After losing my 10 year old German shepherd to breast cancer, I became desperate to purchase a new puppy. Not knowing completely the horrible stories that I now know about Petland, I decided to go to a couple of petland stores to look at the puppies.
When I arrived at the Hoffman Estates Petland store, I fell in love with a tiny yorkshire terrier puppy that seemed so energetic and so healthy in the store that I just had to get him. The price of the puppy was 2,199.00.
I was told the puppy has been dewormed, is over 8 weeks of age from a pure breeder and I received all of the paperwork as well. On the way home from petland it looked to me as if the puppy was sneezing like it had a cold. Since it was around 9:30pm by the time I got home and the puppy stopped sneezing when we got home I was not worried yet.
It began that night, he had trouble breathing and couldnt sleep and kept sneezing more and more. First thing in the morning I called the Petland's vet and told them what is wrong and they told me to bring him in within an hour. It turns out puppy had a cold, kennel cough which they told me is very common and nothing serious but they kept my puppy overnight for incubation and antibiotics.
I called them everyday and they kept telling me he needs to stay one more day and so on. He spent 5 days at the vet. I also contacted Petland and they told me its nothing serious it happens often and that its only a cough and that they would cover the bill up to 14 days but only with their vet.
After bringing my puppy home he was okay for about 2 days. After that I noticed he didnt want to eat anything at all and was very lethargic. I suspected something was wrong and took him to another vet, not petland's because they were fully booked with other puppies from petland. I had been to 3 vets and none of them could really tell me what is wrong they thought the puppy could just be a finicky eater.
A few days went by and my puppy began to vomit, I panicked and I quickly rushed him to a vet where they took xrays and checked his glucose and still didnt find anything. After taking my pup to an Emergency Hospital where they did a full panel blood work on him, I was forced to hear the most difficult news. The doctor told me my puppy was in kidney failure and only about 3.4% of his kidneys were working and that it is either congenital or leptospirosis that caused the kidneys to fail.
It was a shock to me, and I got so attached to the puppy for the short time that he was with me that I could not believe what was happening and couldnt let him go. It was new years and I spent it at the Emergency Hospital crying my eyes out, I didnt know what to do with myself. I decided to keep him there overnight and see if by a miracle he may respond to treatment under IVs and antibiotics which the doctor said there is little chance for.
I had to pay about 900 for that one night until the next afternoon. There was no improvement, and the doctor recommended a specialist in Buffalo Grove, IL. My pup was transferred there where after examining my puppy the kindey specialist told us that there is a chance and that he sees very slight improvement but that there is one and that he might recover and has seen dogs with worse results recover.
Me and my family tried and we visited the puppy daily, he was under 24/7 constant care, we called for updates, we worried, cried, and prayed most of the time. It was the most horrible time of my life. After a few days the results kept improving by very little and we still kept on trying, but on the fifth day they went back down and after a week the doctor said that they should be higher by now and that he doesnt see what else could be done and that he will not recover.
I decided to bring the puppy home so he does not die at the cold hospital and promised myself if I see that he is suffering I will let him go. After bringing the puppy back home from the hospital he was not himself, it looked like a different dog, very weak, wouldnt eat anything, his head was wobbly, could hardly walk, and couldnt sleep at night and would hide in dark corners. I knew that there was no more chance and as much as I wanted for him to recover and stay with me I knew it was not possible.
The next morning I had to take him to be euthanized, he was hardly conscious on the way to the vet clinic, but I knew that he was in pain by his very quiet whining that could be heard at night. So many sleepless nights, spent about 4,500 total for vets plus the puppy which I still have to pay off 1600, I am left with nothing.
I faxed everything to Petland and they never call back, the only way to deal with them will have to be filing a lawsuit against them. I know they dont understand, but what I went through from the beginning I bought the puppy from them I will never forget, and the hardest part was letting him go after everyone fell in love with him.
I will never ever forget what Petland did to me and to that poor puppy and what they are doing to innocent people around the United States. I want to see them shut down and pay for the suffering they are causing to people. It is not fair and it should not continue to go on. My life has changed and I not only suffered mentally but the puppy that Petland promised for a lifetime, I had only for about 2 weeks, and he was healthy for about 2 days. May he rest in peace.
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