Got puppy Thurs. not from breeder. My vet Sat. Demodex $147 seller won't talk (details!!) What can I sue for?

Question

5 month old. Called 11am Sat. She hung up, tried again "I don't have the time or patience to deal with you!!" Girl posing as vet called with fake info & fax #. Called that vet this morning. Never heard of ANY of them. I called again giving a few hours to respond, then filing small claims. Which costs can I sue for, $147 + future weekly treatments, gas to vet & back, 80 miles! cost of shots (his record has 6 week only) YES I should've checked her info out first, but that shouldn't cost me thousand$ Breeder, no personal or "business" name listed. My vet said It's NOT illegal to breed/sell sick dogs. I can't warn anyone or she can sue me!

I TRIED TO KEEP IT SHORT, NOT CONFUSE YOU.
1. I bought him from his owner NOT THE BREEDER.
2. SELLER GAVE ME A VERBAL HEALTH GAURANTEE 4 TIMES
3. I WANT TO FIND THE BREEDER TO SEE HER FACILITIES & IF I CAN, GET THE HUMANE SOCIETY/POLICE INVOLVED.
4. THE SELLER IS NOT TAKING OR RETURNING MY CALLS.
5. SELLER HAD A FRIEND CALL & PRETEND TO BE A VET, THEN VET ASST. SHE GAVE ME A FAX # SO MY VET COULD SEND MED REPORT.
6. I CALLED THAT VET. "FRIEND" GAVE FAKE VET NAME & FAX.
THAT VET HAS NEVER HEARD OF ANY OF THEM.
7. FIRST CALL TO SELLER, I SAID TAKE DOG, REFUND MY MONEY.
8. I SAID I SHOULD'VE DONE "MY HOMEWORK" THIS IS "ANSWERS" NOT STATE THE OBVIOUS!
9. I CAN SUE IN SMALL CLAIMS FOR COST OF DOG, CURRENT VET FEES AND COST OF LONG DISTANCE CALLS TO HER. JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF I CAN SUE FOR FUTURE CARE IF SHE REFUSES TO TAKE HIM BACK!
HOPE THIS CLEARS IT UP FOR YOU "CONFUSED" PEOPLE.
HAVE A NICE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Great job with the additional details, I got it with the original question. Ignore 95% of previous answers. If they were confused they should not have posted at all, announcing ignorance is not an "answer." You seem to be doing everything right. The sellers attitude, not returning him to breeder & having her friend give you bogus info proves she either knew about mange when she bought him at 6 weeks or she just found out & sold instead of paying for treatment. Written gaurantee or not, you only had him 2 days and got proper care immediately. A friend had a problem with a neighbor's dog. Owner agreed to pay all costs, then only 1/2 the bill, after my friend's insurance paid. W/out games, they would've paid under $400. Instead they had to pay for her stamps, L.D. calls, registered letters, time & effort...
Her settlement...$8,000.00!!! Definitely sue!!

Answer 2

Much of what you can recover, IF ANYTHING, depends on what state that you are in, and what your purchase contract, which must be signed by both the seller and you, says regarding health guarantees, reimbursements, returns, etc.

If you walked into the owner's place, met/loved the dog, handed over the cash, and later found out about the mange, you might not have much of a case. "Caveat emptor" - "Buyer Beware" - applies here. Before making a purchase, it is expected that the buyer performs due diligence (in other words, you did your research and verified the seller's claims) before making a purchase. If the seller made a verbal agreement with you regarding what would happen if the dog was sick, and if you have several witnesses to the agreement, then you MIGHT have a case and MIGHT get some of your expenses back. In this case, ask for reimbursement for everything relating to the demodectic mange, and expect the judge to award you some of it. For example, the first trip to the vet, since you would have had to take your pup in for an exam anyway, probably would not be awarded to you. Cost of puppy shots? I doubt you'd get that, either. (You could have verified the shot records prior to buying the dog, and all pups need shots, so it's not an undisclosed health issue.)

If the seller had said your pup was of AKC Champion parents, but when you went to register the pup, you were told by the AKC that the paperwork was fake, or that there were no AKC dogs registered with the parent's names, you'd probably have grounds for a criminal action, for fraud, depending on what you spent, and where you live.

Sadly, your vet is right - it's NOT illegal in most states to breed/sell sick dogs. Unethical? You bet! And slandering the seller won't help you. BUT...the USDA requires licensing of all breeders, backyard or otherwise, so you might get a little personal satisfaction if you reported the breeder to your state's Department of Agriculture, and let them deal with the aggravation for a while. If you noticed, while on your visit, that the animals were kept in substandard conditions (certainly mange is not a healthy condition to have) you could also call your county's animal care/control department and have them do a wellness visit to check for neglect. The Anti-Cruelty Society or the Humane Association can do the same type of thing, if you don't have a county department. While none of these things will get your money back, they will force the seller to take better care of her animals. The hassle the seller will go through, and the record of a neglect charge, will have to be enough of a vendetta for you.

PS: I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV!!!

Answer 3

Yeah, you should have done your homework. Sick dogs are sold every day, and no, you can't get anything back for it, it will be thrown out of court. You made a purchase of a living being, which should have been an informed purchase, were given no guarantee with your purchase either in writing or verbal, so you have to deal with it. It is YOUR fault that you bought a dog without doing your homework. And yes, it can cost you thousands of dollars.

This is why its important to do some homework first. You didn't do your homework, and now you will have to pay for it. Also, there is no way you can sue for the cost of his shots - most breeders only give the 6 week shots before selling their puppies. It is ridiculous to think you could sue for that.

You can tell people that you purchased a pet from her and that the pet was unhealthy and she wouldn't assist you, and no, she can't sue you for that as long as you can prove that you purchased the dog from her. Based on what you've said that doesn't seem likely though.

Answer 4

Check for "Puppy Lemon Laws" for your state. It is illegal to sell sick dogs. Buyer must be made aware of any current health issues.

I would sue her for what you paid for the dog, and what you've paid in vet bills also and let her have the dog back, and be done with her. If you'd rather keep the dog, then you will more than likely get NOTHING.

As far as warning others, you need to be very careful if you post her information. As much as it sucks, yes, you can be sued for "slander".

Definition of Slander: A false report maliciously uttered and tending to injure the reputation of a person.

Key word there being "false". If it is a true report, why would they still consider it "slander"? But they do!

Answer 5

Depends on where you live and the laws there. Also depends on the contract (if there was one) that you agreed to at the time of the sale/adoption. No contract or health quarentee, no compensation.
There is a "lemon law" that applies to pets in MN. A new owner can only recoup the original cost of the sale of the pet if a legit problem arises. Very hard to win these cases.
The law typically sees pets as property so there is not much you can do.
Sorry. Lesson Learned!

Regardless, be sure to get that pup cared for.

Answer 6

You can sue for anything you want does not mean you are going to get anything. Most likley the person who you bought the dog from could not pay you anything anyway. They most likely do not have the money.
Demodex is a problem but many times once they have the first outbreak if you get it under control many never have a flare up again. It is just hard to get under control.
Your vet is right it is not illegal to sell or breed sick or dogs who have genetic defects. It is done all the time by idiots who are looking to make money by selling dogs. They think becasue they have a "papered" dog it is breeding quality.
I hope you can get your dogs mange under control and he has no future outbreaks. Good luck.

Answer 7

You most certainly can warn people and I would if I were you. Post it on the internet and also locally. If you are worried about slander "you didn't post anything". I'm not sure what you would get in a law suit if anything but its worth the effort.

Most important is now that you have the puppy you are gonna have to deal with the care it will take to get it healthy. Poor thing is innocent in all of this. I wish you luck with this.

Answer 8

Our emergency c-section ($2300) basically particularly beat out our stud value ($2000). It became right into a Sunday afternoon and our mentor had spent the entire weekend at our domicile waiting. She had to go away Sunday morning to come again to artwork and her parting suggestion became into if there became into no progression via midday have her appeared at on the vet (our different mentor became into scheduled to come again in around supper time). thankfully our repro vet has a 24 hour emergency sanatorium, so our vet became into already there with a skeleton group. We further her in for a examine up and the domestic dogs heart expenditures have been at seventy 3 already, so we made the instant determination to have a c-section. In below 40 5 minutes we had sufficient techs and helpers to preform the surgical operation. If we had waited even till time-honored hours on Monday, all could have been lost. Now bear in strategies, our lady persevered to eat, did no longer nest, wasn't panting, etc. She became into offering no indicators of work that could have indicated any subject on our section. in the telephone call to the vet, she wasn't overly worried the two- incredibly had her in to make us experience extra advantageous i think of. i'm so grateful to our mentor for understanding the quirks of the breed and of transcervical AI so she gave us the information we necessary to have 10 wholesome domestic dogs further.

Answer 9

I think that you should sue for all you can(that is linked to your puppy). The judge will decide which claims are invalid(to her/him) & award you the rest. Hopefully your judge will be a dog/cat/horse person who understands how awful this is.

Is the puppy registered? If so, there are places you can report them (without getting in trouble).

Answer 10

My brothers girfriend bought a dog at the flea market near us and it ended up ahving parvo. The dog almost died and it cost her like $1000 dollars in vet bills. She sued the dude who sold the dog to her and he ended up not coming to court so as of right now there is a warrant out for his arrest due to him not showing up to court.