Bark & Play

If you care enough about your pets to want them taken care of, do NOT being them to a place that allowed a man like Matthew Soto to manage it – he was arrested last summer for animal cruelty, mainly for forcing dogs to stay in such small spaces that they became infected from laying in their own urine!

On August 25, ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Agents arrested Matthew Soto, co-​owner and daily manager of Bark & Play, a dog-​boarding and day-​care facility in Brooklyn, NY. Soto has been charged with five counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty for severely neglecting several dogs boarded at the kennel.

Co-​owner was just arrested for mistreating the dogs. It’s on ASPCA news. People, if you truly love your pets, read the news and look around for credible people to take care of your loved ones.

The ASPCA arrested the owner of Bark & Play with 4 counts of animal cruelty.

WARNING!!!
by flava30 at Citysearch
!!!WARNING!!! IF YOU LOVE YOUR DOG DON’T TAKE IT HERE… Left my dog there while on vacation. Came back it was so skinny I could see his rib cage and he was very timid and afraid. He got into a «friendly fight» and was cut on his back and some of his face. They just minimized this. When I called during my vacation they said that he was doing great, yeah right! Do yourself a favor and find another place…
Pros: None
Cons: Everything

I would NEVER let these people near my dog.
Another lady and I witnessed a driver leave 12 dogs locked in a sweltering Bark and van on a 90 degree day with no air or water. Doesn’t everybody know you should never leave a dog locked in a hot car? This lady and I waited 20 minutes for the driver to return, and when we told him he should never do that to dogs he said he didn’t «give a ****» about the dogs and drove off. Multiple calls to Bark and Play resulted in dismissal and rudeness. This place should be shut down. And it will be.

OK, so I am the most overprotective dog owner ever. So, when I moved from Brooklyn Heights and had to bid farewell to my favorite doggy daycare, Cheeky Dog (they’re amazing) for a Park Slope play pen, I landed at Bark & Play. And, i have to say — all in all — I’m happy there.
Everyone I’ve come into contact with there is friendly, knows dogs and most importantly is SUPER comfortable around them. They got to know my Pit Bull and Pit Bull/​Can Corso mix well and treat them well.
They don’t mind (or at least don’t show they mind) the periodic, «how are my pups doing?» calls. I’ve boarded my guys there as well for a week. Aside from being a little dirty, they seemed great.
As for their grooming, I can’t speak to that since my dogs don’t require much of it.
So, bottom line is I’d recommend Bark and Play for anyone in the Park Slope (or surrounding) area.

I have left my 3 yes 3 shih tsu here on numerous occasions and all I can say is they are great. the dogs get to play all day and get to watch TV if they need to chill. They do it all. they will even pick up yours pups for ya if you need. its great have a place to leave the dogs while we go relax on a long weekend or even a week long vacation. The last time I was there they did have one puppy for sale. a beautiful bulldog .and the puppy was clean and in a very clean crate. I have no complaints about this place and to top it off Jerimy is a complete gentleman.

Ick.
This place is really close to my house, so I had high hopes. I took my dog around the corner to do his business and there are the Bark & Play dogs behind a mesh area, each and every one of them freaking out. It’s a weird setup inside (dogs aren’t separated by size, for one thing) and I knew I wouldn’t be comfortable leaving my dog there. (He now goes to Dog’s Den Doggie Daycare on 5^th Ave., which is incredible, by the way.) However, one day in a pinch I needed to take my little guy to get his nails clipped. They were friendly, but didn’t bother putting him on a table or anything — just proceeded to do them there in the doorway — and made *every last one of them* bleed. I understand when this happens as an accident, but this was all of them (no, this has no happened before and yes, this guy was supposed to be a professional groomer). My dog was freaking out. Never again will I bring him back there.
That was months ago. Now, just yesterday, I saw a flyer for them on a lightpole near my house saying «We now sell puppies! All kinds, all sizes!» Holy NO. Firstly, you shouldn’t be breeding puppies anyway — what are you, a mall pet store? — but to be running an operation that pretends to be one that’s in the dog care business and then running a breeding operation on the side is unscrupulous at best. At worst, it’s disgusting. These guys are in the moneymaking business — that’s all.

I feel so fortunate that I found Bark & Play and its owner, Jerimy!
Finding daycare and overnight care for a problem pup around here is hard to do. My life before Jerimy was work, then rushing home to take care of my monster, Annablle. (Even Monster Mutt couldn’t handle her, what false advertising, grrr!) But, now? I can actually go out once in awhile and go on a STRESS-​FREE vacation (i.e. not under constant guilt that my dog is in a kennel ²³⁄₇)!
I highly suggest you give Jerimy a call if your dog has socalization and/​or dog-​reactivity issues. The facility in Brooklyn is a perfect place for dogs that play with others really well, but for the more rowdy cases, they will transport your hound to their huge 8 or 10,000 square feet outdoor facility in Rockaway (
) Jerimy is excellent at arranging the right play groups to help dogs improve on their socialization skills. As soon as I cut down on the much-​needed vacationing, I’m going to save up for some training sessions with him. I’m not sure if he is a CDT or not, but frankly, I don’t care. All I care about is that my AnnaB (aka «The Hurricane» — she’s a Katrina rescue) responds very well to him and she absolutely loves him.