[Bruce's_Mom]

Bruce's story was much the same...My mother purchsed him from a petstore (actually a place that just sold puppies only) for me after a very painful break up, thinking a yorkie was just what I needed to lift my spirits...We were gauranteed that he came from a local hobby breeder, that he would remain small, etc...My mother and I trusted them, because who would want to hurt puppies, right? Well the trouble began almost immediatly...I caught wind that this place was an outfit for puppymills from my Animal Law professor at law school after Bruce had a few minor problems...I got angry, the little guy was so precious to me, I felt I had to vindicate him or something when thinking about the awful conditions he must have come from...I got in touch with a local animal rights group that had been protesting the store and the attorney representing that group in a defamation suit brought by the store...I got as much information as I could, I called and I confronted the store owner about her lie, she still denied it, I got even more angry all I wanted was for her to admit she tricked us in a way that made us feel morally culpable and say she was sorry and would not lie to future purchasers...Boy was I an idiot to think that was possible...She stuck to her story...

I began ton investigate...I went over Bruce's paperwork from AKC seemed as though something was not right about it...Called AKC, at 4 months old Bruce had 2 previous owners, both individuals...I became determined to figure out his actual place of origin...So I decided I was going to sue for deceptive sales practices, and my animal law professor and I set about collecting evidence that this place brokered pups from puppymills. At this point Bruce's jaw defect was apparent, he was begining to show some signs of orthopedic problems, and he suffered frequent stomach issues (all signs he came from a mill)...At first I hoped to preassure them into some sort of admission, so Bruce and I would protest alongside the animal rights folks with a big sign that said "What _______ Puppies did to Me is Absolutly Heartbreaking." Believe me an adorable yorkie face got a lot of attention, then we got threatened with a lawsuit, and had to sort of step back...So we started staking out the place, hoping they would be moving the puppies in trucks and that would give us some info...Nope, we had to go all the way through with a lawsuit and begin written discovery...They objected to nearly every interrogatory as invading protected tradesecrets, as if milling dogs was the equivalent to the coca cola forumla or something...Then out of nowhere a mistake was made a fax cover sheet from the infamous Hunte Corp. was accidentally attached to some other documents we requested...We threatened to go to the media, and I had every intention of doing it, this place sells sick puppies to hundreds of families in my area leaving them often with broken hearts...They got a protective order from the court preventing us from doing just that...Knowing that we were not going to really be able to raise awareness about the situation we agreed to settle out of court. I was refunded Bruce's purchase price and only some medical bills and informed he came from a commercial breeder in Oklahoma (not Hunte)...It really was of little consolation however, but I did find out where my boy came from...