Petland stores engaged in 'deceptive sales practices', sold sick dogs, lawsuits allege

Chrystal Rivas said that when she and her husband, Robert, walked into a Petland store owned by the company in its headquarters city of Chillicothe in April 2022, they "immediately fell in love" with Louie, a brown and white English bulldog puppy.

Because Louie was a purebred and Petland had expenses related to the acquisition and presale care costs for the puppy, the bulldog's price tag was initially $10,000. But Petland gave the couple from Frankfort, Ross County, a significant discount to $3,500, and they agreed to finance Louie at an interest rate of almost 45% that drove the cost to nearly $5,264.

After bringing Louie home, the couple said they noticed that it was difficult for the puppy to walk, and he soon began throwing up and having seizures. The couple said they called Petland and asked if they could return Louie, but Petland told them they'd have to pay $750, according to the Rivas and a lawsuit filed Thursday by Holland & Muirden, a law firm with offices in Sharon Center and Fairlawn, near Akron.

After veterinarian visits and X-rays, the Rivas family learned that Louie was suffering from an underdeveloped pelvis and genetic hip dysplasia that would leave the dog in apparent pain with extended walking or running. This meant Louie would require specialized medical care and would ultimately leave the bulldog unable to use his back legs.

The Rivas said they immediately contacted Petland and demanded they reimburse them for veterinary costs, but allege Petland refused and said the most they'd offer is approximately $2,000. The couple said they have moved twice to a ground-level apartment and now a ranch-style home so the dog doesn't have to climb stairs.

The Rivas family isn't the only one that experienced issues with Petland. The Humane Society of the United States on Thursday announced that they are assisting Holland & Muirden in lawsuits that accuse Petland stores of engaging in a pattern of "fraudulent and misleading sales practices" and selling sick dogs to three Ohio families.

The lawsuits, filed in Franklin, Delaware and Ross counties, allege that the Petland corporate store in Chillicothe and two franchise stores sold sick puppies to three Ohio families between 2020 and 2022.

“Welcoming a new puppy should be a time of joy and celebration, but for these families, Petland only delivered heartbreak,” said Mark Finneran, Ohio state director for the Humane Society of the United States.

“Ohioans deserve better than being duped into paying thousands of dollars for a sick animal. Today, we begin the process of holding Petland accountable for the pain they’ve caused these victims.”

Petland's response

Maria Smith, communications director for Petland, Inc. in Chillicothe, denied all of the allegations in the lawsuits in an email to The Dispatch and called them a "stunt" by the Humane Society of the United States.

"The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has a long pattern of using donor dollars to file frivolous lawsuits across the country," Smith said in the email, "especially during state legislative sessions in states where they are trying to implement a pet sale ban — and especially during their fundraising season."

Smith said Petland had not yet been served with information regarding the lawsuits, but sent additional information to The Dispatch with Petland's position about the cases of each of three dogs involved.

In the case of Louie, Petland alleges that the Rivas family took Louie to two veterinarians between December 2022 and September 2023, both related to Louie's hip and pelvis problems. Petland says it paid for both of those visits, and acknowledged that the Rivas family had made eight other phone calls to its customer service team about Louie's hip, reporting it was getting worse.

Petland contends, however, that Chrystal Rivas did not mention Louie's seizures to the Petland customer care team until their last communication in September 2023. Petland also says that the Rivas family said they did not seek further medical care for Louie's hip issues or the seizures for reasons such as cost and work schedules.

The company also contends the Rivas family said they would supply Petland with veterinarian records regarding Louie's medical condition and treatment but did not. Petland was not able to obtain the records independently from the vet without the couple's permission.

Macey Mullins, of London, said she bought a Jack Russell terrier in June 2020 from a Petland store in Lewis Center for $4,600. Shortly after she bought the puppy, whom she named June, Mullins said she noticed that the dog was "excessively thirsty" and constantly needed to urinate. But when she contacted the Petland store, she allegedly was told by a store representative that puppies drink a lot, according to the lawsuit.

Seven months later, veterinarians diagnosed June with "bilateral renal dysplasia," leaving her unable to eat or drink without an IV. Mullins said she spent thousands of dollars on hospital bills and vet costs and eventually decided to have June humanely euthanized, according to court documents.

Petland's Smith said Mullins purchased the terrier on June 25, 2020, but didn't contact the store regarding any health issues with June until February 2021, eight months after purchasing the dog. Smith said Petland refunded Mullins $4,603.33.

The third plaintiff, Rosemarie Haddad, 70, who now resides in Bowerstown, in eastern Ohio, purchased a Rottweiler puppy from a former Petland store in Columbus' Carriage Place in July 2021, and agreed to finance the puppy for $7,500, including interest. However, after 24 hours, Haddad realized she could not care for the puppy due to her physical limitations, according to the plaintiff.

Haddad contacted Petland to try to return the puppy, but they required her to prove that she could not care for it properly. After getting proof from her physician and veterinarian, Petland refused to return her calls, according to court documents.

Less than a week after Haddad bought the puppy, a neighbor agreed to return the Rottweiler to Petland Carriage Place. The Humane Society alleges that Petland employees threatened to call police and accused the man of criminal abandonment of the dog at their store.

Petland's Smith said Haddad purchased the puppy in July 2021 and signed a contract that stated "all sales are final," and that if a customer decides that the puppy is not right for him/her within 48 hours, "Petland Carriage Place, LLC may agree to allow the customer to exchange the puppy for a puppy of equal or lesser value."

Petland states that their customer solutions tam attempted to contact Haddad regarding the puppy after her neighbor told them that Haddad was unable to care for the puppy. Petland claims that none of their calls were answered or returned, and that they could not speak with Haddad's neighbor regarding the puppy because he was not the buyer.

While the Petland Carriage Place store refused to give Haddad a refund, Smith said they issued her a store credit of nearly $7,000. Petland Carriage Place is no longer in business.

smeighan@dispatch.com

@ShahidMeighan

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Petland denies allegations in lawsuits that they sold sick dogs