Purchased dog

Colorado

We purchased a long hair male Chihuahua (AKA) at a pet store on November 10, 2001, payment with tax being $583.00.. We did not receive the (AKA) papers at the time of purchase nor do we have them now.

On November 13, 2001 we took the dog for a check up at the Veterinary Hospital. At which time we were informed that the dog had bronchitis. The doctor stated when a group of dogs are together in a pet store this sort of illness can occur. We were given a liquid antibiotic to treat the dog for 8 days.

My wife started to notice hives on her legs, back and arms and problem with her throat when swallowing on November 12, 2001. Not realizing what the condition was, we assumed it would clear up. The condition continued to get worst. We realized then that it was hives due to an allergic reaction to the dog. We could not keep the dog in our home any longer because of the medical risks. We were noticing that the hives were not going away and were getting worse.

On November 23, 2001 my wife contacted the owner and explained the situation to her. The owner said she would take the dog back, to bring it back to the pet shop and that she could give us a store credit but not a refund. My wife explained that a store credit would not do us any good being allergic to dogs. The owner said that “if and when” the dog sells, she would give us half of what she gets for the dog. My wife expressed to her that it is not a fair deal, the dog would be returned with her already being paid and the customer not getting a refund.
The owner did not want to hear about it and said I have a sign posted NO REFUNDS. The owner said that she doesn’t have to give us anything and she is doing us a favor by giving us one half of the sale price once the dog is sold. the pet shop received their payment for the dog and refuses to refund to us the full amount of the original purchase price of the dog and will resell the dog again. We, the consumer, don’t have the merchandise that we have paid for nor have we been credited for the return.

We explained to the owner that we would take less money then what we paid for the dog within reason.
Maybe deduct 100.00 or 150.00 for her troubles as well. When the owner said she would only give us
half of what she sells the dog for, whenever that may be. This would be $583.00 we paid for the dog plus additional 275.00 on top of what we paid I don’t think that is ethical or a proper way to do business.

I would like to know if anything can be done to rectify this unreasonable business practice in attempts to refund our money and hope that the pet shop would exercise ethical business tactics

There is nothing unethical about the pet store owner's policy. The sign did say NO Refunds and she is doing you a favor by offering a full store credit or 1/2 of what she receives for the dog on resale. If you are unhappy with that offer, put an ad in the newspaper and sell the dog yourself for the full amount. Or, take the credit and buy a short-haired dog.

one more suggestion: it may not be the dog that your wife is allergic to, but something in the dog's hair. I hate to say the word, mites, but it could be mites since the dog was purchased at a pet store. The allergic reaction to mites is hives. If you really like the dog and would be willing to try to keep the dog, take it to a groomer and explain the situation. The groomer can shampoo the dog in something to treat mites and something that in non-allerginic to pets and owner.
Good luck.