Complaint Review: Animal Kingdom - Tempe Arizona

Denise, For what its worth, your doing the right thing by contacting the seller to seek resolution. You should be commended for utilizing this sight, but at the same time talking the correct, (although taxing), steps to work with the seller. All too often threads are added without the attempts to work direct with the accused. Your approach is a testiment to who you are. My hope is your next entry will be to report the sellers efforts to assist you in getting your beloved family pet healthy and pain-free. Please do update the sight. God bless you!

I purchased an Ori Pei from Animal Kingdom in February of this year. My puppy came from Missouri as well. I had her for two days when she became very sick. We took her to the vet who determined she had Parvo. We were told she would have a better chance of living if she stayed at an emergency clinic that had overnight care. We then drove her to an emergency clinic where we were told she probably wouldn't make it. I was devastated. The vet kept trying to persuade us not to keep her there, as Parvo pups can rack up a huge bill by having round the clock supervision. He said she had a chance of living because we caught it so early, but most puppies do not survive the disease. I was not about to give up and I insisted they treat her. At that time, the vet called Animal Kingdom to ask how much of the bill they would be willing to cover, since they had a health warranty. They said we had to give up ownership and sign our puppy back over to them. They would treat her, and if she made it, we would be able to have her back. Huh??? Why wouldn't they just honor their warranty and pay for the treatment? My puppy got sick within 48 hours of purchasing her. Their health warranty was for 3 years. I think they were under the impression she was not going to make it, and so they figured they should just give us our money back that night. We went to the store, were given credit, and told to call back to the vet in the morning to check on her. I called the next day, and she was no longer at that facility. Animal Kingdom moved her to one of their facilities first thing that morning so the bill would not be so high. I went to visit my puppy every day, hoping she would get better, and guess what, she did! She was sent back to the store, and I went there that night thinking I would be buying her back and taking her home with me. I did buy her back, but was told they were going to have to keep her a few more days just to make sure she was okay. She had to stay at the store that night, so the next day I went to see her again. This time I was told she was no longer there! Apparently she had gotten sick again, and they moved her back to the previous facility she had been at. No one ever called to tell me this. I was again told to call in the morning to find out what was going on. This time I was told she had swelling on her back leg. The vet said it could be the parvo affecting her, or a congenital defect. They were going to run some tests to find out. I again went to visit my puppy at the vet. All of the nurses agreed that my visits are what helped her recover. She seemed okay except for her back leg, which was noticeably swollen. The weekend came and I called to check on her. They let me know the swelling was just from the parvo and there was no sign of a defect. The vet was sure she was ok. She would be back at the store on Monday. I called Animal Kingdom to confirm this, and they tell me it IS a defect and they weren't going to give her back to me. I let them know I just got off the phone with the vet who confirmed she is ok. They said it was in the hands of their corporate office now, and I would have to wait until Monday to speak to them. Here I am going to see my puppy in the "hospital", making trips back and forth to store, complying with everything they have asked. And now that she's better, I can't have her back like they promised me??? I was heartbroken. I immediately called the vet back to go confirm what they told me. Only this time, they said they had been instructed not to talk to me! They said Animal Kingdom was the owner of my puppy (that I paid for not once, but twice) and only they can call on the status of her release. I refused to accept this, and demanded to speak to the actual vet caring for her. The nurse I had been speaking to before got on the phone and kindly explained she did not have a defect, but they had been advised not to speak to me. Animal Kingdom's corporate office was looking into everything that had happened and I would have to speak to them about it. I was extremely upset at how Animal Kingdom handled all of this. All I wanted was my puppy back! Especially since there was nothing wrong with her. My husband became upset after seeing me get upset about it. He then called Animal Kingdom to find out why there were doing this. We got the same response - wait for corporate on Monday. After numerous calls to corporate with no response, and numerous calls to Animal Kingdom, we finally got in touch with a manager by the name of Johnnie. She was sympathetic and understood how much we loved this little dog. She called corporate herself and explained we did not want a replacement puppy. Besides that, we couldn't have another dog in our house for a year because of the parvo. She talked corporate into letting us have our dog (gee, thanks for giving us the dog we paid for corporate), and they gave us half of our money back. But, we had to sign an agreement that if there was anything else wrong with her we could not go back to them. The condition of us getting our puppy back was the health warranty was now gone. I was able to bring her home and she is wonderful. To this day, my husband thinks Animal Kingdom was going to try and resell her to somebody else for full price. That way they'd get some of their money back that they spent on vet bills. It wouldn't suprise me. Animal Kingdom's business practices are shady. I just hope no one else has to go through what Denise and I have.

Thank you so much for your comments to me. My puppy is a golden retriever. Surgery has been discussed but we have not opted for it at this point because it will cost us up to $8,000. We will be notifying Animal Kingdom today to find out if they will defray any of this cost or even give us a refund on this dog. I am aware that the surgery will ease her pain and can only hope Animal Kingdom will do the right thing here. Again thank you for your comments. She has definitely become a part of our family and we really are upset and heartbroken. Denise Queen Creek

Denise, It made me so sad to read your story. I owned a dog with similar ailments and know how difficult, not to mention costly, it can be. I also have an animal from Missouri but was lucky. Quite healthy. Only because I am curious, can I ask what type of dog is it? Clearly your thread is in relation to the poor representation of your animal but is surgery an option? Lots of money, I know, but maybe could ease the pain. Good luck to you and your pet. I understand how they become but of the family unit and sympothize with what you are going through. I'm sorry I don't have more to offer.