What is the emergency plan during a stay?

Some parts of the plan are the same for every guest. Overnight stays at Dogtown include 24/7 monitoring, and by day your dog is with its playgroup of 7 to 10 and a handler. Your dog's file holds whatever you leave with it. And Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital in Woburn, one of the emergency hospitals on the City of Gloucester's list, is open 24 hours every day of the week and describes itself as a specialty and emergency hospital.

Other parts are confirmed when you book, because they are policies the front desk sets and updates: which practice your dog would be taken to, who drives, who is called first, and what happens if nobody answers. We do not publish those details here, and an owner planning a two-week trip should hear them from the front desk directly. Your job is the part only you can do: making sure the right people can be reached and can decide.

The MSPCA's checklist goes beyond medical care. It asks what plans a facility has for evacuation in a fire, flood, gas leak or other emergency, how it responds to a loss of power while heating or cooling is running, and when the local fire department last inspected it. These are fair questions for any kennel, and a January nor'easter on Cape Ann is the kind of night that makes the power question practical rather than theoretical.

Massachusetts is also tightening the rules. Ollie's Law, signed on September 20, 2024 and in effect from December 19, 2024, directs MDAR to write regulations for boarding and daycare kennels, and as of the March 18, 2026 advisory committee minutes those regulations had not been released. Until they are, the questions on this page are the practical test of any facility's plan, and the state's Ollie's Law page is where the regulations will appear.

Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital is at 20 Cabot Rd in Woburn, phone (781) 932-5802, and lists itself as open 24 hours on every day of the week. From 210 Eastern Ave in Gloucester the route runs out along Route 128 toward I-95, about 45 minutes to an hour outside rush hour by our estimate, longer on a summer Friday or in snow. That distance is why the decisions above matter: time spent finding someone to authorize care adds to the drive.

During office hours your own vet is usually the first call, because they know your dog's history and can advise or see it quickly. Tell your vet the dates you are away and that Dogtown may be in touch. If your dog is under the care of a specialist, add that practice's number to the file too, so the people looking after your dog in Gloucester know who to call.