Dog breeder mis-sold us puppy

BoBoDobie

My partner surprised me with a puppy as a gift. He was sold as kc registered and the papers were to follow. What actually followed was excuse after excuse and finally a verbal admission that they couldn’t register the litter as the parents are imports (I know this is possible IF you’ve got the correct paperwork from the country of origin) and an offer of a ‘little bit of money back’ or if we didn’t like that, return the dog to them for a refund. By this time we’d had the puppy nearly 2 months so no way did we want to return him, we’d bonded with him.  My partner paid a lot of money for the dog, the going rate for a kc registered puppy. Whilst I’m not the biggest kc fan, I did take heart that having this meant a little extra assurance in terms of his parents had been health tested/screened etc. The breed is prone to particular ailments.  

My partner asked for a sum of money back and they refused and became verbally abusive on the phone and then messaged to say they had received the kc papers but we weren’t going to get them because of our attitude. I don’t believe it for a second. They are still selling the last of his litter mates as kc registered online so they know exactly what they’re doing. 

Is there anything we can do ie small claims court? My partner doesn’t think it’s going to get us anywhere but I’m really crossed we’ve been led astray by these scammers who are continuing to do it to other people.

sheramber

 Unfortunately, your partner is the type of buyer that the scammers are looking for.
He should have asked to see the parents registration papers, see the health test results.
KC registration does not guarantee health tests have been done. They are recommendations.
The KC registration papers should have been available when he bought the  puppy.
Lack of papers and health tests would be a large red flag.
They are relying on people not asking for these.
As the ' breeder' has offered to take the puppy back and refund you- knowing full well you won't do that-  what would you claim in a small claims court?  You have been given the chance to get your money back. Whether that would ever happen  is another matter.

BoBoDobie

Thank you, I absolutely agree with you and if I’d have been part of buying the dog I’d have researched to the enth degree and done my due Diligence. But I can’t change that it’s done. It’s all the more infuriating as we had a litter of puppies at the same time and I did everything right and above board to vet the owners and make sure the puppies were given the best start. 

I want a partial refund I suppose to the value of what you’d pay for a non kc registered puppy. We paid the going rate for a kc puppy which he is not. The fact they are still advertising as ‘kc’ registered is outrageous and shows how unscrupulous they are.

Lip_Stick

What about sending a small claims court letter before action, detailing what you want from them with the addition of court fees? Receiving that might just spur them onto paying you.

cannugec5

BoBoDobie said:

The fact they are still advertising as ‘kc’ registered is outrageous and shows how unscrupulous they are.

I wonder if reporting them to trading standards would help? Clearly this is false advertising at the very least. 

RestlessOverDebt

Hi BoBoDobie
Congratulations on the new addition to your family; I'm sure your puppy is grateful and will give you lots of love and appreciation.
I totally agree with you, the sellers are out of order; possibly advertising the kc info to get more money (the deceitful B******s).
I hope you manage to get something sorted to your satisfaction.
I wish your innocent puppy good health and happiness as part of your family.
Kind regards   

Abbafan1972

I feel really disgusted reading things like this when animals are treated like something from Currys that can be returned Willy nilly. Rant over. 

Adopt, don’t shop. 

unforeseen

Taking the emotion of it being a puppy out of the equation, the fact that they have offered a full refund on return of the 'faulty' item would probably guarantee that any small claim would fail.

I feel really disgusted reading things like this when animals are treated like something from Currys that can be returned Willy nilly. 

In law, it IS no different to something purchased from Currys

IvanOpinion

Abbafan1972 said:

Adopt, don’t shop. 

I know it is each to their own but I am inclined to agree.
Last year we were looking for a new dog (we had lost our 18 year old terrier at the end of 2019 and our 10 year old dog was not coping well).  We have always had a rule that our existing dog would pick its new 'pal' (within reason) so we went off to a rehoming shelter. 

Our dog picked a 2 year old 'designer' dog bred by a well known (apparently) specialist breeder, but he came with a bit of baggage, a 3 year old pedigree miniature terrier (again from a well respected breeder).  The original owner had paid over £3000 for these two dogs - to then go on and neglect and abuse them.  We realised that the two could not be separated, so we chose to adopt both.

The shelter had all the paperwork for both dogs ... as I paid over the nominal fee for adopting the dogs (£40 per dog) I told the shelter to burn the paperwork, I didn't want it and I didn't take it - that is not why we adopt.

Apintplease

Another reason why you should never buy an animal online and another reason to go via the breed club for reccomendations

KC registered doesn't mean the sire and dam have been health tested, all it means is that they themselves have been KC registered and that the pups can be registered

All you are paying for with KC registration is a piece of paper showing 5 generations which means diddly squat to the run of the mill pet owner. 

Always always alway go through the breed club when looking for a pedigree pup

unforeseen

All KC registration means is that the dog has been genetically modified by careful breeding to be what the KC want from the dog, such as built in hip dysplasia or breathing difficulties that did not exist in the original breed.