Warning about buying older dog

roxyd

Hi A month ago I bought a beautiful male st bernard. Hes 4 years old. We were delighted with him. Three days after we bought him his tummy bloated up and he was tired all the time and wouldnt come for a walk. Brought him to vet who took sample of blood for testing. Test came back that his protein levels were low. The swelling in his tummy was a build up of fluid and it seems these are all symptoms of heart disease which the vet reckoned was at an advanced stage because of the serious build up of fluid. He is now on Fortekor for heart and 12 diuretic s a day to get rid of fluid. Rang the seller during week who said dog never had heart problems. The more I think about how he sold me a dog like that the more up set I get. Rang him this morning he didnt answer now he has phone turned off. The pity of it is the dog is a beautifull loveable pet but the vets bill is pileing up and I cant afford it. he has to stay on the heart tablet s permanently. Have I any rights here for him to take dog back and give me back my money. (If he ever turns his phone back on). Please can someone give me any advice:(

EGAR

TBH, I do not understand why you chose to entitle your thread a warning about buying an older dog, the same thing can happen with a young dog and/or pup - so I am at loss.

The onus is on the buyer to make sure the animal is checked by a vet prior to buying the animal.

Was there a contract signed?

Is the dog KC reg'd and has the ownership been tranfered?

star-pants

Was it a breeder or just someone who owned the dog?
Do you have proof of purchase/change of ownership?

FabulousGirl

I think if you send him back to the shelter he'll probably just get PTS if they can't afford his vet bills either.
I had a look on google to see if there is a St Bernard Rescue in Ireland but had no joy - maybe some other boardsies know of one?
Your other option is to see if you can rehome him to someone who can afford his bills.

Sorry I can't really be any help.

jen_23

Oh the poor dog!! I would contact the ISPCA and ask for advice. Certainly I would report the man who sold you the dog as he may not have known that the dog was ill but I would suspect that may have been only due to neglect.

I imagine you would be able to take the man to the small claims court to get your money back as the dog was sold in poor health to you. You could try ringing the national consumer agency of Ireland (google for number) for advice.

Where are you living? If it is Dublin I know there is cheap veterinary care with the blue cross (i think it's the blue cross) but if it;s anywhere else maybe you can find a nice shelter which can take in the dog for you and rehome the poor thing.


Please don't send it back to the man who sold it to you you as I imagine he will sell the dog again without informing the new buyers.

ISDW

FabulousGirl wrote: »

I think if you send him back to the shelter he'll probably just get PTS if they can't afford his vet bills either.
I had a look on google to see if there is a St Bernard Rescue in Ireland but had no joy - maybe some other boardsies know of one?
Your other option is to see if you can rehome him to someone who can afford his bills.

Sorry I can't really be any help.

The OP doesn't mention anywhere anything about a shelter. I think that they bought the dog from a breeder.

EGAR

Shelters are can ill afford another sick dog!

If you buy a dog then you take on the responsibility and ANY dog can get sick and you need money for the vet. Especially giant breeds!

And doing your homework beforehand may have helped as St. Bernards are known to suffer from Cardiomyopathy amongst other hereditary diseases like Osteosarcoma, ED and HD.

FabulousGirl

ISDW wrote: »

The OP doesn't mention anywhere anything about a shelter. I think that they bought the dog from a breeder.

Apologies, I misread seller as shelter.

Corb

EGAR wrote: »

Shelters are can ill afford another sick dog!

If you buy a dog then you take on the responsibility and ANY dog can get sick and you need money for the vet. Especially giant breeds!

And doing your homework beforehand may have helped as St. Bernards are known to suffer from Cardiomyopathy amongst other hereditary diseases like Osteosarcoma, ED and HD.

Yes it is now the OP's problem unfortunately but sometimes people actually trust other people...sadly it didn't work out for the OP but I'm sure it's hard enough having to deal with this situation without people being unhelpful on here.

roxyd do you have an address or anything for the seller?

FabulousGirl

EGAR wrote: »

Shelters are can ill afford another sick dog!

If you buy a dog then you take on the responsibility and ANY dog can get sick and you need money for the vet. Especially giant breeds!

And doing your homework beforehand may have helped as St. Bernards are known to suffer from Cardiomyopathy amongst other hereditary diseases like Osteosarcoma, ED and HD.

Excellent point. Was going to say something similar myself but didn't.
Purebreeds suffer from some awful hereditary conditions, knowing the pros and cons of any breed should be the first thing you do before considering taking one on.

seanybiker

ya said he is a beautiful loveable dog. Why would you want to bring him back to someone who obviously treated him bad. The poor big giant dog. I dont wanna sound horrible or anything but it just sounds a bit bad saying he is lovely then wanting to give him back cos he might cost a bit.
Do you have any idea how much it will cost. Im not working. On disability but Im sure I can save a few bob and send it onto you.

jen_23

This thread was posted twice and in the other one I suggested that the OP first of all report the seller as considering he's not even willing to talk suggests he did know of the dogs condition and if he didn't he was probably neglecting the poor thing.

I would think there might be a case against the owner. You could prob bring him to small claims court to redeem the money. I would ring the national consumer agency of Ireland and double check with them.

Also phone/email the ispca for some advice here. They may be able to guide you further esp on the options for the dog. they may know of shelters which rehome the dogs as opposed to pts. Poor pet.

Magenta

I doubt the OP has any consumer rights, private sales are "buyer beware".

seanybiker

Magenta wrote: »

I doubt the OP has any consumer rights, private sales are "buyer beware".

thats it. Private sale is "as is".

EGAR

Corb wrote: »

Yes it is now the OP's problem unfortunately but sometimes people actually trust other people...sadly it didn't work out for the OP but I'm sure it's hard enough having to deal with this situation without people being unhelpful on here

Unhelpful? You chose to ignore my first post on this thread in which I asked Q's re the "transaction".

And if you read the stickies on this forum, you actually find one which says "DO YOUR HOME WORK".

St. Bernard's are not cheap. I am sure OP must have paid several hundred Euros for this dog (I stand corrected if not so but I doubt it).

Now the dog is sick and now it costs money.

Poor dog...

jen_23

Oh that's a shame. At the very least though report the seller for what he did. hopefully the OP can gan some solice in that.

I just really feel sorry for the dog (is that really terrible to say? The poor thing)

Corb

jen_23 wrote: »

Oh that's a shame. At the very least though report the seller for what he did. hopefully the OP can gan some solice in that.

I just really feel sorry for the dog (is that really terrible to say? The poor thing)

Me too, poor thing.

kraggy

roxyd wrote: »

Hi A month ago I bought a beautiful male st bernard. Hes 4 years old. We were delighted with him. Three days after we bought him his tummy bloated up and he was tired all the time and wouldnt come for a walk. Brought him to vet who took sample of blood for testing. Test came back that his protein levels were low. The swelling in his tummy was a build up of fluid and it seems these are all symptoms of heart disease which the vet reckoned was at an advanced stage because of the serious build up of fluid. He is now on Fortekor for heart and 12 diuretic s a day to get rid of fluid. Rang the seller during week who said dog never had heart problems. The more I think about how he sold me a dog like that the more up set I get. Rang him this morning he didnt answer now he has phone turned off. The pity of it is the dog is a beautifull loveable pet but the vets bill is pileing up and I cant afford it. he has to stay on the heart tablet s permanently. Have I any rights here for him to take dog back and give me back my money. (If he ever turns his phone back on). Please can someone give me any advice:(

I don't think anyone on here has any steadfast answers at this stage but all you can do at the moment is try and do your best for him in the next few days.

Try and scrape together whatever money you have for treatment as there is no legal way out of this immediately. Any issue you have with the seller is not going to be properly addressed in the near future.

Beg, borrow, .... whatever you need to do to look after the poor fellow.

Maybe the local vet will understand your predicament if you explain it to them rationally.

Hopefully.

Keep us updated anyway.

roxyd

Hi Thanks for all the replys. I think some of ye are missing the point. I have always had dogs. I bred cocker spaniels and I know any dog can develop health problems. I would never knowingly sell a dog to anyone if there was something wrong with it. In reply to some one s question the dog is registered with IKC and I have the transfer of ownership papers but have not transferred him over to my name yet. That man knew that dog was sick he even said when he decided to sell him he brought him to vet for a once over and vet said he was fine. He told me if I was nt happy with him in a month he would take him back. But he now has his phone turnrd off or his no changed. he is not a breeder he was selling the dog because there was no one at home with him all day. Yes I know I was stupid stupid to take him at his word that the dog was healthy. I am doing my best for this dog I have the vet bill to prove it even though I cant afford it. The sad thing about it is its not the dogs fault.

EGAR

If you need help re his tabs then send me a PM and I see what I can do ok?

Triton

roxyd wrote: »

Hi Thanks for all the replys. I think some of ye are missing the point. I have always had dogs. I bred cocker spaniels and I know any dog can develop health problems. I would never knowingly sell a dog to anyone if there was something wrong with it. In reply to some one s question the dog is registered with IKC and I have the transfer of ownership papers but have not transferred him over to my name yet. That man knew that dog was sick he even said when he decided to sell him he brought him to vet for a once over and vet said he was fine. He told me if I was nt happy with him in a month he would take him back. But he now has his phone turnrd off or his no changed. he is not a breeder he was selling the dog because there was no one at home with him all day. Yes I know I was stupid stupid to take him at his word that the dog was healthy. I am doing my best for this dog I have the vet bill to prove it even though I cant afford it. The sad thing about it is its not the dogs fault.

Was the seller from the Cavan/Meath area? I know a very dodgy St Bernard dealer from that area.

If it was, pm me as I'd be very interested in speaking to you about this.