Alma and Robert

Alma and Robert Weber Sold a SICK puppy Rancho Cordova, California

4th of May, 2011 by User543358

On April 4, 2011, around 7:00pm I purchased a Great Dane puppy from defendants. Puppy was extremely under weight and had a very calm/lethargic personality. I wasn't worried by this as the defendant stated she was free feeding the puppies and I gathered the other puppy was eating most of the food. As for the calm personality it was a plus as this would be a very large dog. Alma Weber showed me two AKC papers for the mom and dad dogs with her hand placed over them and stated because she was selling him at a discount she would not be giving me the puppys papers she would keep them. I asked if I needed to sign anything and she said no just take the puppy. I took the puppy into my regular vet on the 5th of April for a puppy health checkup (no blood or urine workups were completed at this visit). The vet said he was considerably under weight and had some abdominal tenderness but felt it was due to me changing the puppy food. On the 9th at 3:30am I awoke to the puppy whining. I let him out of his crate to take him outside to go potty. He made it as far as my kitchen floor and started urinating pure blood. I took puppy to pet hospital right away. The vet said he was seriously underweight and that it could possibly be a kidney infection or failure, but that either way it did not happen in the 5 days that I had him, it was something he had for a while. He was treated and diagnosed with a serious bladder infection containing extreme amounts of the E-coli bacteria. I called the defendant at 8:30 that morning; she returned my call late that afternoon. I explained what was going on with the bloody urine and that he was walking around bumping into walls hanging hes head down and not responsive to calls out to him and that I was under the impression I was getting a healthy puppy. She said Im sure you and your children have become attached to the puppy at this point and I should just keep him because all of the other puppies were very healthy and she could give my references to call the other owners that she had been doing this for 25 years and has never had this happen before. She went on to say that she felt as though I was talking about her character and that she had not been a good dog owner. I explained that yes all four of my children and I had become attached to him at this point and if it was nothing more than a bladder infection I wanted to keep him if she would be willing to cover half of the vet bill. She got very upset claiming she sold me a $1200.oo puppy at a discount and she wasn't willing to split the cost. She said if I brought the puppy back she would only give me my $300.00 back that I paid. I explained to her it didn't really matter how much she sold him for, she sold me a sick puppy. I felt that it was fair for her to cover half. She said she was on her way to visit her dad out of town and when she returned home she would talk to her husband about it. I asked her to please think about it and please call me back after discussing it with her husband. I never heard back from her. On the 15th a week later I was again awakened by the puppy crying. I took him out of the crate to find he was not able to stand, walk straight, dragging his head as he tried to walk, foaming at the mouth and had labored breathing. The puppy continued to walk in circles banging into the walls as he walked and then falling to the floor. I contacted the pet hospital they said it would be another few hundred dollars if I brought him in. I called Defendants at 6:00am on the 15th on their home and cell numbers to let them know how sick he was and that I needed to return him at this point. I explained in the message that I would have never purchased the puppy from her had I known he was this seriously ill.
The defendant text me later that day saying she couldnt talk she was at work and she would be home after 5:00pm for me to return the puppy then, but she would still only return my $ 300.00. Upon my return home at 3:30pm, I found the puppy to be moving around better however the puppy was again urinating blood. I contacted the vets office to explain my arrangement with the breeder. The vets office advised me the puppy needed a blood panel run to find out if he a more serious issue going on and to not make the puppy wait for care due to the fact it was Friday, the breeder wouldnt be home until after 5:00 and regular vet offices would be closed for the weekend. Considering the puppies health I took him in. I called the defendant to let her know, I had to leave her a message that the puppy needed to be seen asap so that I would not be bringing him to her at the time arranged for that day. The defendant later sent me a message asking where I was. I sent one back saying I had left her a message. The defendant called me right back screaming at me saying, Why would you take him in and spend more money on him. I explained after she stopped screaming at me that the puppy needed care and he needed his prescription refilled and with the weekend coming up I didnt want him to be in pain or go without his medication for the whole weekend, even though I was not financial able, I would not let him suffer. The defendant went on to explain that she just cant understand whats wrong with the dog, all the other puppies were fine, that something must have happened to him like an injury or he had gotten into something in my back yard. She stated that she had taken mom dog into the vet because of this, to have her checked for any genetic diseases that could have been passed to the puppy and that she got a clean bill of health from the vet. Fortunately for me working in the health field I realized very quickly that this would have been impossible for her to have done in such a short time frame. Genetic testing with blood samples is a very long process taking at the least 2 months for results and genetic bone testing which is done by x-ray for things like hip dysplasia takes at least a month for results. She then went on to say she had told her vet the puppies situation and he told her without seeing the puppy it was hard to say why he would be urinating blood, but that he could have gotten into something in my back yard or an injury. I explained to her once again that it had already been established that it was a serious bladder infection that had been occurring for some time and he was taking antibiotics for it and that I felt he may have some sort of neurological issues. She explained that she gets all her information from the internet regarding health issues for her pets and that its very accurate information. She also stated that it was bad to give the dog antibiotics and did I know that. I explained that the licensed veterinarian had prescribed them according to the puppys diagnosis and weight. I also told her puppies dont usually dont urinate blood from getting into something in the back yard, they would be vomiting or having diarrhea. At that point I realized that she was obviously not a well educated or responsible pet owner and had probably not gone to the vet at all and I felt she probably wouldnt take the puppy in to a vet either. I told her I felt she knew he was ill and that is why she let him go for a discount to get him out of her care and that I had asked her several times to split the cost of the puppies treatment as it was established to be an illness that the puppy had had for some time and been suffering from before he left her care. She once again said she in no way was responsible for any of it, or to take the puppy back. I explain that it would not be fair for me to have incurred such a debt for her puppy, get him the treatment and medication he needed and hopefully on the track to being healthy, for me to return him for what I paid and walk away with no puppy or reimbursement, It just wasnt logically, morally or ethically right . She said she would again speak with her husband but she knew he wouldnt agree to reimburse me for the vet bills. I stated to her to please speak with him again and let me know and I let her know the outcome of the blood work and what was going on. I never heard back from her. I started contacting Great Dane organizations asking for help, that I was getting nowhere with the breeder. The puppy continued to become more and more disorientated in his behavior. I contacted my regular vet to let him know, he said he needed to refer me to a specialist for a neurological work up that he would not be able to do anymore for the puppy at this point and to continue to give him his medication and once completed he would complete follow up tests to see if the bladder infection was better. I continued to give him his medication daily as instructed. I left Alma several messages on her home and cell numbers letting her know I had not heard back from her yet and that puppy was getting worse. On April 30th, I noticed that the puppy was not doing well at all and he needed more help. I contacted the Great Dane Rescue Group (Colleen Leahy) she said she would find a foster home for him and take him to her vets office for care. On Monday when I got home from work the puppy was very bad he had bloody paws for scraping at the walls while being disorientated. He had urinated blood everywhere. I contacted Colleen told her what was happening with him. We made arrangements to get him into her vet the next morning. I sat up with the puppy all night trying to help him in any way that I could to comfort him.
I meet Colleen at the vets office on May 3rd. After the vet did some tests on the puppy he determined that the puppy had a massive brain trauma, most likely from birth or shortly after, and was suffering terribly and the only thing to do was to put him to sleep. The puppy was put to sleep on May 3rd 2011 four months after his birth.

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