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Debbie Dujanovic ReportingThe experience brought at least one customer to tears. Others say it's cost them thousands. Experts say our investigation exposes a big problem in Utah: people buying sick pets from pet stores.
They thought they'd bought the perfect pets. Customers of several different stores are coming forward with bills, heartbreak, and a message: buyer beware.
They're cute and cuddly, but are they always healthy?
"What's wrong with him?"
Store: "I don't know. He um, this morning he just uh, he's just not feeling good. We've got him on medication and got some heat on him."
What happens when the one you buy falls ill?
Joi Kitinos, Pet Store Customer: "He was foaming from the mouth as if he was rabid."
Kristy Benac, Customer: "Her surgery alone was $2375.81."
Your new dog dies.
The price of Nicole Heinecke's new puppy was $1500. Paying a vet to save it cost nearly $500.
Nicole Heinecke: "She went into cardiac arrest and died."
Dead the day after she bought it.
Nicole Heinecke: "We feel like this is just a really bad nightmare. And as my husband says, we're just trying to wake up from this nightmare."
Two days after his owners bought him for 500-dollars, Sam was quarantined.
Gregg Vranek, Pet Store Customer: "The estimate about $1200 just in vet bills."
Joi Kitinos, Pet Store Customer: "First, they had absolutely no hope. They tested him for Parvo and it came back within seconds, positive."
Emma's owner says the cat caught a virus from her new kitty, Marvin.
Kristy Benac, Pet Store Customer: "Emma had the potential of dying. If I had not done the surgery, her eye would've ruptured. It could've killed her."
Buying Marvin from the pet store cost about 60-dollars. Getting her cats well climbed to $3300. It doesn't end there.
In another case, a customer bought a dog last month; nine days later it died. They don't always die, but vets tell us this is a widespread issue.
Dr. Amy Moore, Mountain View Animal Hospital: "I would say the good majority of animals we see from pet stores, which is several a week, have some sort of health problem."
Animal control officers say it's often a case of buyer beware, that pets stores are protected by customer contracts and policies like: all sales are final, all pets sold as-is.
Temma Martin, Salt Lake County Animal Services: "There's no organization that I know of that's in charge of or over these particular businesses, so they can make their own rules."
They're not the only pet stores with complaints, but these stores came to our attention. Two customers sued Teacher's Pet in Layton; they allege they were sold sick pets.
Dixie Burrell, Pet Store Customer: "I was angry. I thought, you know I paid good money for these dogs, in good faith, and I wanted to be compensated for it."
The company won both cases. In a statement the store says it does not sell any animals that appear ill.
Another customer signed a contract with Puppy Palace in West Jordan and now she'll have to pay the vet bills. The store says it'll replace her dead puppy because it had a genetic defect.
Critters Pets in Sandy responded to a customer's complaint, saying the couple refused an exchange. They sent us a document showing the puppy was sold as is, and the store clearly informs customers it does not pay vet bills. The same store offered to refund Marvin's owner the price of the kitty. She's still paying off $3300 in vet bills.
So, why are they getting sick? There are lots of reasons. Sometimes it's the breeders the stores use. Also, the animals are transported together in trucks. And they're living in a contagious environment. So remember, unless a pet store expressly guarantees the health of the pet, the costs of getting them better are yours, not theirs.
