Complaint Review: Puppyspot LLC

This company is legitimately troubling, and I highly recommend no one try to adopt a puppy through their service.

Some things to keep in mind:

1) They operate in a way that hides the identity of the breeders they obtain their dogs from. This is deeply troubling, because any and all legitimate breeders in the use have to be registered and obtain a USDA license number (which means they have regular inspections that ensure the dogs are not being housed in appropriately/are not puppy mills). This is public information and anyone adopting a dog from a breeder has the right to have access to the breeder’s records through this ID number. PuppySpot will NOT give this to you. This is not to protect the breeders, but to protect themselves. If it becomes apparent that they do not have this ID number because the breeders are not registered, or if do have it and have knowledge of bad practices by the breeder, then people will not adopt from them. This happened to my brother. They finally gave him the breeder’s USDA ID number and it came out that the breeder had multiple infractions against them and may not have had an inspection in 5 years. Their “no puppy mill promise” is an outright lie.

2) They do not provide any written and signed contracts to ensure the protection of the buyer. They have next no accountability for whatever happens during your transaction with them and you have next to no legal backing to protect you if and when your dog arrives a different breed, is sick, or if just doesn’t show up at all. You’re out thousands of dollars. If you request a contract, they will simply redirect you to their terms of use on their website and ignore any further inquiries. Which bring-s me to my next point.

3) “Taylor M.” (email address is TMurphy@puppyspot.com, phone number is 866-306-6064, ext. 266) will outright ignore you if you ask questions that you have every legal right to ask. This is not only an atrocious and unprofessional business practice, it is also a huge red flag. If your request any information that will support your rights as a buyer of a puppy that is the breed promise, of proper health, and has documentary proof that it does not come from a puppy mill, Taylor will completely cut-off contact with you.

I end this reiterating that no person who loves dogs, believes in protecting themselves, and who does not want to support the puppy mills that this business is protecting, should contact this service to adopt. My brother is the type of person they take advantage of—the eager, non-legal savvy, impatient, and relatively shallow. He paid them without consulting an attorney and without signing a contract ensuring that their promises would be kept. His dog is due to arrive in July—and I have no hope that the dog will arrive in the state that he anticipates. (It will either be sick, a breed they’re passing off as the one he requested, will arrive the breed he requested and healthy but will become sickly further down the road, or will not arrive at all.) When that happens, as I’ve told him, he will be optionless and this terrible service will continue their bad business practices and continue funding puppy mills.

Don’t be my brother. Don’t order from these people. If you choose to contact them, protect yourself and get paperwork, the breeder’s USDA ID number, and a signed contract. If they choose not to provide you with this information that should be public, you’ll know why.