had bone degeneration prior, then we would be resposible for the bill. Mind you, Charlie is a 13 year old chihuahua and it's almost impossible for him to show no bone degeneration in his potential x-ray. He is OLD. She also said that she spoke to the staff member and that they now denied ever holding him down. So not only did they not take any accountability for injuring my dog, they straight up LIED! Not to mention that when I was speaking to the manager, she was talking over me trying to make a point that nothing could have possibly went wrong during his exam. I felt that they handled this situation terribly, and instead of accepting fault and repairing the harm that was done, or even offering a simple free checkup since it was clear that his injury happened at the examination, they tried to blame my dog for being old and having potential bone degeneration, and lie and say that he was never held down. My dog is a senior dog, but he has never acted like that before so their argument that he could have been in pain due to his possible "bone degeneration" prior to his appointment is invalid. And even if he did have arthritis, he was never visibly limping and in pain. Their lack of empathy and accountability is why we will NEVER be bringing Charlie back to Beacon.
We are exploring all options to hold them accountable and will file a complaint with the California Veterinary Board. PLEASE DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU LOVE YOUR PET. This all could have easily been avoided if they had just showed an OUNCE of care towards his condition after his visit with them and asked us to bring him in for a complimentary check up due to their own negligence. Charlie’s photo before the appointment standing on all legs with no issues vs limping still FOUR days AFTER the appointment. Beacon, DO BETTER.
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April 2024 by Rhiannon Estrada
Visiting Beacon Veterinary Specialists was a critical step in saving my baby’s life. After some GI upset on Monday and subsequent lethargy and syncopal episodes, we made a trip to the experts at Beacon for an emergency visit. We initially went in with the fear of a potential neurological condition, as her fainting spells resembled what might look like a seizure.
It was here that the emergency vet notified us that Moira’s heart was arrhythmic, the normal lub-dub sound not present at the time of her consult. They performed rigorous testing of her blood and urine, and took several x-rays of her chest for any potential abnormalities that could be causing the arrhythmia. It was apparent on her ECG that her heartbeat was asynchronous, and they took every measure possible to find an emergency clinic with a cardiology team that could perform a consult.
We were then referred to OakVet in Oakland, where their emergency and cardiology teams accommodated my sweet girl immediately.
Without the critical and intermediary actions of Beacon’s expert care team, we might never have known what ailed my baby and how to help her survive it. My family and I are so incredibly grateful for their quick response and help in finding the best equipped care team for her. We couldn’t have gotten her the help she needed without them!
