Should I report this breeder to the RSPCA?

[cavymama]

Hello all. First of all I know I’ve done a list of things wrong with this breeder, I wasn’t anywhere near thorough enough, and honestly after my experience I’ll probably never buy another puppy again.

Also, this is a long one, apologies!

When I was looking for my dog (cavalier KC spaniel) I knew to look for a kennel club dog to ensure the breeder was legitimate, so when I came across a litter that wasn’t KC registered but the breeder assured us she could register the puppy we wanted for an extra £300, we thought that was fine. The total we paid for him was £1300, and he was sent home with a vaccination/worming/fleaing record. She told us she’d send his kennel club papers in a few weeks when she got them.

The second we got him home he had diarrhoea in our garden. When it hadn’t stopped after a few days we took him to the vet for a stool sample test, and it turns out he has SIX different infections (4 parasites and 2 bacterial). All the time we’d been texting the breeder worried and she’d been assuring us he just had a nervous tummy. The vet has told us it’s really unusual to see this many things come back positive from a stool sample.

We’ve treated the roundworm, he’s on antibiotics for his giardia, and we’re going to the vet later today to pick up the next round of medication for his campylobacter. The diarrhoea hasn’t stopped yet, it’s been 2 weeks constant of that now, and I’m really worried about my dog. It’s also been incredibly draining to spend 2 weeks constantly cleaning up diarrhoea at all hours of the night and day.

So far in tests and meds we’ve spent £350, as his insurance hasn’t kicked in yet. The vet has warned us that because he’s had all these ‘preexisting conditions’ insurance might become more expensive in the future.

On top of all that, my fiancé has contracted the dog’s cryptosporidium and has been very ill stuck in the bathroom for the last few days.

I’m starting to wonder that these kennel club papers aren’t coming and that she was lying about them, and that she was lying about his mum’s heart testing too.

I haven’t confronted the breeder about all of this yet, I don’t want to go in all guns blazing as I still need to get the kennel club papers off her, but I really think it’s appropriate that she pays our vet bills, given that she sent him home to us ill. I’m also thinking that she should probably be reported to the kennel club and/or RSPCA.

What do I message her? The last texts were her telling us his diarrhoea was nervous stomach and not to worry. How do I approach this?

[TheQueef]

I doubt you will get any joy with reimbursement.
Someone who is happy to let the pup suffer so much for the cost of wormer is a bad lot.
Sympathies with the shite, we had a new arrival a few months ago who brought giardia and all the cats still have loose poo despite clean swab results.

[Shockers]

Did you visit the litter more than once? Did you see the mum? How old was he when you took him home?

[cavymama]

@shockers we took him home at 11 weeks, we’d also visited him once before at 8 weeks. We met the mum and she was lovely and friendly, and seemed healthy enough.

[adaline]

I very much doubt the bitch you met was the puppies mother.

[StressyDressyHeels]

When will people learn to do their homework with breeders?

I hope the dog is ok.

[user1483387154]

did you see the kc papers of both parents? if not it is very unlikely the puppies will be able to be KC registered

[cavymama]

@adaline how so? She was affectionate with the puppies, and from the looks of her underside she’d clearly had puppies recently.

[BiteyShark]

Sorry OP but I think this is a case of buyer beware.

I very much doubt you will get KC papers or any money for vet bills.

[StressyDressyHeels]

At 8 weeks the pups would have tried to feed from her if they were allowed out together.

[cavymama]

I didn’t ask to see the KC papers of the parents, but when we were there for the first viewing one of the other puppies was going home with another family and he had his KC papers, so I didn’t see any reason to think the breeder was lying.

[BrokenWing]

You can report to the RSPCA but they are highly unlikely to do anything. Sounds like you have either bought off an amateur BYB or a front for a puppy farm/commercial puppy breeder and paid a fortune for the privilege. Any responsible breeder would have sent you home with the standard free 4 weeks initial cover pet insurance.

Where did you find this "breeder", is she on the KC list of approved breeders? Did you see the KC registration and the health checks for both the parents?

[cavymama]

@brokenwing like I said above I didn’t see the KC papers for the parents, but we saw one of the other puppies go home with KC papers so we didn’t see any reason to think the breeder was lying.

There was nothing red flag-y when we went to go see the puppies, they were in their family home with their mother, they were happy and playful, the breeder gave us a record of their vaccinations, chip and worming, she gave us loads of advice and clearly cared about the dogs, she gave us a take home kit of the food he’d been on and a bed and blanket that smelled of his mother, because of the other KC puppy I saw no reason to think she was lying about the kennel club. The breeders kids were sad when he was leaving, so it didn’t seem like he’d been farmed somewhere then plonked in a home with a fake mother as a front. I didn’t want to encourage puppy farms, I didn’t exactly buy him from a random man in a car park like everyone who has replied seems to think.

[cavymama]

I already acknowledged in the op that I should have been more thorough, even despite there being nothing suspicious when I viewed the puppies. I didn’t come here for a kicking, I came for advice about what to do next... surely I should at least let her know about it so she can test her own dogs and tell the other puppy buyers?

[tabulahrasa]

“when we were there for the first viewing one of the other puppies was going home with another family and he had his KC papers, so I didn’t see any reason to think the breeder was lying.”

Well the most obvious one is that yours didn’t have KC papers... they should have been registered at the same time, also it’s £17 not £300...

I’m guessing puppy farm tbh, you’d be hard pushed to have all those issues in a house without everyone and everything in it also being ill.

[Wolfiefan]

RSPCA won’t care.
KC reg doesn’t mean good breeder.
It’s buyer beware. You didn’t do your due diligence.
I would make very sure your dog is well insured. This breed is very prone to health problems and if it’s not come from a decent breeder then it could get expensive.

[BiteyShark]

Yes you can and should inform the breeder to check the other puppies.

However, your OP was about reporting to RSPCA and getting money off them for your vet bills. Not sure what RSPCA would do as there isn't any cruelty or neglect as far as I can see and getting money off for vet bills is unlikely. I had a clause in my contract that I could return puppy if a vet found a certifiable condition (heart murmur etc) within the first week I got him. Because he was KC registered I also had 4 weeks free insurance which is common to get when they are registered to cover such issues. As you didn't push for registration prior or insurance you can try and get money but without a contact then it depends on the breeder or whether you wish to do a small claims court.

[Shockers]

One of the pups was going at 8 weeks; I think that’s too young. I’d hazard a guess that the KC papers were fake.

[cavymama]

@Shockers sorry I wasn’t clear - the breeder had two bitches with litters 4 weeks apart, the puppies going home when we viewed our boy were 12 weeks and that whole litter was KC. That’s why I had no reason to suspect when she said she was about to do our litter, she said she’d just waited to find out from us whether we wanted to pay the for him to be KC then she could do his litter as a group.

@tabulahrasa she said the extra 300 was the value of a KC dog, not the cost of registering him. KC puppies are at least £300 more generally, so that’s true at least.

@Wolfiefan I do have insurance, it just hasn’t covered us for this.

[Shockers]

It does sound like something of a puppy farm. I’m sorry- I hope your pup recovers well.

[Wolfiefan]

Litters 4 weeks apart?
Puppy farmer.

[adaline]

@cavymama because that's a tactic lots of puppy farmers use.

Stick the puppies in with a healthy looking bitch so that people think they're seeing a nice set-up with mum and babies when in reality the mother is probably in an isolated kennel somewhere preparing for her next forced litter.

[adaline]

Two litters four weeks apart?

Definitely a puppy farmer in that case. Ugh. I really really wish people would do their bloody research - it's a living, breathing animal ffs.

[Wildorchidz]

the breeder had two bitches with litters 4 weeks apart

Did that not ring alarm bells for you?

[BrokenWing]

she said the extra 300 was the value of a KC dog

Another red flag. If the pup is worthy of kc registration why not register and sell for anther £300? Because she is probably over breeding from non kc reg bitches.

[tabulahrasa]

“she said the extra 300 was the value of a KC dog, not the cost of registering him.”

It’s the same dog how could that make sense to you?

There’s really not much point in harassing you about the breeder tbh, you have the puppy already - and I do hope his health issues are resolved soon.

But tbh, the only way the breeder could have been obviously more dodgy would be to be selling puppies from the back of a van...

Multiple litters weeks apart, no paperwork shown to you either health tests or pedigrees and different prices depending on whether you want a puppy registered or not?... that’s not red flags, that’s practically bunting...

It’s pretty unlikely you’re getting paperwork or money for the vets bills...

www.cariadcampaign.co.uk/report/

Here’s info about who/where to report a puppy farm to.