help! what actions can I take….IF ANY.. DOG BREEDER SOLD ME SICK DOG!?
ByI bought a 6 week old baby chihuahua, the owners told me they were breeders and they breed dogs all the time. When we met to see the dog, I noticed the dog’s eyes were a little weird, so I asked them, why are his eyes like that? They responded, it’s his first day in the sunlight since he was born. So I was like ok maybe these people know what they’re talking about since they’re breeders. So I bought the dog, since there was nothing wrong with him visibly at the moment.
I get home and his stools were covered with tape rooms. From my knowledge, for the stool to be infested with tapeworms, the dog must’ve had the worms for A WHILE! . I took the pup to a friend of mine and he told me the dog was not normal because of eyes and not normal shaking. So I called the OWNER of the pup, or the guy that sold it to me and told him to please refund me my money because it was NOW clear that pup was sick. He told me he would give me my money back ONLY if I had a note from the vet saying he’s not normal. So, I did what he asked, and now he wont refund my money and answer any of my calls. I did not pay alot of money for a SICK DOG! Point is, if they’re SO CALLED BREEDERS, wouldn’t they know he was sick??? The vet said pup has disease that will kill him in months if not treated, but to fix him is THOUSANDS of dollars! Vet also said disease was HEREDITARY!
Help Please!
14 Comments
November 29th, 2011 at 5:14 PM
well you should get your money back and get an adopted dog or buy in a pet shop
November 29th, 2011 at 5:27 PM
If there are puppy lemon laws in your state you might be able to sue. Otherwise you aren’t getting your money back. Ultimately you brought this on yourself. If you had done even the slightest amount of research you would have known that 6 weeks is too young to take a puppy from its mother and recognized right away that these people are bad breeders.
November 29th, 2011 at 5:31 PM
Thanks for giving money to the puppy mills. You didn’t sign a contract so you have no legal rights.
November 29th, 2011 at 5:46 PM
Breeders don’t sell pups at 6wks..you were dealing with a BYB and they are known for this.It is Buyer Beware.you have no recourse,you saw the dog was to young and bought it anyway and I’m sure the place was disgraceful..
November 29th, 2011 at 6:33 PM
This is why you don’t purchase pups from Back Yard Breeders. A reputable breeder would have contracts to sign, and have a health guarantee on their dogs as part of that contract. Since you signed nothing, you are entitled to nothing. Take it as a lesson learned. I’m sorry your puppy is sick, but as with most people who don’t purchase pups from reputable breeders, do their research,etc. you’re paying the price. Also, whoever told you to buy a pup from a pet store is ignorant. Pet stores get their pups from BYBs and Puppy Mills and almost all those dogs have issues.
November 29th, 2011 at 6:50 PM
ok the first sign to get the heck out of there was THEY WERE SELLING A PUPPY AND 6 WEEKS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 29th, 2011 at 7:10 PM
What happened to your contract? If you purchased the dog without any sort of contract that would indicate the health terms related to the purchase, you’re out of luck unless your state has a lemon law.
Most reputable breeders have a refund or trade policy pending health checks. The first red flag should have been that the puppy was 6 weeks old. I’m assuming he was never vaccinated, nor treated for parasites. Most tapeworms come from fleas, so I’m assuming you’ve got those too.
I’d do your research next time around – get references, NEVER take a puppy younger than 8 weeks, preferably 10 – 12 weeks. They should have their first round of distemper vaccines, and have some sort of dewormer on board.
November 29th, 2011 at 8:07 PM
There is a big difference between good dog breeders, and puppy mill or backyard breeders. Your dog was clearly a product of one of the latter two.
The first hint at this is the fact that they sold you a 6 week old puppy- 2 weeks younger than the age pups can legally be rehomed from!
At 6 weeks of age, most pups have not been well socilised enough to leave their family behind, and I have met alot of messed up dogs that were rehomed at this age. If you are great at socilising your dogs, and have other dogs at home, it might not be so much of a problem- but even just for socilisation reasons, pups should not be rehomed until at least 8 weeks of age.
Bad breeders usually fail to worm their dogs, or use cheap, ineffective wormers. It used to be believed that all pups were born with worms- we now know this is not true. If you are a responsible breeder, you will worm all of your dogs, and the pups will be wormed regularly. This is another sure sign you have not chosen a pup from a good breeder.
Worms is one of the most common causes of death in young pups- so make sure you treat this infestation as soon as possible.
If you have a ‘fair trading’ or similar department that you can get in touch with, you may be able to register an official complaint. But puppy mills do not offer money back guarentees- and it is more than likely you will be stuck with the sick pup, and you wont get your money back.
Take this as a valuable lesson to choose a dog from a reputable breeder next time.
Good luck with the pup! Pet insurance might be a good idea…
November 29th, 2011 at 8:34 PM
call the cops and tell them the scumbag won’t give your money back.
then sell something not valuable but expensive.
November 29th, 2011 at 9:06 PM
I’m not sure an hereditary condition can be cured, maybe controlled. Also, eyes look odd and shaking are you sure it hasn’t got some form of distemper virus?
I don’t know if there is any legal action, maybe breach of verbal contract i.e you were assured the dog was healthy so you brought it, but that would be hard to prove, lots of people buy a dog because it is sick and they want to help it, as far as the law is concerned, you could easily have been someone who brought a sick dog to ‘save’it then regreting the reality, so I think you may have to put it down to learning the hard way.
As re. the dog you need to think about it’s future quality of life, as well as your budget, and make a decision ASAP
November 29th, 2011 at 9:33 PM
This is what happens when you buy a puppy from a irresponsible BYBer. Buying a dog that is 6 weeks old is not smart. Get a report from vet a get money back, then do not buy any more dogs.
November 29th, 2011 at 10:07 PM
file a complaint with breeders in to the humane society and animal warden, even if you cant get your money back at least help shut them down. show them the documentation from the vet
November 29th, 2011 at 10:10 PM
You look thru the yellow pages and find yourself a lawyer that does not charge a consultation fee and discuss this with him/her.
laws are different everywhere but in my state within the first year if you are guaranteed a healthy animal and don’t get one the breeder is liable for every dime you put into the animal. You will probably have to return it to the breeder but then it’s their problem.
November 29th, 2011 at 10:39 PM
Call every organization you can think of….Humane Society. Local news station. Look into small claims court.
Copy papers from vet, send a registered letter, receipt requested demanding full refund plus vet fees upon return of pup.
Next time you look for a pup, do better research, make a list of questions, and be able to identify a healthy pup.
These were not “breeders”…but “puppy producers”.