http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/check-stop-payments.html
Heres a link for informational purposes.
Today I had to meet with my lawyer regarding some business matters,
I asked him about this today and he immediately said "this is the same thing I told you to do when you got your dog", (but I was afraid to!). In my case I ended up basically getting the cost of my dog back as they had to pay for her surgery, after I paid for it and a million other things...) I ended up spending 20x that amount ytd.
He said anyone at anytime can stop payment if it is in "good faith."
Lawyer said that most times these types of people aren't running totally legitimte business' to begin with (not saying Loretta isn't). Many will NOT persue monies because of exposure and fears of the IRS (interesting).
Said that in this case Loretta can take her to small claims and vice versa court and the Judge the breeder will probably (depending) on contract and puppy lemon laws of their state, end up owing ChinaLee money.
My Lawyer said that the best thing to do is to try to work it out amongst themselves, get past this and come up with a solution together. If not, he suggested that ChinaLees lawyer should contact Loretta to work out an agreement, that would be the right thing to do.
He said that either party could take the other to small claims court over this, hes willing to bet neither one does.
Am not judging here, I totally despise these types of breeders and I totally hated paying them...I understand your viewpoint and I understand others viewpoints as well, I personally did not cancel check even though I could have, but I was relentless getting my money back as per the contract...however; I just couldn't keep persuing as I could have, and after I got the amount that i payed for My Miss Mini, I walked away from the whole situation....I love my dog but my energy was spent on her.
I know that in the first couple weeks the cost to keep my Miss Mini alive was staggering and I am grateful that I was able to pay the costs and not return my pup...I'm not sure if Chinalee is as fortunate as I am to be able to afford this...what I do know is there is no way in the world I would have given my baby back...NONE so in that respect I can sympathize with ChinaLee.
The thing about this situation is that all we have is writtin text and not the whole story and we just don't and can't know all the details.
Either way, I'm glad this pup is loved and being taken care of.