The following account was shared with Stop Online Puppy Mills by Rocco’s owner and is presented in her own words.This is his owner’s firsthand account of the purchase, Rocco’s health problems, the necropsy findings, and the claim process that followed.
Rocco was purchased through PuppySpot and arrived home on May 18, 2022. Six weeks later, on June 29, 2022, he died.
Why I Chose PuppySpot
My mother’s friend verified it was not a scam, making me comfortable moving forward. Their “no puppy mill promise”, “health guarantee”, and “AKC certifications” convinced me, so I contacted them.
Their salesperson was extremely responsive and texted me about every day and went as far as giving me his “personal number” incase we ever needed help with training. This seemed like a green flag to me and I completed the money transfer of $5,000 to Puppy Spot for Rocco.
Once the money transfer was completed, I never heard from this individual again despite reaching out many times. I asked about the breeder and was told I could not receive any information, including the name of the breeder until the puppy arrived at my house.
Rocco was purchased at around 8 weeks and was about 10 weeks when he came home, he was shipped to me by airplane. Rocco arrived home to me on May 18th 2022. He died on June 29th, 2022.
Rocco Arrived Lethargic and Frightened
Rocco had two emergency room visits – one for being dehydrated from the flight, and one for being so lethargic that his head was swaying (looking back, this may have been a sign of a defective heart). In the end, we were not refunded for any of these ER visits.
On the morning of June 29th, Rocco yelped and I looked down and he was unresponsive. We took him to the emergency vet, and he was pronounced dead.
The vet did not have an explanation for his death, so I paid for a necropsy to be performed. It was determined from the necropsy that Rocco likely died of “intermittent heart arrhythmia”, which is a congenital health issue. The key here is, this is hard to prove, because my boy was not hooked up to a heart monitor when he died in my bed.
My PuppySpot Claim After Rocco Died
According to the owner, she submitted the claim to Puppy Spot on July 7 and received a response that it can typically take 10-14 days to review. When it was finally looked at, Puppy Spot did not look at all the documents I submitted in the claim.
I was told I was neglectful towards Rocco and told I would get no refund. I pointed out their error at which point they offered a quick apology and told me I would again need to wait another two weeks for information while they reviewed the documents they missed.
Eventually, I was told that I would not be getting a refund, despite the necropsy report from the doctor about Rocco’s likely congenital heart issue. Puppy Spots claimed because we did not do an EKG to prove the heart arrhythmia at the time, we had “no proof” and the doctors “did not know what they were talking about.”
It is impossible that Rocco would have randomly been hooked up to an EKG at the time of his passing (especially as we had no way of knowing about his heart defect prior). This is what Puppy Spot used to deny me receiving a refund of any kind.
I went back and forth with Puppy Spot and was even yelled at on the phone by a customer service member. At this point, I considered consulting a lawyer but decided it was more important to heal from the experience and move forward.
I Want Rocco’s Story to Help Other Puppy Buyers
I hope his story will educate others about online puppy sellers and why you should not ever buy a puppy from a picture and have it shipped to you. My sweet boy did not deserve this and I have no idea of the conditions he was born in.
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