We arrived at this location shortly before sunset after a 10 hour drive from Utah. This was the last stop on our road trip that started in Texas, went to the Grand Canyon and Zion before we returned home.

First, it's important to note we are not new to camping in primitive or back woods areas. We've done multiple trips to Big Bend, Marfa, Davis Mountains, and, as stated, we were just coming from GC and Zion. When we arrived my first thought was that the area seemed, for lack of a better term, disheveled. After our long trip we were eager to get out of our car, start a fire before the sun went down, and organize the site for our stay. None of that would end up happening because immediately on exiting our vehicle, within five minutes, our dog got multiple cactus quills deeply embedded in his front paw. It was clear after trying to take a look at them we were not going to be able to remove them at the site and our stress immediately escalated. We contacted the owner for help at this point and she provided us information for emergency vets in the area. At this point, I thought it was a little strange she didn't send her representative out to help us, but I was too wrapped up in the ongoing situation to take real stock of her responses. My girlfriend began to contact emergency vets while I comforted our dog and set about prepping the site for our stay. While we were on the phone with the vet our dog who was now confined to a small space in front of the van we were staying in got another bundle of quills stuck in his back paw. This all happened in, at most, a hour if not less than 30 minutes. When I asked the neighboring site if they had anything that could help they informed me they also had a dog that was aggressive towards other dog. They immediately left. We found out shortly after this that vet services related to this incident were going to be at a significant cost.

We isolated the issue to a plant less than 10 feet from the entrance to where we were staying. I had already located other bundles of quills, but with low visibility we couldn't determine how much more risk there was in the immediate area. The sun was setting, we couldn't determine risk, we already had two incidents, we located the probable root cause, and the neighbor informed me they have a aggressive dog.

At that point we had to make a decision, and that decision for both our safety and our pet's safety was to leave the site and find other accommodations, so I contacted the owner by phone at that point.

I explained to her that based on the hazards we didn't feel safe continuing our stay at her property and would need to find other accommodations. I explained what was happening, our dog was in distress, and my girlfriend was crying at this point. Her response was blunt as she said, 'good luck.' After that, there was a notable moment of silence before she said, 'oh, do you think you should get a refund?'

I'll admit at the time I was escalated, and I found this response infuriating. The question itself wasn't as much of a issue as the tone of her voice, which communicated clearly to me that she was asking sarcastically. A refund at that time was not at the top of my list of concerns given the circumstances. In a situation such as this, her first priorities should have been empathy, a apology, a confirmation that she'd take possible steps to make sure that this wouldn't happen again, and finally the very least she could have done is help us find other accommodations in a area we weren't familiar with.

My opinion is that you do not judge a rental owner's grit by their actions when everything is going well. You measure it by how they respond in a situation where something has gone wrong and in this area this owner failed. Instead of offering assistance or basic empathy she offered a defensive attitude, condescending statements, and even mocked my chances of finding another place to stay on such short notice.

In no way can I recommend staying at this property in good conscience if the owner's priority is not a camper's safety.

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Manzano Mountains State Park, New Mexico

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