First of all, like most people who have made complaints I did my homework before purchasing a dog online. I had always loved bulldogs and fell in love with the ones on this site.
It all started in April 2008 when I decided to send "Stacey" an email asking about information for a particular dog on what I thought was "her" site, a family run business. She seemed nice on the phone and fully capable of answering any questions I had for her.
After a month or so of doing some more research on this company, I found nothing really negative about it and decided to go ahead and start the purchasing process.
In all honesty,
I'm not the type of person to complain, but when I read the complaint of someone else, and they were told that the original puppy they selected had a neurological disorder that affected their bowels so they had to select another, I knew this was a scam. We were told the same thing after we put down a deposit of $1200 and then had to select another puppy delaying the whole process by another 1 1/2 months. We did receive all the information in a timely manner as well as flight information and such other info.
Upon receiving our puppy from customs, we were a little disappointed to see her covered in urine and feces and vomit and needed to spend at least 30min in the bathroom cleaning her up. We took her to the vet 2 days after receiving her, to have her checked out. Immediately, she had severe bladder infections that lead to blood in her urine for almost a week. Poor baby, at only 9 weeks she started a course of antibiotics for 10 days, followed by another course for 10 days because she wasn't eating properly from the first round of antibiotics.
For the first 2 months we had her, she was sick and couldn't even leave the house because the vet feared her immune system was too weak and that she could pick up any virus or illness from bacteria outside. We spent approximately $1000 in the first two months on vet bills, medication, and emergency care in the middle of the night. Upon contacting Stacey, who was conveniently not available for 2 weeks, we informed her of the visits and were told that the puppy was completely fine before she left and must've contracted in on the plane.
The vet in my hometown that saw the puppy said that the level of severity of the bladder infection would have meant a UTI first, at least 1-2 weeks prior to her arrival in Canada!! Poor puppy had been suffering for at least a week if not more!! Any "vet" who would have checked the puppy before her flight would have detected this and started antibiotics. When we asked Stacey about compensation for these vet visits, she stated that its not covered in the contract and that we would have to just deal with it ourselves since she was not obliged to do anything. Needless to say, the first few months were tiring.
She has an amazing personality and loves everybody and has really become a part of our family. Now, February 2009, our 10 month old puppy is starting the symptoms of what looks to by cherry eye and will see the vet in the next day or so. I will keep updates on her condition as we find out.
Originally, I was satisfied but not happy with Stacey, but now I'm just plain pissed off that people could do this to animals. Such cruelty is inhumane and these people need to learn a lesson or two about proper business practices.
For all the people out there who have had good experiences with the Bulldog exchange and its affiliates, I highly doubt your credibility as your reports all look and sound like they were written by the same person. I have no qualms in discussing anything I've said here and have all the proof to back it up. SHould anyone wish to contact me. put up a post and I will let you know how to do so.
Simran
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada