Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/22/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Purchased a Japanese Chin puppy through Uniquely Yours, ******’s Japanese Chins through Gooddog.com.
  Purchase Price $3,000
  $ 500 Deposit Paid to ****** ****** on 9/28/23
  $2,500 Paid to ****** ****** on 10/23/23
  
  Ms. ****** delivered a Japanese Chin puppy to me on 11/9/23 with a pre-existing level IV medial patellar displacement. Her limping and inability to bear weight on her hind leg was very apparent. The knee is completely displaced and will require surgery so she can use the leg. Her femur bone is also shorter on this leg due to the knee being displaced and the bones not growing properly. Meaning this was an ongoing issue that the breeder failed to acknowledge or address. Ms. ****** handed the puppy over to me in this condition. Per paragraph #3 of the contract the puppy is is free from life threatening disease and defects as the day of delivery. Ms. ****** denied any knowledge of it and blamed it on roughhousing with the other puppies. I've tried discussing this with her and she refuses to take any accountability or contribute anything towards her medical care.
  I notified Ms. ****** the same day she was handed over to me once I arrived back at my hotel where she could walk around. I also sent a video showing that she was having a difficult time bearing weight on the leg and was clearly limping. The breeder denied any knowledge of this so I insisted that I take her to her vet in the morning if she was still limping. The vet confirmed the puppy did have an issue and swelling in her leg and spine but didn't know the cause and gave an anti-inflammatory and pain meds. The breeder reimbursed me for this visit to her vet. A follow up visit to my vet would be required.
  The surgeon said this is going to be a difficult surgery due to the severity of it and there’s a chance it could fail so a second surgery may be required. Each surgery is $2,900 to $3,200. That doesn’t include the X-rays and pain meds she’ll be on until she can have the surgery at 6 months of age.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/08/2023

  (Please note: Evidence of each of these statements are documented and on file.)
  
  In reference to a female puppy that was born on 8/22/23, raised in my care, and adopted by ******** *****. This puppy was taken to a licensed veterinarian clinic and given a full health examination on (11/02/23). Per records, the puppy was found to be healthy with no known health issues. A Health Certificate was issued for the puppy. 
  
  •November 9, 2023, (around 12:30 pm), ******** ***** picked up a puppy from me. There was no sign of pain or lameness at the time I handed the puppy over to ********’s care. 
  •November 9, 2023, at 11:98 pm (almost 12 hours after she picked up the puppy from me), ******** sent me a message asking if I had noticed that the puppy had a slight limp. ******** stated that the puppy “walks a little funny, but she couldn’t really tell which leg it was. The puppy doesn’t act like she’s in any pain.” 
  •November 10, 2023 at 6:12 am, ******** messaged me and said the puppy’s leg is worse now than it was previously and the puppy doesn’t want to put any weight on it. ******** asked if I wanted her to take the puppy to my vet so he can take a look at it. I readily agreed. 
  •November 10, 2023, at 9:46 am, ******** messaged to tell me the vet (same veterinarian that gave this puppy a thorough health exam a few days prior to this), confirmed the puppy is now extending her leg out and her back is arched slightly, so she was favoring that whole area. According to ********, the vet said it definitely was not a luxating patella and seemed to think the puppy did it while playing with the other puppies. 
  
  •November 15, 2023 at 11:38 am, ******** messaged me to tell me she had just gotten back from her veterinarians office (different vet than before). Per those veterinarian records, these are the findings:
  MUSCULOSKELETAL: left hind non-weight bearing; thickened/buttress stifle left, cannot fully extend; not painful with spinal palpation. 
  
   DIAGNOSTICS: radiographs-patellar medial displacement of left with asymmetric femurs
  
  Note: This diagnosis was made strictly from the xray images. I have a copy of the X-rays from this veterinarian’s office. I have consulted with several different professionals about this situation. On this particular xray, the puppy is clearly not laying flat on her back. Her left leg is turned inwards, which alters the appearance of the xray. Because of the turned-in leg, it appears that the kneecap is on the inside of the leg instead of the middle. This is also why the femur appears to be shorter. In order to get an accurate X-ray, the puppy would need to be sedated, which it is too young for at this time. 
  
  I do have a contract that ******** read and signed. I do have a health guarantee in my contract,  
  which states: “If the buyers vet reveils a life threatening genetic defect, replacement is the only option, no refunds.”
  My contract clearly states that I do not cover luxating pattellas or blown knees. This is not life threatening. HOWEVER, even though this puppy only started showing signs of an injury after being in ********’s care for several hours, and presumably getting worse each day thereafter; I have went above and beyond my contract, and offered ******** ***** a FULL REFUND of the purchase price, in exchange for the puppy to be returned to me in the same condition it was in prior to leaving my care. ******** refused to return the puppy in exchange for a full refund. 
  
  So to sum it all up: the puppy was not in any pain while in my care. There was no noted injury or pain when examined by my vet on 11/02. ******** took possession of the puppy on 11/09. ******** reported slightly funny walk but no pain in puppy on 11/09 (12 hrs after the pup was in her care). My vet examines the puppy for a second time on 11/10 and does find the puppy is now favoring that leg, but states it is definitely not a luxating patella. 11/15 ******** takes puppy to another vet who takes an X-ray of the puppy. Because of the X-ray, that vet determined this is a luxatting patella. But because of the way the puppy’s leg is turned during the X-ray, the images aren’t accurate, therefore a grade 4 medial luxating patella diagnosis can not be determined from this single X-ray image. I did offer ******** ***** a full refund in exchange for the puppy back. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/13/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: It is clear that Ms. ****** is being deceitful to cover the fact she delivered an unhealthy puppy with a congenital issue. My vet and a surgeon confirmed in writing from an examination and X-rays that the puppy does indeed have a laxating patella ( a completely displaced kneecap that will require surgery).  It is clearly Ms. ******'s own personal opinion on the X-rays since she has failed to provide any documentation from the supposed "professionals" she had look at the X-rays with absolutely no examination.  Even if the puppy wasn't laying completely flat in the X-rays you can still clearly see that the tip of the femur bone to the bottom of the femur bones are two different lengths.  The length of a bone doesn't change if you raise or lower your leg!  These are the facts. This alone would cause a limp. It is also a fact that the puppy cannot bend or extend her leg. This is not a muscle injury as Ms. ****** is trying to be convincing of and being accusatory of as to what may have happened while under my care for a few hours. I had nothing to do with how the bones in her leg formed. The puppy has been on pain meds since we departed MO and her leg remains the same. 

  There were 7 days. between the puppy's initial wellness check and the day she handed the puppy over to me in a parking lot. Ms. ******'s vet stated that he does not place the puppies on the floor during the examination to watch them walk.  Her vet also confirmed that she did indeed have a bad leg and inflammation in her spine but wasn't sure of the cause but most likely from rough housing with her siblings. Her vet did not perform an Xray due to the fact he thought it was a muscle injury and told me to follow up with my vet back home. The vet completely misdiagnosed her.  I've provided a copy of the vets discharge notes.  There were 6 puppies in the liter, 3 girls and 3 boys.  Ms. ****** provided a copy of the documents (provided to the BBB) from the wellness check which clearly stated that one female puppy with a yellow collar had a luxating patella. Clearly a congenital issue from the dogs she's breeding. These are the documents she provided and the facts, not an uneducated opinion or assumption. 

  Ms. ******'s business practices are questionable;  Not allowing buyers to meet at her business location, not allowing buyers to meet the parents of the puppies, to see the conditions of where they're kept, not providing a direct contact number, payments to a personal Venmo account and not a business account and apparently not a licensed breeder in the state of MO with the department of agriculture.  Ms. ****** should provide proof that she is indeed a licensed breeder as required by law in MO. Or maybe that's a better question for the attorney general.  I've also noticed that Ms. ****** blocked all access to her Facebook page for her business and took down the link on her gooddog.com page. 

  Ms. ****** defaulted on her own contract by delivering an unhealthy puppy, paragraph 3 of the contract. Ms. ****** was originally very apologetic that this was all happening and admitted that this may have been an oversight on her part due to the size of the liter and that she would need to make sure she separated the puppies so she could be more observant in the future (copies of this provided to the BBB)  It is now disappointing that Ms. ****** is not willing to take any responsibility in her negligence of noticing the puppy's poor health or getting her the proper care.  She only offered a refund after becoming frustrated and not wanting to deal with the situation. Basically, if she offers a refund the problem goes away.  I brought the puppy back to VA because I thought she would be okay and bonded with her. A puppy with a potential surgery cost of $2,800 to $6,000 is of no value to a breeder who breeds dogs for profit.  There was no way I was going to give her back to the breeder to be euthanized.  It's not about how much I paid for Thumbelina.  It's the priciple of the matter and the breeder should take accountability and contribute to her surgery costs. This is the cost of not making sure she is delivering healthy dogs to her clients. 

  She can't deliver dogs with specific congenital issues and then fall back on the contract stating she's not responsible. That's in the contract to cover the unknown of future health issues.  If she had been honest from the beginning I would have had a choice as to whether or not I wanted to accept the puppy in this condition. 

  The breeder needs to contribute to the cost of the surgery and care that Thumbelina needs.  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ******** *****