Advice please

magickid

The weekend before last my partner and I visited a garden centre that had a pet shop. They were selling puppies in this pet store. We left the centre, but spent the next week thinking about her. My partner was speaking to his friends in that week and they had said they had awful things about how they treat their animals, and that if we could we should rescue her. Therefore on Saturday just gone we went to see if she was still there. She was, we could cope with the puppy, and decided we would give her a home. She was an 11 week old Border Collie and we named her Evie.

On Sunday I noticed she was a little lethargic and had some diarrhea. I put it down to the heat and the stress of moving. On Monday I took her to the vets just to check and to get her 2nd injection. She was admitted to the vets on Monday with an IV and antibiotics as the vet thought she was dehydrated and maybe getting over an infection. Sadly, on Wednesday she was diagnosed with Parvovirus and on Thursday our little pup passed away. We're absolutely heartbroken.

We're also angry. We love dogs, and we know you are not supposed to buy them from a pet store and you should go to a breeder directly, but we couldn't bear to think of this little girl being mistreated and neglected and we wanted to give her a good home.

Now we find ourselves with nothing. I was wondering if there is anything we could do, and wanted to find out what sort of rights we have and how we can take action.

When we bought Evie we signed something with various instructions, such as make sure to get your puppy vaccinated at 12 weeks, feed her the same diet etc, also on this sheet where the following points:

Do not have second thoughts after you've bought a puppy from us as we do not give refunds.

All our puppies have been vet checked and in good health before leaving our premises. Once the puppy leaves our premises it is your responsibility to care for your new puppy.

Any veterinary comments or queries that are expressed after purchase we only acknowledge if presented in writing on headed paper from the vet concerned.

Please understnad that Linton Pet Stores will not be responsible for any veterinary fees incurred without our permission.

We would like to seek some kind of compensation, she was sick when we got her, even if her symptons weren't showing. It's not about getting money back, that we can cope with, but its about hitting them where it hurts.

I'm sure I will get a few comments on here about puppy farming, and I'm not proud of it but I am glad we got her and gave her even 48 hours of love rather than leaving her there alone to suffer.

Any thoughts/advice would be grateful.

Equaliser123

Ultimately the dog was "goods" under the Sale of Goods Act. Accordingly, it was not of satisfactory quality so you are entitled to a refund.

I also think you have a good claim for vet fees - despite their notice. I would argue that their statement of not being liable is an unreasonable exclusion of liability.

Sorry to hear this story by the way.

magickid

Thanks Equaliser - this is very cheeky of me, but would you be able to help me put together a letter, I don't know where to start. Please don't worry if you can't. Thank you.

unholyangel

As previous poster said, not meaning to be heartless by wording it as such as i am a dog lover but the goods certainly werent up to scratch.

I've experienced parvovirus in dogs before.....me and a few friends got puppies from the same breeder at the same time (from the same litter). All 4 pups had it and unfortunately 2 of them died. They had contracted it from their mother at birth (cardiac parvovirus).

Maybe ask the vet to write up a report stating which type the dog had (although it sounds like cardiac). If you have proof the dog was severely ill with parvovirus at time of sale, i dont think you should have a problem. Remember, just because something is in a contract, doesnt mean it overrules your statutory rights.

And i'm very sorry you had to go through such a thing after welcoming Evie to your family.

Equaliser123

magickid wrote: »

Thanks Equaliser - this is very cheeky of me, but would you be able to help me put together a letter, I don't know where to start. Please don't worry if you can't. Thank you.

Just pm'ed a suggested letter.

peachyprice

Magic, if you also post this over on the pets forum you'll get even more help, as it's happened to people there before.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=143


HTH

magickid

peachyprice wrote: »

Magic, if you also post this over on the pets forum you'll get even more help, as it's happened to people there before.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=143


HTH

Thank you peachy x