Question to Breeders regarding puppy refunds

[Lilie]

I have a co-worker who purchased a GSD puppy from a local hobby breeder. The breeder's husband works for the same company we do.

The puppy was three months old. The breeder stated she had just had the puppy to the vet for a check up and shots. The breeder provided the shot records of the pup. She brought it home on Saturday, and by Thursday the pup was feeling bad. Friday morning she brought the puppy to the vet. The vet felt it had some sort of infection and treated it as so. Saturday the pup was very ill, so she brought it back to the clinic. The pup had Parvo. The vet advised to euthanize the puppy as he felt it would not survive. So my co-worker did.

She called the breeder who will refund the purchase price for the puppy.

My question is this, should the breeder hold any responsiblity for the monies spent at the vet? For what ever reason, there was not a purchase agreement.

The vet stated that there is a 10 day incubation period for Parvo, therefore the vet feels that the pup had the virus while at the breeders.

[gsdraven]

I'm not going to comment on the money because I'm on the fence. I wouldn't ask for reimbursement for vet bills but I can understand why someone would.

If the pup had no symptoms at the breeder's than they might not have known the pup was sick. I hope that they contacted all the other puppy buyers to let them know however and that they are carefully disinfecting anywhere the pup was.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Big time with the parvo precautions - would not have other puppies for a while - they should talk to their vet and I would recommend contacting someone like UC Davis shelter medicine or ASPCA for good info on clearing and cleaning.

[Lilie]

Originally Posted by gsdraven

I'm not going to comment on the money because I'm on the fence. I wouldn't ask for reimbursement for vet bills but I can understand why someone would.

If the pup had no symptoms at the breeder's than they might not have known the pup was sick. I hope that they contacted all the other puppy buyers to let them know however and that they are carefully disinfecting anywhere the pup was.

I'm positive that the breeder would not have sold the pup if she knew it was ill. Especially since there is a working relationship in the dynamics. When the co-worker purchased the pup, the breeder stated it was the only pup the bitch had.

[gagsd]

Kind of off-topic... but if the breeder had "just had the puppy to the vet" it is highly possible that is were the pup contracted parvo from.

Maybe the breeder should ask the vet for a refund.

[carmspack]

gagsd - unfortunately so true . The breeder who is just a hobby breeder shows better response than some of the established breeders. She stepped up to the plate and refunded the money for the dog. She did everything , took the dog for a health check -- do you know there are many dogs sold which never see a vet prior to leaving , the breeder orders and does their own shots? . Obviously the examining vet felt the animal was healthy otherwise he would have noted it and not given a vaccination.
There are some questions of the new owners vet , who could have taken a stool sample and done a parvo test on the Friday. Obviously there is some form of parvo in the area . This would not be his only client or occurrence.
I know this is hindsight but parvo is treatable . The dog could have been put on IV fluids to keep it hydrated and ridden it out. Maybe there was no need to euthanize the dog.

The breeder should not be held responsible for any expenses . She already did more than many would in giving the refund (without a fight) . There are risks and expenses to dog ownership .

Carmen

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Especially if they didn't try to minimize contact with surfaces...

Agree, carmspack - think the breeder did a good job and parvo has some great recovery stories...

[martemchik]

My pup survived parvo so I'm surprised the vet didn't at least try to do more. He got parvo about 5 days after we brought him back from the breeder and when we called to tell them we just wanted to make sure they had all their other pups tested and were in the clear just in case. Online it says that parvo has a 7-10 day incubation period but its just like any disease, the average is 7-10 which means there are those that show it within 2 days and others it takes 14. None of the other pups had parvo, so I found it hard to believe that he got it there, as the chances he stuck his nose in a place the others didn't are very small. It's too hard to prove where the pup could've come down with the disease, but it happened, and its really up to the breeder as to what they want to do.

I do find the vet kind of interesting, when we brought ours in with the symptoms, parvo is the first thing he tested for and started treating before the results even came back. His opinion was, lets rule out the most dangerous disease first and if its something else we can treat it after the results get back. That quick thinking and plan probably saved my dog's life.

[gagsd]

Sometimes, unfortunately, the decision to euthanize is made due to financial issues. Not saying that is the case here as I have no idea. But depending on the vet and the severeity, it can run $200-$2000 with no guarantees.

[Lilie]

I'm not aware of the reason for the vet's decision. I'm a little bias because I do not utilize the vet she uses (for her other dog as well) and I told her I didn't care for them.

I was out of town when she took her pup to the vet. She texted me, but I didn't get the text until I returned home (left my work blackberry at home). By that time the pup was already euthanized. The vet informed her that the pup had a 10% chance of survival and that it was suffering. She has had no experiance with parvo before and couldn't stand for the puppy to be suffering. The vet told her (Saturday) that they were closing at noon and if she decided to treat the pup, she'd have to take her to the e-vet for treatment.

I don't care for this clinic. My evil mind thinks that there was to be no money made for the clinic as they were going to send the pup off to the e-vet anyway, so they pushed for the pup to be euthanized. The total of both trips cost my co-worker over $480.00. This is just my opinon.