South Bellmore Veterinary Group

"We adopted our golden retriever 10/2/21 in the middle of COVID. We adopted her then not because of COVID, but because we wanted her. We didn't research veterinarians since we thought they all must love animals. Living in Bellmore, we visited the South Bellmore Veterinary Group. From the first visit, we hated the place. It is filthy, chairs are ripped, walls chipped, floors dirty with cans and bags of dog and cat food resembling a warehouse. The reception area with its high desk, allows little visibility ensuring no interaction with pets entering the office. Unless your pet jumps up to say ‘hi’, which ours always did, there is no courtesy of a greeting for patients and their owners. They do have signs prominently displayed through CASH ONLY, AMEX NOT ACCEPTED. If you use another credit card there is an outrageous fee. During our first visit, we were unaware of this policy. As we handed an AMEX card, we were greeted with eye rolls, moans and an “OK, just this time, ugh”. They don't accept checks either, .claiming their ‘machine’ (check machine?) broke down two years ago apparently with no intention to repair it. Frustration mounted when they would whisk our dog away to a back room for her shots. We were never allowed to go with her. Subsequent communication with the doctor was non-existent. Visits became more dreadful each time. A ‘tech’ would claim our dog “expressed” herself in the back room. We had no idea what this meant or why the dog behaved this way. As our golden retriever reached the age of two, we decided she was fully matured, a good time to spay her. (We actually learned from our groomer who owned five retrievers and always welcomes our questions.) We informed Drs. Rosen and Franco we were waiting until she was two years old. Their reply was ‘the world has enough dogs. We are glad to take her parts out. People do not want golden retrievers anymore because they shed. Instead they want doodles”. Our spay was scheduled for 2/7/24. I informed the receptionist she is due to go into heat at this time and was concerned about excessive bleeding from going into heat in combination with the surgery. Their only concern was for us to provide the cash deposit ASAP for half or $800, which we did. Four days before the scheduled surgery, we received a call from this vet informing us this week of the surgery was “Dental Week”. and we would have to reschedule. This turned out to be a lie. After putting me on hold, they said “your dog is large (73 lbs) so TWO doctors would be needed to perform this seemingly routine surgery. They claimed this requires major abdominal surgery, her vessels are big and they WOULD HAVE TO SEARCH FOR HER OVARIES, that Dr. Rosen is not comfortable performing this alone and she would require Dr. Foley’s attendance. This was all news to us. Previously the receptionist told us Dr. Rosen alone would perform the surgery. Dr. Foley got on the phone and told us we should be thankful, there will be two of them, Dr. Rosen is doing this on her day off, and we should reschedule. At this point, I was not comfortable talking to this crew, much less allowing them to touch my pet. Our last visit was Saturday 2/3/24 after Foley (the owner of this establishment, btw) told us to come in to get our records and deposit. There, the receptionists told us to come back Monday. Frustrated, we insisted on waiting an hour for the office manager to come in to write us a check (they want cash, but you get a check). In tears, we told them she was going into heat around the date of the scheduled surgery and our research on-line indicated this is the worst time for surgery due to possibly excessive bleeding. They were very cavalier, replying "we will talk to whoever scheduled you”. If they are professionals, we should not have to tell them this, but they just don't seem to care. To SBVG, please do not respond or CYA for the internet to see. We don't want to hear from you. You are a disgrace. We will tell everyone in person not to patronize your establishment and judging by the other complaints on-line, you should be shut down."

"Friendly/Knowledge staff. Treat your "fur" baby as one of their own. Dr's truly care for your pets needs and explain what, if any, medical care is needed."

"The vets here are kind and amazing. Dr Franko is the best vet we’ve ever had (I have 5 pets so that’s saying something). The front desk staff is awesome and friendly. Prices are reasonable. Highly recommended."

"I can’t say enough good things about this office! After years of taking my dog to another vet and being forced into extra tests and other things without being asked so they can drive up the bill this practice was a breath of fresh air. Everyone is super friendly from the front desk staff to Doctor. They got my fur baby in quickly and Dr. Franko was absolutely wonderful, she listened to what my dog needed addressed the problem quickly and walked me through everything she was doing before she did it. I would highly recommend this practice to anyone for their pet needs if you are looking for a vet you can trust to put the dogs needs first and not bang you over the head with unnecessary tests to drive up the cost. I will be bringing my fur baby here from now on!! I only wish I found them sooner!!! Thankyou for taking good care of my girl!!!"

"Dr.Rosen and the staff are very caring and go the extra mile. They took amazing steps to make sure that when I put my dog to sleep that we were comfortable and taken care of in every way. They still take care of my other dog and I recommend them to everyone that is looking for pet care."