On October 30, my husband and I were contacted by phone by Laura Topping of Loralei Goldens. She told us that a female golden retriever puppy was available for us to purchase. During that phone conversation, my husband and I made an appointment with Laura to meet her and her puppies at her Clearwater home on Saturday, November 5th at 2:00 PM.
We drove about 2 hours from Orlando to Clearwater on November 5th to meet them and we just fell in love with the puppies. Laura let us go into their pen and play with them for a couple of hours. Laura explained to us how to care for the puppy and the products we would need to purchase for her.
We then gave Laura a $200 deposit to hold the dog. We made plans with Laura to pick up the puppy either November 23rd or November 25th as they would all be 8 weeks old and ready to go to new families. She told us that a puppy would be assigned to us in the interim.
After our 2-hour drive back to Orlando, we were so excited about the puppy that we immediately stopped at Petsmart to purchase items we needed for the puppy. We purchased a nametag and the food, toys, and grooming products that Laura had recommended.
On the evening of November 7th we received a phone call from Laura telling us her friend wanted the puppy, so she was going to give it to her instead and return our deposit. Needless to say, we were and still are very upset. We feel this is bad business practice and unethical.
We had an agreement and Laura broke it for no good reason. She did not even offer to compensate us for the gas we wasted, not to mention the entire day out of our lives that was wasted. As someone who raises these puppies, Laura must understand the bond we felt with the puppies we spent hours playing with. Yet she referred us to a list of other breeders as if we were buying a car.
The puppies are living creatures that have their own personalities. We cannot just go to another breeder and get the same puppies we fell in love with. We not only lost the puppy we wanted, but lost our place with other breeders we were considering and are now so soured from this experience that the joy of finding a new member of our family is gone.
In short, we feel we were clearly misled by Laura Topping. We have evidence that clearly shows how she misled us to believe she wanted us to have the puppy:
1) She contacted us stating I wanted you to have first dibs (We have the answering machine message she left on October 30).
2) She made an appointment for us to visit her and the puppies for November 5th at 2:00 PM.
3) She allowed us to take pictures of us with the puppies.
4) She accepted our $200 deposit.
5) She gave us a contract to look over and return when we picked up the puppy.
6) She spent 2 hours with us explaining the proper way to clean the puppy's ears, the proper amount and type of food and treats we should give the puppy, and the proper way to groom the puppy.
7) She accepted the puppy questionnaire we completed that included references.
We can provide you with copies of the e-mail correspondence we have had with Laura since October 16, the puppy questionnaire we submitted, a transcript and/or recording of her answering machine message, a copy of the deposit check, photos of our day with the puppies, receipt for the items we bought for the puppy after leaving the deposit with Laura on November 5, and a copy of the contract we were given.
I am writing this so that other people hoping to add one of these wonderful animals to their family may become aware of this unethical practice. Laura Topping is actually a board member of the Mid-Florida Golden Retriever Club. We were referred to her from the MFGRC puppy referral service.
In fairness, she did return our deposit check but at the very least we expected a note of apology in the envelope as well. We received nothing but the check. At this point we don't want anything from Laura other than for her to realize the pain she has caused us and to resolve not to do the same to anyone else. She told my husband on the phone that she was sorry and felt terrible. If that were true why would she do it in the first place?
Thank you for your time.
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