I would like to start out this report by first stating that everything I'll be writing is 100% true and I have all the documents to prove it. Before purchasing a "mini bulldog, " my boyfriend and I spent many months researching exactly what type of dogs they were, the risk factors of buying one, and what breeder we thought would be best. I actually came across some of these reports before we purchased our dog (Jozy) and ignored them because I assumed that just a few customers had received "lemons."
I had been tracking the pictures posted by Stacey of The Bulldog Exchange, LLC for months and decided that our mini bulldog had to come from her. My boyfriend and I went through the initial payment to put a hold on the dog we wanted and couldn't have been happier. Although I knew that Stacey had overpriced her dogs, they seemed to be about the same compared to the other mini bulldog breeders. I only later found out that they were the same price because all of these fake Miniature Bulldog Club of America (MBCOA) members are basically working under one umbrella company. The Club is fake and only used to validate the exorbitant price charged for these dogs.
When my boyfriend and I received the e-mail about when she was coming, we could not have been more excited. We arrived at the airport an hour early just out of pure excitement. When Jozy arrived late and covered in her own feces and vomit, we just thought it had been because of a rough flight. We took Jozy to the vet later that day, who confirmed to us that Mini Bulldog is often a term used for the runts of a litter or a mix between a pug and bulldog. Nevertheless, we had already fallen in love with her wrinkly face and we just wanted her to be healthy. She refused food and water for 2 days straight and we had to pay for her to receive fluids and a mouth paste to shove on the top of her mouth in order to keep her alive. Through those rough few days, I had done everything according to contract - I sent Stacey an e-mail to confirm we had taken her to the vet, told her what the vet did, and how the vet was hoping she'd feel better in a few days (Stacey now claims she never received that e-mail, even though she responded to it). After we finally got her to eat on her own we noticed that she was overly tired, ignoring other animals, and frequently walking into walls/chairs/furniture. We took her back to the vet and after she again checked Jozy's vision, she told us that she was probably just trying to get used to her surroundings. About a week passed without any serious problems and we thought our puppy woes were finally over. Unfortunately, Jozy starting crying out and coo'ing (our neighbors even teased that she sounded part rooster) for no reason. We again took her back to the vet to try to find out what was the matter. The vet said that with her recent flight, it might have caused a lot of pressure to her head and maybe causing some residual pain, or that the crying might have been caused by stomach issues. We followed all the vet's instructions and headed back to Point Pleasant for a weekend with our families at the beach... And that is when the real trouble began.
My boyfriend and I had been crate training Jozy as the vet recommended. About 2 weeks after we got her, she woke us up at 1 A.M. Because she was violently running into the sides of her crate. When we took her out she was inconsolable and continued to run in circles. When we finally got her to calm down an hour later, we all went back to sleep. At 3 A.M. We were again awoken to Jozy barreling into the sides of her crate and crying out. When we turned the lights on we saw that she was hitting the crate with so much force that she had actually caused her head to bruise and was bleeding from a few cuts. We immediately rushed her to the nearest vet hospital who ran a bunch of initial tests on her that all came back negative. They decided to keep her overnight and monitor her progress, while they were waiting for a few other tests to come back. When the other tests came back negative the next day, they told us that they wanted to do an ultrasound on her head because she was showing signs of hydrocephalus (commonly referred to as water on the brain, and caused by extra fluid putting so much pressure on brain matter that it quickly causes deterioration). When the ultrasound results came back a day later the emergency vets told us that all signs pointed to severe hydrocephalus, but that an MRI would be needed to confirm. When the MRI results came back a few days later, it proved that she had hydrocephalus and the vets told us the we should either perform a $4000 surgery on her that would put a tube in her head to her belly to drain the fluid (but that would only stop the hydrocephalus at the stage it was at, not improve her condition) or humanely put her to sleep. The vets said that we had to make our decision quickly because she was in terrible pain, they also said that this disease was SURELY something the breeder should have checked for, noticed, and dealt with. The vets even gave me a signed certificate saying that Jozy was not fit for sale. I made sure that Stacey knew about every trip we took to the vet and especially the recent findings. She didn't apologize, became harder to get in touch with, and told me that I hadn't fulfilled my contract obligations to keep my warranty.
Although my boyfriend and I only had Jozy for 4 weeks at this point, we told the vet to schedule the surgery as soon as possible. Unfortunately, by the time we woke up the next morning, Jozy's brain had deteriorated so quickly that she could no longer walk. Every time I would put her on the ground, her back legs gave out when she tried to walk and then she would concentrate so hard on walking that she would almost gallop for 2 or 3 steps and then fall on her back and get stuck. And obviously as a puppy she doesn't want to be held, she wants to go around and smell everything, so she was crying basically the whole day. It got so bad that she eventually fell on her back and started to pee on herself (something the vet told me was a sign of a seizure). When I called Jozy's regular vet and the emergency vet they told me that the best thing to do for her was to humanely euthanize her. They said that she was too young, was in too much pain, and had already experienced too much irreversible brain damage. When I called Stacey, she actually picked up, but she told me that she wouldn't permit the murder of any dog without proper documentation. When I had the vets fax me all the information they thought she would want, she refused to answer my calls. Later that day (my birthday, by the way), Jozy was in so much pain that we decided to have her put to sleep without Stacey's approval (Thank God because Stacey hasn't answered a call or e-mail since).
That poor dog was in my possession for under 4 weeks, during which she couldn't live anything close to an enjoyable life. All of the vets I have talked to said that The Bulldog Exchange, LLC is fully responsible for all the medical costs I incurred because she should have known about this disease ahead of time and that Jozy should have never been shipped to us in the first place. I had to get a lawyer to try to retrieve some of the $6,500 that is owed to me by this company and I haven't seen a cent of it yet. She has ignored my requests and my lawyer's requests up to this point.
As I said in the beginning of this report, please, for the sake of all animals, do not give your business to this terrible breeder or anyone associated with them. It's surely a puppy mill that doesn't care in the least bit about the animals they sell to people. These people are in this business to make a quick buck off of innocent animals and have shameful practices.
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