Akron, OH asked in Animal / Dog Law for Colorado

Q: If I purchased a puppy at a pet store and they lied about the breed what are my options?

My concern is that the breed is susceptible to illnesses that we were not expecting with the other breed.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Kristina M. Bergsten
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Kristina M. Bergsten
Answered
  • Animal & Dog Law Lawyer
  • Denver, CO
  • Licensed in Colorado

A: Pet stores are notorious for this kind of behavior. They are in it to make a sale, not to care for the living, breathing animals. Pet stores are also very likely to get their puppies from puppy mills. In short, pet stores should be avoided at all costs.

To answer your question, it kind of depends on what the contract says and what you want the end result to be. If you want to give back this puppy to get the correct breed, you might be able to do that - depending on the contract and you can prove that this is the incorrect breed. But there’s no guarantee that the puppy you currently have will actually contract the illnesses you are concerned about and if you love the puppy, it might be best to keep it and give it a good home rather than return it to an unknown fate. Because the puppy does not have any illnesses currently - I am assuming - it would be too speculative to sue for costs that have not been incurred. Otherwise, you can always write a bad review about your situation to warn people about purchasing from this particular pet store.

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