Puppy i sold died. Am I responsible?

I am in Arizona
I hope this is in the right forum, here is my dilema;
On august 20th I sent a puppy to a family in Arkansas, and well a month later it got sick on september 19th and died a day later. I had a health certificate given by a licensed veterinarian that the airlines required. The Vet said it had possible intestinal parasites, very common for a puppy and no big deal. He approved sending the puppy without treatment. we had given no warranty or guarantee on the dog.
The puppy died of parvo, not the possible parasites. The incubation period for parvo is 7-14 days. This proves the puppy could not have contracted the disease while in my care, the time frame would not have allowed it. They are threatening me with lawsuits, claiming it made their other dog sick as well. They have given me no proof of anything, I have looked at lemon laws and they don't seem to apply to hobby breeders like myself. The family is demanding money back or law suits. I wrote a very long response to their emails explaining why I am not responsible for their sick dog, but haven't sent it. I previously told them I wouldn't give them money but offered a replacement puppy for free for their consolation if they paid the shipping. They declined, and now I have this huge mess on my hands with them leaving me legal threat emails and even a message on my phone with a vague threat saying "if their other dog dies something is definitely going to happen".

What is my best course of action here? Do I have any responsibility for their loss? Any advise from things similar would help, and any attorneys advice would be wonderful. Thank you for reading.

The cost to pay their money back, could be construen a couple ways. They paid me 550 for the dog, I only got to keep approximately 260 of it due to the cost of the health certificate, shipping kennel, and airline fees. That was broken down upon sale. They could potentially sue me for a lot because of their "emotional damages" and that it supposedly made their other dog sick. Also, would it be filed in Arkansas or Arizona? If I have to fly to Arkansas over this it won't be good. I am wondering since I am not a citizen of Arkansas and have never even set foot there would I be held under their jurisdiction?

I'm a breeder and have showed dogs. To begin with, in order to even ship this dog, it had to have shots up to date. Right?

I'm also assuming you had a contract with the buyers, since they purchased a dog that you had to ship to them.

The health problem was not the internal parasites that caused the dog's death. It sounds to me like the buyers did not continue the puppy's shots. This makes the buyer the liable one, since you did have a veterinarian's health certificate.

Tell the people you are very sorry for their loss. This, however, was THEIR loss. Ask for the puppy's vet records after they received it if they continue to insist it was your fault.

But first and foremost, don't even consider selling a puppy without a written contract, stating that they have x amount of time to take this puppy to a vet of their choice to have it examined. If at this exam, their vet finds a problem that your vet was unaware of, then they should have it in writing what your responsibility is.

As this sounds, they were negligent in the care of their puppy for not getting vaccinations current. Understand that Parvo is extremely deadly for puppies and dogs without vacs. With them, dogs can still catch this disease but have a much greater chance to survive it. It will be milder and hopefully treatable.

Good luck with them, but I sure don't see how this could be your fault. Each state does have different laws, but since you did have this puppy health checked, which I am sure included appropriate vaccinations on your part, you are not liable.

yes the puppy was current on shots, we had administered them ourselves. there was however no contract, which is why i am worried. lemon laws in my state give the buyer 15days unless otherwise specified, but I don't believe those laws apply to me. I am not sure if that helps or hurts me.

Lemon laws are for defective things. A puppy is not a thing. (Just my opinion, however.)

My advice to you is to tell them you want to see a copy of this puppy's health records since it left your possession. This should tell you that this was totally their fault. Inform them so.

Don't worry about a lawsuit. You would win because of the health certificate. And if they take it that far, they are really going to desperate measures for a $500 puppy. This is really a cheap price for what I assume is a registered animal that required shipping. I have never shipped, but friends who have always charged shipping on TOP of the price of the sale. The health certificate covered you well. Don't sweat it.

captainawesome7 said:

yes the puppy was current on shots, we had administered them ourselves. there was however no contract, which is why i am worried. lemon laws in my state give the buyer 15days unless otherwise specified, but I don't believe those laws apply to me. I am not sure if that helps or hurts me.

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You should keep communication very short and sweet. Say you feel their pain but are not responsible for the death of the puppie. That is it.

It they sue you, they have to sue you in your jurisdiction. It is the right to sue, but it is highly unlikely they would win.

thank you for the responses, I certainly hope so. One other potential problem, they claim they never received the health certificate, even though I sent it wit the puppy, the airlines require that. But I assume the vet would back me, he has records of all that even though he was unable to provide me with a second copy of it. he did give me a copy of the notes.

Your vet will have the records. If they continue to bug you, ask for a copy of their records, send a copy of yours, and tell them you are sorry.

Of course if it were me, I would most likely tell them off for letting one of my puppies die! In this instance, do not do as I would do, however! In telling them off, that is.

Oops. Just read that your vet lost the records but still has notes. I believe airlines are required to have a statement requiring the receipt of health records. If not, just their policy that before they could ship this dog, health records are required should be adequate.

Anyway, these people are at fault, not you. Some people will raise all kinds of problems if they can. In this instance, they don't have a claim at all.

If you ask them to send you a copy of the puppy's records regarding shots from their vet, then its their problem. Giving the shots yourself is okay, but you should have a record of ordering the shots and a receipt for their purchase. That is evidence that you had the vaccinations available, and the judge would say that you would not have purchased the vacs if you were not going to use them.

I could go into a few horror stories of my own, but I'm sure you don't need them. One puppy sale even got me involved with a stalker. At least you won't have that problem!

They are just trying to rattle your cage. Don't let them.

haha, my thoughts exactly, I was angry they let that puppy die, i sent them the cutest one out of the litter. but I have been very formal with them. I did end up sending them hopefully my final response, here it is. the blanks in the body of the message are a representation of his wife's name;

"Dear Mr. ________,

I only emailed ____ because she emailed me twice this morning and left an extremely rude message on my phone, before I had a chance to get back to her or you. As per your request, I will email you.
I have some information for you, it seems as though you and your wife's lines of communication are somewhat limited, So I will tell you what I told her and the information I have researched. Hopefully it will save you some time and money. First, __ notified me last night September 28th 2009, that the dog was killed by parvo. I was initially told of of the dogs death on the night of September 20th 2009. I never stated or implied any warranty or guarantee, and you provided me with no proof of the dogs death, no proof of what the dog died of, and no proof that you even retained possession of the dog any longer. Despite those facts, and having no obligation or responsibility to do so, out of good faith, the goodness of my heart and my own costs, I offered you a free replacement puppy that very night (Sep. 20th). ___ declined my offer. Consider my offer rescinded. I called my veterinarian this morning to verify the following information. Parvo has a 7-14 day incubation period before symptoms show, and no longer. I sent you the puppy on August 20th 2009, and you reported no problems to me. You stated yourself you did not take the dog to the vet, and that the puppy looked healthy. I have all the email records to prove this. __ contacted me by telephone on the morning of September 19th 2009 saying the puppy was very suddenly and severely ill but was fine before that. That was a total of 30 days. Both medically and physically speaking, and given the time frame of events there is no possible way the dog could have contracted the disease while in my care, or from anything I did. Second, the vet told me it is the responsibility of the buyer to keep the dog healthy and take it to vet to have it checked out upon receiving it. You told me you did no such thing. He also told me, and I will go more in depth in this in a moment, that I have no legal responsibility to you or your dogs. It was not our responsibility to notify you of any of the vets recommendations for vaccinations or to pay him to administer them.
In the states of both Arkansas, and Arizona there are puppy lemon laws. I advise you look them up. While I do not know for sure which states laws this matter would fall under, they are both very clear. The Laws to be mentioned only apply to pet stores and commercial breeders, not hobby breeders. I am what is defined by the law as a hobby breeder. I am not held to the standards of the commercial pet trade, and I am not a pet store. For comparisons sake, I will go further in depth with these laws. Under Arizona law from day you receive the animal you have 15 days to notify the seller with a signed veterinarian statement of any developed illness, condition or death. This would have been a deadline of September 4th 2009 in your case. Arkansas Laws only give you ten days. After that period of time has elapsed, the seller has no further responsibility concerning the animal with any illness such as Parvo.
I verbally told __ of the vaccinations and the dates they were administered to the dog. You did not continue the vaccines as any vet would have recommended if you had taken the puppy to a vet upon receiving it. I took immediate action after __ called to inform me the puppy was ill. I did my best to help you by providing the vets notes from the examination. You have no case and no leg to stand on legally. What's more, you threatening me with legal action is a hit below the belt. You can count on the fact that; should you bring a law suit against me, you will undoubtedly lose. I will bring a counter suit against you for both my time, legal costs and our own emotional damage should you file legal claims against us. We happened to love that puppy as well. My advise to you is to drop this and move on. I also did not appreciate the vague threat __ left me on the phone. That was highly illegal, and is harassment. As you said, and like you, I do not wish this to involve lawyers but if I have to I will defend myself to the end in court, and I will not lose money on this. I do not know how to lay it out any more plain for you than this. You will be wasting your time and money by taking legal action. Please do not contact me again on this matter. I bid you good day and wish you well coping with your loss.
With all sincerity,

-______________
September 29, 2009"

May have been a bit harsh, but it felt really good clicking send.

Update, I just got an email back from him;

"That's fine we can consider it closed. I only wish I lived a little
closer to you so we could have a "conversation" in person. Good luck
with your hobby. "

I feel on top of the world now
thanks again for all the responses.

I can understand that. Can't understand your offer of another puppy in this instance, though.

In the future, before you ever send, get a written contract.

Yes, hobby breeders have a different standard than pet shops and kennels. Used to have three pet shops before I got smart and went back down to one. Bred my own animals, also.

I always, always, always got everything into written contracts. Also, if this is a puppy registered with AKC, you should know that you are required to keep records of sales. Whom the puppy was sold to, address, and date.

If you are going to breed again, and since you did your own vacs, I assume this is a possibility, then you want good records, contracts, etc., in the future.

Also, it will surprise me if they just accept your e-mail. People like this usually don't. But stand your ground and don't accept alot of garbage from them. There will be a time for someone to have the last word. Don't keep the situation alive by making sure it is you.

Once I sold a rabbit and got a letter from a lawyer afterward. It pleased me to no end to send a copy of the signed contract to this lawyer. Never heard another word!

Good luck!

Just read your reply that you wrote while I was composing mine. As I said, someone has to have the last word. Just let it be him.

And enjoy your mountaintop! There are enough valleys in this world.

captainawesome7 said:

They could potentially sue me for a lot because of their "emotional damages"

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I went to an animal rights seminar at a local law school earlier this year. One of the presenters said that there were no jurisdictions that allowed recovery for emotional distress for loss/abuse of animals. Animals are considered property under the law.

JKBee said:

I can understand that. Can't understand your offer of another puppy in this instance, though.

In the future, before you ever send, get a written contract.

I always, always, always got everything into written contracts. Also, if this is a puppy registered with AKC, you should know that you are required to keep records of sales. Whom the puppy was sold to, address, and date.

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I agree and can't stress enough, keep good records. Even your own notes of when you vaccinated or gave treatment to any of your dogs. Many a case has been settled out of court because there was a contract or written documentation someone relied upon that refreshed the other party's memory. Judges so much prefer written items over memories.

While it might be noble to offer another puppy, think first of how they abused the one you already sent. If their other dogs became ill them maybe they were vaccinated either. Would you really want to send another puppy into that situation?