Precious but not healthy:
Cindy’s Precious Pups professes to sell dogs who are “guaranteed to be healthy,“ yet her bill of sale only warranties her puppies for 72 hours from date of sale, whereas most reputable dealers will warranty a pet for congenital defects for one to two years. I purchased a “vet approved“ parti-yorkie, I named Ruby, from Cindy’s Precious Pups in January of 2011. I paid a premium price of $3,000 despite a visible genetic defect involving a severe over bite. In May, Ruby was diagnosed with three more genetic defects including an umbilical hernia, and micro vascular dysplasia/internal liver shunts. Micro vascular dysplasia is a congenital defect mostly seen in small breeds of dogs. When advised of the results of lab tests, which included a liver biopsy, Cindy’s response was “Most dogs are clinically normal with medical management and many have normal life spans." Her encouraging prognosis was not much comfort after watching Ruby display the distressing symptoms of the disease and spending nearly $2,000 on her diagnosis and treatment. The treatment will have to continue for the rest of Ruby’s life, which I hope is as long as Cindy would like me to believe. As for her vet’s approval, I contacted Dr. Young at the Bayview Veterinary Hospital. I informed him of the diagnosis, which was made by two veterinarians (VCA and Bangor Veterinary Clinic) and supported by a VCA specialist. Dr. Young’s opinion was that this constituted hearsay, that I had a vendetta to prove, and his time was too valuable to get involved. Bottom line: Research the breeder, read the warranty and consider a “vet approved” guarantee only if you know the vet.
by marie on June 18, 2011