My Puppy's Sick...

And I Purchased My Pet at a Store
Or Directly from a Commercial Breeder

Is your puppy sick?  If you recently purchased your puppy from a pet shop, a breeder or by way of an advertisement in a newspaper or on the internet, we'd like to know about it so we may help you.  Doing so may allow you to be reimbursed and prevent other consumers from being taken advantage of.

First and foremost: get your puppy to a veterinarian IMMEDIATELY regardless of whether the pet store or breeder is insisting you bring the puppy back to the store or to their vet.  It is very, very important that you have an impartial doctor, one who has no ties or relationship with the pet store or breeder, examine and document the current health condition of the dog as quickly as possible. This is the only way you'll be sure to receive a true and accurate diagnosis, along with the correct and best medical treatment needed to get your puppy on the quickest road to recovery.

Pet shop and commercial puppies are frequently plagued by an assortment of parasites such as Coccidia, Giardia, Hook, Heart, Tape, Round and Whipworm along with fleas, mange and mites.  For descriptions of each of these parasitic infections we highly recommend visiting the Companion Animal Parasite Council - click HERE. 

Seeking out and obtaining medical care is the only way to document the actual health condition of the dog and you must ask the veterinarian for a full report, along with a detailed receipt of all costs for the examination, medical treatment(s) and medication(s) needed to restore your puppy's health.

Once your puppy has recovered, is recuperating from illness, or sadly, even if your puppy dies, you absolutely must take the following steps.  It is the only way to thoroughly document the need to either shut down or impose stringent regulations upon the commerical breeding industry.

FOR PENNSYLVANIA CASES:

1.   Gather ALL documentation including:

any paperwork you received from the pet store or breeder when you purchased the dog

any paperwork, including receipts, from the treating veterinarian

any paperwork you may have received AFTER you purchased the puppy that would allow you to register the dog with a canine club, or association, such as the AKC, ACA, APRI, NAPDR or other registry; these documents are commonly referred to as 'the papers' and sometimes are the only paperwork that clearly identifies where the puppy came from.

2.  Click HERE to print out and COMPLETE the Breeder Complaint Form

     Send a copy of the completed form AND a copy of all items listed above to:

NORTH PENN PUPPY MILL WATCH
P.O. BOX 1012
LANSDALE  PA  19446

If you would like to fax your documents, click HERE to request the fax telephone number.
Upon receipt of your information, we will gladly assist you with pursuing all
remedies available to you as a Pennsylvania consumer. 

Without your cooperation and providing all available documents, we can not help you. 

Depending upon the laws in the state where you live, you may be entitled to reimbursement for your veterinary bills and other costs relating to the purchase of a sick puppy.  Visit the NPPMWatch section: There Ought To Be A Law to see if the state where you live offers any consumer protection.

Why go to all this work?

Until laws on the state and federal levels change, puppy mills will continue to operate and supply pet stores with puppies.  By advising investigative agencies of your situation you can help change the laws so that canines and consumers will be protected from greedy commercial breeding operations.

After everything you and your puppy have been through, we're sure you wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else!  Please take the time to report any incident surrounding a puppy purchased at a pet store or from commercial breeder and help us to shut down these despicable operations as quickly as possible!

Thank You!

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