I purchased a pup from this establishment that supposedly had a 'mild/typical case of kennel cough from stress'. I was told that she was "timid" and "might not eat right away because of the change in environment" (going to a new home).
What I was actually sold was a desperately ill puppy that ended up being very dehydrated, had a foreign object in its itestinal tract, a SEVERE upper respiratory infection, enlarged heart, and was loaded with roundworms. My vet stated that the pup might not live.
Upon informing the propriotors of the situation, they said that my only recourse was to "bring the puppy back for a full refund or another puppy". I had fallen in love with THAT puppy and did not want to return her like a pair of shoes&so I asked that the store issue me a refund of half the purchase price, and that I would take my chances on nursing her back to health, if possible, at my own expense. They flatly refused.
I contacted the original "breeder" (which, upon further investigation, turns out to be a Missouri puppymill operation) and pled my concern to him&also to no avail.
I then contacted the Better Business Bureau and we went back and forth, again, to no avail. The real "bite" there was that the Pet Shop owner lied to the BBB! He stated that the puppy was quarrantined as soon as they knew it was ill&what a lie&the puppy was never segregated until I put a deposit on her and begged them to segregate her. The fact is that the puppy was on the sale floor and being treted with an antibiotic when I first saw her.
Bottom line: If you purchased a puppy between the dates of January 17 and February 6 from It's Just Puppy Love, YOUR puppy was exposed to my very sick and contagious little puppy. They sold her sick, knew she was sick, put her on the sales floor sick, and STILL charged and KEPT full price for this puppy.
In turn, I not only spent a LOT of money preparing my own dogs for possible contact with kennel cough (I had them all immunized prior to bringing the pup home as a precaution) but also had 2 of my 3 dogs still get sick from some other virus/bug the puppy was carrying. I have now spent almost three times what I paid for the puppy in veterinary bills. Now, at 17 weeks of age I have a puppy who will just be beginning her puppy shots (if all goes well) in the next several weeks and who is in no way out of the woods yet.
By the way: It's Just Puppy Love has only been in operation for just under 2 years, and mine is the third BBB complaint filed on them. Not so surprisingly, the prior two complaints are listed "case closed" because the business refused to negotiate with the complainant. If there are 3 of us who actually went to the trouble to file a complaint—how many more are out there who didn't know how to do that and just "bit the bullet"?
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