wideawake02
Junior Member
Hi! I am located in Washington State and am wondering what the next step may be in order to get a refund on the pure-bread puppy I bought.
I purchased a 3mo old Papillon from a first time breeder for $700, at the time of purchase the puppy had what she said was an "upper respiratory infection." Before I would buy the puppy I asked her to sign a contract stating two things; 1. If after I finished giving the puppy his medication he was still sick, she would pay for him to return to the vet until he got 100% well, and 2. If we discovered he had a terminal illness within the first month that we owned him she would give us a full refund.
After owning the dog for less than two weeks we traveled to California in order to visit my mother for Christmas, at that time his condition had not improved nor had his health declined. We arrived in California the day his medication ended and planned to take him into the vet to see what could be done. However, on our way to San Diego he began having difficulty breathing and began to cry. Because of this we called information and took him to the closest veterinary office. When I placed him on the table he passed out, or as the vet said "started to die." I called the breeder immediately in order to see what kinds of steps she wanted to take to get the dog better, knowing full well that emergency services are not cheap. I called her four times over the next hour, to no avail.
He was placed immediately into the oxygen tank and the vet informed us that he needed to be admitted over night to an emergency clinic, the costs of which were on the upwards of $1000.00 for preliminary services alone. After I authorized a chest x-ray to find out what exactly was wrong with the dog, he was diagnosed with neumonia. The vet guessed that considering his lungs were nearly full of liquid, he must have had neumonia since before we got him. The vet also informed me that the dog had less than a fifty percent chance of living and that because he'd had neumonia for so long the chances were his lungs would be scarred, that he may never fully recover, and if he did he may have chronic neumonia and be ridden with health complications. She then informed me of my options, none of which included with leaving with the dog.
I could pay to check him into emergency services ($1000 on top of the $258 in fees I had accumulated for the exam and oxygen alone), where I would be required to present a credit card before they would admit the dog. She guessed it would cost me a total of $2,000-$3,000 to get the dog better. She also offered to take the dog in on a house account if I signed over the dog to them, and if he lived they would find him a good home. Since I could not get a hold of the breeder to discuss what she wanted to do, and I didnt want to dig myself into $3,000 worth of debt without figuring out how much she would be responsible for, I signed the dog over to the vet.
The breeder did not contact me until 11:30 that (Wednesday) night; nearly six hours after my first call to her. At that point I was asleep and the call went to voicemail, we played phone tag (in which she only called me twice) until Saturday late afternoon. She asked me where I wanted to go from here and I requested a full refund. She said she would give me half, since she felt I shouldn't have gone out of state with a sick dog. The breeder also said that if I had been in state she could have gone and paid for the dogs vet bills herself, however since she didnt get in touch with me until 11:30pm I would have already made the decision to sign over the dog and he would have been lost to us as well.
I want a full refund and am willing to sue her in small claims court. However, I wanted to know what the chances were that the judge would rule in my favor before I spent the money to file a claim. I understand that the court cannot force anyone to pay the amount, so she may never pay me anyway, however it would at least be a formal notice that she owes the money.
I would be very appreciative of any legal advice you can offer! Thank you so much!
I purchased a 3mo old Papillon from a first time breeder for $700, at the time of purchase the puppy had what she said was an "upper respiratory infection." Before I would buy the puppy I asked her to sign a contract stating two things; 1. If after I finished giving the puppy his medication he was still sick, she would pay for him to return to the vet until he got 100% well, and 2. If we discovered he had a terminal illness within the first month that we owned him she would give us a full refund.
After owning the dog for less than two weeks we traveled to California in order to visit my mother for Christmas, at that time his condition had not improved nor had his health declined. We arrived in California the day his medication ended and planned to take him into the vet to see what could be done. However, on our way to San Diego he began having difficulty breathing and began to cry. Because of this we called information and took him to the closest veterinary office. When I placed him on the table he passed out, or as the vet said "started to die." I called the breeder immediately in order to see what kinds of steps she wanted to take to get the dog better, knowing full well that emergency services are not cheap. I called her four times over the next hour, to no avail.
He was placed immediately into the oxygen tank and the vet informed us that he needed to be admitted over night to an emergency clinic, the costs of which were on the upwards of $1000.00 for preliminary services alone. After I authorized a chest x-ray to find out what exactly was wrong with the dog, he was diagnosed with neumonia. The vet guessed that considering his lungs were nearly full of liquid, he must have had neumonia since before we got him. The vet also informed me that the dog had less than a fifty percent chance of living and that because he'd had neumonia for so long the chances were his lungs would be scarred, that he may never fully recover, and if he did he may have chronic neumonia and be ridden with health complications. She then informed me of my options, none of which included with leaving with the dog.
I could pay to check him into emergency services ($1000 on top of the $258 in fees I had accumulated for the exam and oxygen alone), where I would be required to present a credit card before they would admit the dog. She guessed it would cost me a total of $2,000-$3,000 to get the dog better. She also offered to take the dog in on a house account if I signed over the dog to them, and if he lived they would find him a good home. Since I could not get a hold of the breeder to discuss what she wanted to do, and I didnt want to dig myself into $3,000 worth of debt without figuring out how much she would be responsible for, I signed the dog over to the vet.
The breeder did not contact me until 11:30 that (Wednesday) night; nearly six hours after my first call to her. At that point I was asleep and the call went to voicemail, we played phone tag (in which she only called me twice) until Saturday late afternoon. She asked me where I wanted to go from here and I requested a full refund. She said she would give me half, since she felt I shouldn't have gone out of state with a sick dog. The breeder also said that if I had been in state she could have gone and paid for the dogs vet bills herself, however since she didnt get in touch with me until 11:30pm I would have already made the decision to sign over the dog and he would have been lost to us as well.
I want a full refund and am willing to sue her in small claims court. However, I wanted to know what the chances were that the judge would rule in my favor before I spent the money to file a claim. I understand that the court cannot force anyone to pay the amount, so she may never pay me anyway, however it would at least be a formal notice that she owes the money.
I would be very appreciative of any legal advice you can offer! Thank you so much!