Help, Please

Has anyone heard of Shaggy Sophisticate Kennels in Century, FL?
They breed yorkies, chis, and poms...and now pugs.

My best friend didn't do all her research, didn't know better, and got a puppy from these people and the puppy is SICK.
Like, VERY sick. Like spent the day at the vet and the vet cannot even figure out what is wrong with her because she is so unstable at this point. They cannot even draw blood from her because the puppy is so STRESSED and her veins are so constricted from being dehydrated, so they cannot run any real tests on her.
They've given sub-cue fluids (under the skin instead of in the vein), but this puppy is SICK.
The vet thought she might be going into kidney failure, but she is now peeing, but only every 12 hours.
She's a fighter, she paws at them and tries to bite fingers, but she was so hypoglycemic when they got her into the vet, that her tongue was gray, but they put dextrose on her tongue and she perked back up a little and her tongue turned pink again.
She has demodectic mange, but that's the least of the concerns right now.

Puppy wasn't sick when she picked puppy up. Puppy got sick hours later.
She had missing fur when my friend picked her up, but was told by the breeder that it was a food allergy. My friend didn't know any better.

It's a LONG story, but one of the puppies from the litter has DIED already, but my friend found this out because the breeder uses a vet in Alabama. Well, my friend's vet in Florida, contacted the vet in Alabama, and that's how it came out that one of the puppies has already died. AND that's how my friend found out that the SIRE of her pup only has ONE testicle, and that the MOTHER has mange!!!

My friend is heartbroken, doesn't know what to do, but this puppy is a fighter, and she's hoping she pulls through.

Sorry, it's a little pug puppy.

How terrible!! I don't know anything about the breeder, but will keep the little pup in my thoughts and prayers.

What a shame !!!! Did she know that the breeder had so many breeds !

no! She had no idea.
She learned of this breeder through her boss.

Puppy doesn't look good as of late this morning...

Did she get any guarantee?
Has she contacted the 'breeder'?

Well, I don't know anything about the breeder, but your friend could probably sue for fraud in small claims court. Its probably not worth it, but its likely she could. So, with a legal solution probably unfeasible, I suggest revenge.

What I'd do:

1) Take pictures. Send them to the breeder. Make it clear that the breeder must reimburse all medical expenses. (this if she cares about reimbursement, if not, skip to #2)

2) If the breeder refuses, and they will, post the pictures, the breeders name, and all the gory details ALL over the internet. Everywhere you can.
(By the way, don't threaten about the internet. That can be interpreted as extortion, and that's illegal. Just ask, even threaten legal action, and if they say no, start posting. But don't threaten to post)

3) Call animal control, the humane society, the breed club, and anyone else you can think of who would care, and tell them ALL about it. Send pictures.

By the way, this is NOT legal advice. But it would be very satisfying.

Check if you have "puppy lemon laws" in your state. It sounds like the breeder was either a BYB or a puppy mill.

Here is the puppy lemon law page:

http://www.malteseonly.com/lemon.html

She has a contract.
My friend contacted...Animal Services and they told her she had 3 options.
I will try to remember what the options were:
1. she could return puppy and get her money back
2. She could keep puppy, treat puppy, and the breeder HAS TO pay the purchase amount in the vet bills
3. If puppy is treated, passes anyway, breeder not only has to pay her back the purchase price of puppy, but also has to pay the purchase amount in vet bills.

I read the one for FL . . . its an option. But you'd probably still have to take it to court and duke it out. That may not be worth it.

Will Animal Serivces enforce it on her behalf or does she have to bring an action?

I like the 'educational' route (also known as the revenge route) If she can help expose this breeder for what she is, hopefully less people will buy puppies from her.

I am not sure.

I also know that the vet in Alabama diagnosed the puppy the breeder brought in with Giardia.
And the breeder told my friend that she got sent home with flagyll (Spelling?), something else, and Ivermectin (for the mange).
She told my friend she also "got some for her puppy, too".
When my friend received the medication, she noticed that the flagyll was cut up in all different sizes. She also saw that the breeder gave her some wonky dosage amount. So...my friend called her own vet and that was when HER vet contacted the vet in Alabama.
Because my friend's vet said she would NEVER give a puppy as small as that one ivermectin and the mange is the LEAST of their worries right now.
When the florida vet contacted the alabama vet, that was when my friend found out that A.) vet TRIED to prescribe breeder these medications, but breeder denied them stating that already had the medications at home because she orders her meds off of jefferspet.com B.) The SIRE has ONE testicle. C.) that the breeder's vet said that the mom has mange and should have NEVER been bred to begin with. D.) breeder's vet found out that breeder had already sold a puppy to someone. Breeder's vet did NOT KNOW THIS.


UGH. I have to go grocery shopping now. I'll be back later.

Oh wow. I will be sending good vibes for that poor pup to make it.

I sure wish the best for the poor pup !!!

Thanks, guys.
Ok, I was wrong about the third option (Hell, I can barely keep my OWN life straight...), the third option would be that if the puppy passes, then she is to be reimbursed the purchase price of the puppy.

Since this woman has lied several times about several things to my friend, my friend doesn't want to talk to her about the puppy right now.
The breeder WANTS to take the puppy back and give her her money back, but the puppy is receiving medical treatment right now, and my friend is just waiting to find out if puppy is going to make it or not.
Oh! But at first, breeder wanted to give her another puppy. KNOWING that my friend had NO IDEA that another puppy(ies) had died. WHY would my friend A.) want a replacement puppy from someone who has LIED to her? B.) want a replacement puppy from a litter of puppies where a puppy has already died due to whatever HER puppy has now???

WTF.

I would not give the pup back...she'd just resell it to some other sap and get double the purchase price on one pup.

The breeder sounds like a waste of air.

puppy is down to 1 lb. 15 oz.

They gave her some meds to try and help with nausea and to stimulate her appetite.
If not improvement is made tonight, then they're going to PTS.

I say give the pup back and get the purchase price refund. Even if this pup makes it through this crisis, it is a poorly bred dog from a puppy mill or BYB and may be sickly for a majority of it's life. It make run up high vet bills in the future. After some point the other party will not be responsible for reembursment or refund.


This is a good educational opportunity for your friend and others who read this thread and are thinking about buying a puppy from a BYB, PM or internet site. Your friend would be way better off taking some time and getting a dog or pup from from a very reputable breeder.

If the pup dies or is PTS, at least it's short life will have perhaps educated a few more puppy buyers.

Ugh... just a heartbreaking, disgusting story.
I wonder if anything can be done, since this vet said the bitch had mange and never should have been bred in the first place, since one puppy has died, and now that another is incredibly sick and may not make it...