Pet Store Horror Stories Two.

Hi This is my pet store story.

I am a veterinary technician and several years ago I was working for a veterinarian that did presale exams and vaccines on puppies.

The vet has since stopped doing them but at the time we figured we could at least get them the best care possible under the current circumstances. One day they brought over a tiny Chihuahua puppy that just "wouldn't get over her cold".

We started her on some medication but quickly realized she had more problems than just a cold. Testing revealed she was suffering from distemper. In the week it took to get the test results back, I had fallen in love. I spent hours hand feeding and nursing her. She had started to improve slightly and never has seizures that most distemper cases have. The pet store asked us to euthanize her since they couldn't sell a sick puppy and the breeder would give them a refund. She was on the table w/ the drugs drawn up when we decided we just couldn't do it. (though we did tell the pet store we did) With a lot of nursing care and love she continued to recover, yet we were having trouble finding her a home. I was recently divorced and wanting a dog. But I had picked out a Doberman from a nationally know reputable breeder, not a sickly Chihuahua. But I couldn't help it, I fell in love and Giselle was soon home w/ me. She was so named Giselle due to her extremely long legs.

She is an extremely poor example of a Chihuahua but I love her anyway. My point w/ this is that I was able to obtain a copy of her AKC litter registration paperwork from the pet store. With this information I have registered my "dead" dog w/ the AKC, CKC and several other dog registries, just goes to show you how much "papers" are worth. Giselle does not suffer any lasting medical problems due to any of this, but she does have a few insecurity and behavior issues due to her traumatic start in life.
My other Chihuahua is also a pet store "rescue". I fell in love w/ a tiny white Chihuahua puppy when I went to the same store to do work one day. There was no way I was going to pay the $1000.00 they store was asking. I saw the paperwork from the broker when she arrived and they had paid $350 for her, besides I vowed to never purchase an animal, only to take in rescues and ones in need of a home. Long story short the puppy was later "stolen". A couple conned the naive employees and issued a bad check and false names. I was heartbroken. About a week later this couple called our vet to make their free exam appointment we give all puppies purchased from the store.

They gave their fake names but real phone number and we were able to recover the puppy. She was in horrible shape, suffering from pneumonia, upper respiratory infection, malnutrition and had bruising to her head. This precious baby weighted less than a pound and had a bruise to her soft spot. The pet store wanted her back and refuse to leave her for treatment saying tier nebulizer would work. Two days later I went to visit and she was still in terrible shape, lethargic and hardly eating.

I begged and pleaded for her and finally the "allowed" me to purchase her for $300. That was the best money I ever spent. She never grew very much, weighing only 2.5lbs. It took over 8 weeks to make her better. She has a grade 4 medial patellar luxation (slipping knee cap) that will eventually require expensive surgery. Over breeding for an apple head dog has left her w/ a large soft spot and an ultrasound revealed she has only 4mm of brain tissue surrounded by fluid.

Though not very smart she is an extremely happy friendly dog. I must be extremely carefully w/ her thin skull and soft spot as any bump can cause her to have a seizure. I was also able to register her w/ about 6 dog registries by simply saying she was purebred. I love my dogs and am glad I have the experience to have nursed them back to health and to deal w/ any issues they may have from their past life.

In 1998 I had just recently got a divorce.

The kids and I were living in what seemed like a big old empty house. My ex had taken our family pet with him.
It was a early fall day and I took the kids to the mall where there just happened to be a pet store that sold puppies and kitties and fish, ferrets, rodents and just about every other kind of animal you can think of......
On this day they had a cage of Chihuahua puppies 2 male fawns to be exact....One was sitting there in his wire cage looking out through the plexi glass window right into my and my childrens hearts and he sat there shivering. Now I had not had alot of experienc with small dogs so I thought he was shivering because all the noise and activity was making him nervous......so we left the pet store and the kid began to beg in earnest for us to take the puppy home so he wouldn't be so scared. I broke down and shelled out the $800 dollars they were asking and we took our new addition THOR home to live.

I started as a "pet Care Specialist" a fancy term for poop scooper, and worked my way up the ladder to assistant manager. As an employee I like all the others asked where do we get our puppies from. We were always told that they came from Licensed breeders that were inspected by the USDA on a regular basis.

We had photo albums of loving clean places where these pups supposedly came from. The USDA inspector often came to visit the store and make sure everything was being taken care of properly. I had asked him once where do all these dogs come from. He told me the same story and that of Amish farms and painted a real pretty picture. I never paid much attention to where they came from as I wanted to make sure while they were in my care they were well cared for. I could tell so many stories of what came off trucks in middle of heat waves or winter storms.

My job was to exam the pups when they got there and either approve or reject the pups. One day, a little pom puppy was on that truck, sick as sick could be. She was not moving real well, having seizers and the smell. If anyone has been around parvo, you know it has a smell that will forever imprint in your mind. It was 8 in the eve, I told the driver that this pup had a sever illness and needed medical attention and I felt it wise to reject the sick pup as well as the rest they were to deliver due to the fact they were all crated in the same space. The driver got real mad and asked what was he to do with the dog. I said TAKE HER TO THE VET NOW!!! I even called our vet for him. The driver refused to waste his time and said he would dump the dog in a ditch to die.

I then took the dog and took her straight to the vet. She spent a few month there recovering from Parvo as well as other conditions. She had stopped seizing and had no problems after. It was about 4 month total that this pup stayed in a cage until she was placed for sale. The thing was, she was now going on 7 months old and still the size of a 2 month old pom. The vet said that her medical problems that she had early on had done something with her growth and she probably would not grow anymore. So what did the pet store do, they jacked her price up to 1300, yes $1300 for a dog that had sever medical problems in the past and probably would have in the future due to stunted growth and sold her as a "rare toy pom

Working at the store I saw puppies housed in small wire cages for month and month because the selection was so great (meaning numbers not the quality of dogs) that they got passed by. They had problems with their hocks due to lack of exercise. At one time I had 11 puppies at my house that were ill and needed around the clock care to get better. How could these dogs be coming from "quality breeders" but be in such poor condition? Like a robot I would give my speech on where these pups came from and show people the glamorous photo albums. I am sad to say that I did this, that I didn't look into things further. It was a few years later that my manager and I were watching TV and they had a special on puppy mills.

We heard so many names that we knew, they were these so called "quality breeders" we saw the photos of the condition these pups were in before being sent our way. We were horrified! The next day we both resigned and refused to except any more puppies. How could we have been so naive?

I can feel good that I took as best care for these poor puppies that I could. I saw to it that they got medical attention unlike so many other stores. But the fact that I was lying to these people spending so much money for a pup just bothers me. The mark up too is unreal. If you are thinking of going to a pet store, let me tell you of their mark up, a cocker would cost the store any where from $75 to $100, we would turn around and sell that same dog for $600-$700. Warranties, yes they were guaranteed for life on certain conditions, but the store is no longer in business, so where does that leave you.

And the real kicker, the owner of this chain of stores was also on the board of PETA, an animal protection league! He is supposed to be protecting animals but yet purchasing from puppy mills for his profit.
If you want to post any of this story, feel free to. I want people to know that the "lines" they get from pet store are just that, lines that have to learn to sell and not the truth.

I could go on and tell you of puppies that broke their jaws because they got them stuck on the cages because they were bored and wanted to chew as puppies do, puppies coming from "quality breeders' with parvo, ring worm, and so many other medical problems. I could also tell you of the vet that work with the pet store and how he would put false information on papers to hide medical conditions. Please, do not purchase from pet stores! As bad as I feel for these poor dogs in them, if people continue to purchase from them because they feel bad for the dog, this only opens up another 2 by 2 cage for them to cram 4 dogs into.
Thanks
Tina H

A family member and I were on a road trip to visit another family member for a few days. One of the things we decided to do was to take a look at the local pet stores of the area just to look around and see what was available. We stopped at this particular pet store, and discovered they sold puppies.
My relative was looking at a particular puppy, when I happened to look down and see, in the standard 2x2 plexiglass/wire cage, a gorgeous miniature pinscher pup, about 4 months old, thin, and with a horribly runny nose. I decided to take a closer look at him (I have a weakness for min pins) and took him into the cubile to spend some time with him.
An employee of the store, when I asked what illness this puppy had and what he was being treated with, replied 'Oh, he just has a bit of a runny nose.' This poor dog was burning with fever, but was still trying to be snuggly and was still playful. My relative offered to purchase him for me, which I agreed to....because otherwise this lovely boy would die. He was not being treated for his illness now did the store have any intention of treating him. My relative purchased him, as well as a seemingly healthy puppy of a different breed.
Cameron (the min pin) ended up hospitalized for 3 days for his illness, which was kennel cough, and a horribly severe case. the vet told me another few days without treatment and he would have died. That is a HIGHLY contagious condition, so I called the pet store to inform them about it...they got rather rude with me and didn't care at all. Even sadder...the other puppy that my relative purchased DID die, within 4 days of purchase, due to a bacterial infection.
Cameron is MUCH better now, and he improves more every day. To this day, I am utterly disgusted with this pet store and their practices, to let an animal slowly die due to illness is a cruel practice...and all to save a few bucks. It's sickening.
Christina.

I was working for a pet store back in 1989 that sold dogs from what I believe was a puppy mill. At first I did not realize what was going on. I had been working there for a few months when we got in a brother and sister St. Bernard. They were in the store for just over a week or so when we noticed that they were ill. They had been sent to us both sick with distemper. With in a week and a half both of them were dead. Then a couple of weeks later we got in a small dachsund. She was one of the sweetest dogs I have ever known, but due to the fact that she was most likely a puppy mill puppy, she was born with a piece of bone missing from her skull. This caused her to walk in circles and to only be able to turn her head one direction. I spoke with the vet we used and was told that this was essentially a death sentence because of the fact that there was no protection for her brain. They ended up having her put to sleep. I am happy to say that the company which ran the pet store went out of business shortly there after.
Ginger Blanton

Dallas,Texas

gblanton@ont.org
 

Pet Store Horror Stories Page Three