My Horrible Experience w/ All Pets Club

My name is Toni Regan and this is my story about purchasing a puppy from a pet store. I totally admit, I should have done some research about this store & the breeders they use. But, my heart lead the way and I have to say at least Giz is in a loving home.

Our family purchased Gizmo, an adorable Chinapoo (Japanese Chin, Poodle Mix) in March of 2007. Our son was an employee of All Pets Club in Branford, CT. This little puppy attached himself to our son quickly, we believe he chose us rather than us choosing him. We weren't able to bring him home right away because he had kennel cough so he spent about an extra week in the store, as they had to wait for the next visit from their vet to give him a clean bill of health. When we did bring him home he still had kennel cough which our other small dog caught as well. Both were treated and cured. Soon after our son gave up his job at All Pets Club, in good terms, as it became overwhelming with school work and sports. We kept the vet that All Pets Club uses believing that would be the best thing for Gizmo as a new home was enough of a change. Gizmo loves the outdoors, we have a good sized fenced in backyard so he has lots of room to play. Gizmo cried alot for the first few months, the vet stated that he wasn't used to all the exercise he was getting and his muscles were sore. We had no reason to doubt the vet, she was the Dr. Well in June 2007 Gizmo tried to jump on our bed and fell. Since it was late vets office was closed we brought him to the New Haven Animal Hospital where he had xrays done. They prescribed pain meds. They stated Giz would be ok, although the Animal Hospital saw something in the xray regarding his spine that he would probably grow out of, but all visit information was going to be forwarded to his regular vet and once reviewed the regular vet would call us. Sure enough we got a call from the regular vet who asked how Giz was doing since the fall. We stated he was doing ok and taking the meds as needed. In November of 2007, I decided to change vets because Giz began falling often while walking, and dragging his back legs, I began taking him to a new vet that stated Gizmo was becoming paralyzed, although the vet couldn't determine why, they referred me to a neurologist Shoreline Animal Hospital in Shelton, they diagnosed Giz as missing a bone in his neck. Without this bone he began damaging his spinal cord (thus causing the pain he was in) as the 2 bones on either side of the missing bone are pinching it and it could be severed without being stabilized by either a cast or another bone being implanted. First thing I did was call All Pets Club to notify them that there was an issue and they should reconsider using that breeder. I was never allowed to speak with Jerry, so the statement about him speaking with any customers having issues is false. He passed me to either the store manager or puppy manager neither of them showing any concern or compassion. The puppy department manager told me to speak with the vet, to find out why it wasn't caught in the xray. The vet referred me back to the store of course. The store manager actually compared Gizmo to a computer!! Stating when the warranty is up you pay for your own parts!! I wasn't even asking for any money, that was the part that really shocked me, I didn't request funds at that point, I just wanted to let them know of the situation to avoid other families going thru the same thing. I then contacted the Att. Generals office and have a pending case. To this very day Jerry has never contacted me to discuss anything or refund he 80% of purchase as he states is his policy, Gizmo was purchased in March and taken for xrays in June, this is less than 6 months. I have also spoken to many other families who have purchased dogs from both the Branford and the Wallingford store and have had similar issues, where dogs are sick some deathly ill and Jerry won't even speak with them. You can read about some of these families on the WTNH blog at this address, http://wtnh.tv/blogs/index.php/anchors/2008/02/07pet_shop_problems or on the petition that was started to change this puppy lemon law at this address http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Gizmoslaw/index.html

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My dog was also purchased with kennel cough from the Wallingford store. I took her to my regular vet, who diagnosed it and gave us a written notice to show the pet store, so they could pay for her medicine. This all happened in the first few days we had her. We left her at the store for a week, until "their vet" could look at her.

One week later, we go to check on the results, and they say they didn't even have the vet look at her, because they didn't hear coughing. We thought she'd just gotten better. Not at all; she was worse. She'd spent hours each night coughing, and we ended up just getting the medicine from our own vet.

NEVER NEVER NEVER buy from a pet store, under stricter standards are put into place. You'll end up either footing hefty bills or with a dead pet.

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Really!! I have four dogs from there that are perfectly healthy ranging in ages from 8 months to 13 years old. I also use their vet that they use in Wallingford store. When you deal with alot of puppies you are bound to have a few issues. Same thing with doctors. Nobody is perfect, only God and you need to remember that. I am just sorry you have to deal with that but it is just like having a child born with issues. You didn't do anything to make it that way, it just happened, just like I'm sure the breeder didn't intend on that to happen- or the owner of the pet store, for that matter.