This ordeal began when my girlfriend Sheryl and I were at a local social event. The owners of CheekoB, a new pet boutique here in San Francisco, arrived with a beautiful Brussels Griffon puppy in tow; they'd nicknamed him 'Hobo.' Randy Vo had been trying to partner with their pet store, and it was one of his dogs. Sheryl was instantly taken with Hobo & mdash; he's the breed of dog she'd always wanted, and so I asked them how to go about purchasing it.
All they wanted was $1200, and said they would provide proper medical and license information upon payment. It was now after 11P.M., and they said that we could take him home for the evening as long as I provided the money the next business day in cash, as Randy Vo does not accept credit, check, or money order. I was a little concerned about this unusual purchasing route because it seemed typical of someone avoiding a paper trail, but I had personally known the owners of CheekoB for a few years, so I trusted their integrity.
Later that evening we noticed our young puppy (now renamed Hanzo), had a bit of mucous around his nose. He would also drag his backside along the floor & mdash; something I assumed young puppies, being silly, might do. Just to be safe, I decided to call the owners in the morning and find out whether he was ill. The next morning his mucous had become much worse, and he made a slight wheezing noise when he slept.
The owners of CheekoB said that one of their puppies suffered from the same symptoms - just a small cold - and that it would go away in time. But when I called a local veterinary hospital, Pets Unlimited, they said these symptoms were indeed cause for concern, and that he should be seen in the next few days. Since I didn't have the papers yet, I told the clinic I'd get this information first so they could know what shots the dog had.
A call to CheekoB confirmed that their Breeder, Randy Vo, had not dropped off the paperwork yet but would do so the next day.in order to appease their concerns, Sheryl and I gave them $600 (half of the cost), pending the paperwork would come the next day. That evening when we noticed considerable changes in the health of our new puppy, we decided to bring Hanzo to Pets Unlimited for a checkup without his paperwork.
The veterinarian thought his symptoms seemed minor, and said that it was likely an upper respiratory condition that could easily be cleared up with antibiotics. If Hanzo showed increased symptoms, we were to bring him back immediately.By the third day we still didn't have the paperwork. Hanzo was now vomiting and suffering from diarrhea. He began to refuse food and water, and slept lethargically, moving only to use the bathroom. Beginning to panic, I called CheekoB to ask, again, for the dog's papers.
I offered to speak to the Breeder myself, and they gave me Randy Vo's cellphone number. Randy expressed his sympathy for the puppy and offered to pay for the antibiotics, but said it was probably a minor health concern that would pass in a few days, so not to worry. We didn't believe him. We brought him to the emergency room at Pet's Unlimited again; after a series of tests they became concerned that he was suffering from a later stage of Parvo, and would need to be hospitalized in order to stay alive.
Had we delayed any more time, poor Hanzo would have died or been put to sleep. He was placed in a quarantine location and monitored 24 hours a day, IV in tow. They checked his chemistry for any other issues, and found both Coccidia and Giardia in his system. Hanzo would spend the next three days fighting for his life through a series of documented treatments. Doctors Megan Moser and Kristen Haviland at Pets Unlimited worked aggressively to save my puppy, and after $1,997 in medical fees, Hanzo returned home to us.
He was barely eating, and we fed him anything he wanted to build up his strength. Throughout Hanzo's three days of hospitalization, I had been calling both CheekoB and Randy Vo many times a day in order to get his papers and learn if there were any other puppies in danger; Parvo is both lethal and highly contagious among young dogs. The owners of CheekoB noted that they'd had our puppy for quite some time in their store, and that Hanzo's brother had a little diarrhea, but it wasn't much of a concern to them. Meanwhile Randy continued to stress that he had the papers, asking to meet me that Friday evening (a week from the purchase), offering to cover the cost of all of this medical expenses.
I didn't hear from him at all that day, so at 6P.M. I gave him a call & mdash; only to find out that he was in a 'meeting.' I asked to meet Saturday, and he agreed. On Saturday he ignored all of my phone calls (there is no voicemail on his cellphone), as well as my text messages. On Sunday he only answered when I called from a friend's phone, and he said he'd stop by on Monday with the papers. He did not return my phone calls on Monday.By this time I had discovered that others in the bay area had purchased puppies from Randy Vo with eerily similar scenarios.
I began to compile this information, including confirmation from the vet that Hanzo was not fit for sale, as well as his final diagnosis. I reported Randy Vo to the Animal Care center in San Francisco, documented his information on this site and Rip-off, sent the appropriate information to press, and have begun the process of small claims. I've reported the above information to CheekoB; and although they felt Randy Vo was at fault, they did not believe they'd caused any problems on their end — they were the simply the middle man.
After questioning my motives for pushing this further, they offered to help convince Randy Vo to reimburse me for the cost of all of the medical treatments by the afternoon of May 13th, so long as I dropped any further discussion of the incident. At 4 P.M. Randy Vo contacted me, apologized for the lack of responsiveness agreed to pay me for the medical costs needed to save Hanzo; the only stipulation is that he wouldn't have the money until Saturday.
I agreed to give him this final chance on the condition he contact me during the weekend to update the situation and continue to contact me regarding his progress. Randy did not contact me like promised, and when I called him the following Tuesday, explained that he couldn't afford to give us any money like he promised, and didn't want to go to court. This situation is still pending.
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