Complaint Review: Pet Stop

In the fall of 2000 I went into Pet Stop to buy a special dish for my dog (which BTW was ordered but never received) and saw a very sad looking male miniature Dachshund. He was already full-size at over 4 months old and when I inquired I was told that a family has put a deposit on him, waited over a month, then returned and said they could not take him after all. I was also told that all animals came from local breeders. My husband and I paid over $250 for him and signed the contract stating that we had a certain amount of time to take him to our own vet and return him if any problems were found. Of course his file also contained a statement from one of their vets saying that he was fine and healthy. We took him home to be a companion for our other miniature Dachshund.

The next day we took him to our own vet, only to be told that his overbite was so severe that it would require several expensive surgeries. The vet said that he was very ill-bred and couldn't believe how much we had paid for him. We returned to Pet Stop heartbroken that we couldn't afford to keep him, and their reaction was ANGER at what our vet had told us! However they were forced by their own contract to take him back and then told us that after contacting the breeder they discovered that the mother had in fact been spayed as a result of throwing puppies with physical problems. Then came the fine print...

The contract stated that if we did return the animal as a result of a vet report, we could only receive a store credit. Well now we had a very large store credit and had our hearts set on a second dog. We chose a female "toy" Rat Terrier and ended up paying more because she was priced at over $300. First however I did some research and found that a "toy" Rat Terrier, by definition, is under 10 lbs. at 1 year of age (UKC). We definitely wanted a small dog. Well this dog weighed over 20 lbs. by 6 months of age and again, our vet said that she was ill-bred and probably had some Jack Russell in her as well somewhere. In the end (after shots, spaying, etc.) she was far too large and rough for our other small dog and after sending him to the vet for X-Rays, we had to find a home for her.

Before this however I had returned to Pet Stop to buy a book and while there saw a practically deformed "purebred" Persian kitten priced at $600 (no kidding). Now I had been researching Persian kittens and breeders and this kitten had several physical aspects that were obviously not in line with the breed, plus she wobbled strangely when she walked. Anyway a reputable breeder would sell a quality kitten for around $250 to $400, I couldn't believe what they were asking for this one, and what's more, I overheard a salesperson taking to a potential buyer who said she wanted to use the kitten for breeding!! I couldn't believe how irresponsible they were. I left and never went back, nor did I even bother to contact them when we were forced to find a home for our dog.

Katie
Dallas, Texas
U.S.A.