Petland of Sterling Heights is owned by Tony and Kim DeLibero. They not only had all of the information regarding the various illnesses our Puppy had upon purchase from their store, but also had the expertise of their own VCA Animal Hospital of Clinton Township that was able to provide the same information once we had a "2nd opinion" at another veterinarian.
The puppy we purchased from Petland, ended up having Coccidia, a Sinus Infection, Calcium Oxylate Crystals in her urine, and Entropian (a hereditary disorder of the eye) in both eyes before 1 year old. When we purchased her, she had the coccidia parasite and the sinus infection. We went several times to the VCA Animal Hospital that Petland advised we had to go to in order to diagnose her eye concerns, as well as her bladder concerns. VCA advised she just had a "cold" in her eyes, and provided several creams, gels, and antibiotics for her. None of these treatments would ever be necessary, nor successful in treating her ACTUAL disorder, which is Entropian (in short, where the eye lids of the eye turn in toward the eye, causing abrasions of the cornea). Any veterinarian should have been able to diagnose this upon spending any sort of time examining the dog. Once we changed veterinarians and proved this to Petland, they refused to reimburse for the condition, even though VCA admitted to misdiagnosing her, and said it was our own responsibility because we did not see a VCA veterinarian. Each time that we went to VCA for her urinary concerns, we were advised she had "another urinary tract infection", which again, no one at VCA took the time to see that there was something else wrong in her urine. She had this condition at the time of purchase as well, and our veterinarian was able to diagnose her concern on the FIRST VISIT. The DeLibero's refused to reimburse for this expense as well, with VCA admitting to misdiagnosing our dog, stating we did not use a VCA vet. (With this many MISDIAGNOSES within 1 MONTH, would you continue to subject your pet to this non-sense?! What if it were your child?) Our dog may have to have eye surgery to correct the Entropian, which I'm sure Petland will argue with as well because we did not go through VCA in her "3-year warranty". Though, her warranty CLEARLY states, "For those puppies not under the care of VCA Animal Hospital after purchase, it is the customers' responsibility to document that the condition existed at the time of purchase and that the puppy was under the continual care of a veterinarian for the condition in question."
I am not the only person with concerns with the pet they purchased from this store. I have business cards as well as other contact information from other pet owners that have experienced the same treatment in regards to the concerns they had with their pets as well. Yet in 2007 The Petland Corporation gave the DeLibero's an "Award for Excellence in first year ownership". This has to be a joke, because they apparently have not spoken to half of the pet owners themselves. There are several websites out there protesting Petland completely because of the conditions where the dogs are kept, the "quality breeders" they supposedly purchase their dogs from (aka read "PUPPY MILLS"), amongst other concerns.
I originally went into the store the day before we actually purchased our puppy. I wish I had actually purchased her the day before, because she was on sale illegally. She was not yet 8 weeks of age at the time she was being shown. I purchased her on 05.26.07, she was born on 03.26.07... Exactly 8 WEEKS PRIOR. The days before we purchased her (all dogs they receive go out on the floor for sale on Thursdays) she was being shown illegally.
Definitely do your research before purchasing a dog from this store. Talk to other pet owners, go to parks, stores such as PetSmart, Petco, etc. And talk to other dog owners. You will find quite a number of people that have had horrible experiences with this store.
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