Vet didn't do thorough exam, stuck with dog

[sunnybean]

I recently bought a puppy from a pet shop (which I also have a problem with - I paid $600 for what I believed was a dog from a quality breeder, but have since found out that the "breeder" is nothing more than a puppy broker/mill). When I bought the dog they said I had two days to get him examined by a vet and if there was anything wrong with him, they would give me a refund. I took the dog to a vet and had him examined. They told me he was okay, exept that his ears were dirty. So they cleaned his ears and did a fecal test (which he was dewormed three days earlier and the vet said they SHOULD NOT find that he has worms and of course he didn't). They charged me $45 for this, and the fecal exam was completely unnessesary. Now it's a week later and I've noticed that the dog has trouble standing on one of his legs. He's done it ever since I got him, but I figured his legs were just weak because he's been caged for a long time, and besides, the vet didn't say there was anything wrong with it. Obviously, there's something wrong with it. I know he didn't injure his leg since the vet visit, and he doesn't act like it hurts him. My guess is that it was broken way before I bought him and was never set right. So because the vet didn't tell me this when I had the dog examined, I can no longer take the dog back for a refund. So now I have a dog with a hurt leg that's not worth $600. Is there anything I can do about this?

Thanks
SH - Georgia

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

I recently bought a puppy from a pet shop (which I also have a problem with - I paid $600 for what I believed was a dog from a quality breeder, but have since found out that the "breeder" is nothing more than a puppy broker/mill). When I bought the dog they said I had two days to get him examined by a vet and if there was anything wrong with him, they would give me a refund. I took the dog to a vet and had him examined. They told me he was okay, exept that his ears were dirty. So they cleaned his ears and did a fecal test (which he was dewormed three days earlier and the vet said they SHOULD NOT find that he has worms and of course he didn't). They charged me $45 for this, and the fecal exam was completely unnessesary. Now it's a week later and I've noticed that the dog has trouble standing on one of his legs. He's done it ever since I got him, but I figured his legs were just weak because he's been caged for a long time, and besides, the vet didn't say there was anything wrong with it. Obviously, there's something wrong with it. I know he didn't injure his leg since the vet visit, and he doesn't act like it hurts him. My guess is that it was broken way before I bought him and was never set right. So because the vet didn't tell me this when I had the dog examined, I can no longer take the dog back for a refund. So now I have a dog with a hurt leg that's not worth $600. Is there anything I can do about this?

Thanks
SH - Georgia

My response:

I imagine that you took the dog to their vet. And, of course, their vet is going to give the dog a "Blue Ribbon".

Take the dog to an independent Vet, get an unbiased report. Then, send a copy of that report to the seller, along with a 10 day limit to make arrangements for the return of the dog in exchange for a full refund.

Then, when you get no answer, or they refuse your demand, take the seller to Small Claims court. You have the Uniform Commercial Code behind you. That is, the U.C.C. states that when something is not fit for it's intended, or a particular purpose, you are entitled to a refund despite what the sellers policy may be.

IAAL