THINGS WE LOVED:
the hummingbird was super super cozy and totally ready for us when we arrived. breakfast was delicious (totally worth the $15 but BRING CASH), the AC worked like a dream, the decor was lovely, and the shower was great.
THINGS WE DIDN’T LOVE:
when we arrived at the ranch, we found a dog hobbling around in the 113 degree heat in horrifying condition – he was bone-thin, extremely matted fur, could barely walk, had flies/infections in his eyes and nose and oozing sores all over his body. he smelled like roadkill. his collar had grown into his flesh but there was no tag and he wasn’t chipped, so we assumed he was a stray that had wandered onto the property looking for water. no one was on the ranch to assist us, so my boyfriend and i considered this an emergency situation and rushed him to an emergency vet an hour away. unfortunately, the vet told us the dog was full of maggots because of how advanced his infections were, and he had to be put down. we were absolutely devastated.
the next morning, we told the staff about the stray (in case the dog’s owner came to the ranch to look for him). we were INCREDIBLY confused to find out that the dog actually belonged to the ranch, but no one had taken any action to remedy his condition. the ranch owner told us that they were waiting for “nature to take its course,” that the dog just pretended to be tired and sad so that people would give him attention, and she asked us if we had been able to recover the collar from the vet. she didn’t seem concerned about the quality of the dog’s life (despite the fact that the other dogs on the ranch were very healthy and happy). the deeply saddening experience we had with the dying dog was really concerning for us and had a pretty profound effect on our vacation. i’m not just a dumb bleeding-heart city girl either — i grew up on a farm with many animals and dogs. there is no reason to allow an animal to deteriorate to the point that it’s maggot-infested, ESPECIALLY on a ranch with a ton of staff. i sincerely hope in the future the staff at SVR is a little more attentive to the quality of life of their senior animals, because no pet deserves to be wandering in the desert heat, riddled with maggots and infections, with no food or water.
but y’know, aside from that, it was a great experience.