Lemon law for a rescue dog?
 

My cousin just got a dog from a rescue group in NJ, she was brought up from TX, and she’s extremely sick with pneuomonia. The ER vet bills are already over $2000, plus the $350 adoption fee.

The adoption included a health certificate and one month of petplan pet insurance. She’s supposed to be fully vaccinated but my aunt says her vet records are shoddy.

I’m not sure what’s going on with the insurance, she might not be covered because of the waiting period.

She arrived on saturday and my cousin met them at the vet, she was given antibiotics for her teeth (they’re horrible) and he was told she was congested due to allergies and was stressed from the ride.

On monday morning my aunt went to check on her, saw how sick she was (lethargic, green mucus coming out her nose, coughing), and she called the vet from saturday. That vet was dismissive so she took her to the ER vet.

She’s been on oxygen, IV antibiotics, fluids, and a nebulizer, and she’s in isolation.

He’ll do whatever needs to be done for her, but it’s wrong that he was given such a sick dog. Thankfully she hasn’t been around the other dogs in my family.

I'm so sick to hear what you are dealing with. Do you think the rescue group in NJ is the cause for the poor baby being so sick? I'm really nerves because I have a little yorkie that I need to send to a rescue place since her owner died and I can't keep her but, I don't want her to go to a place and possibly get really sick. She is not even 2 years old and weights only 4 lbs, she would never survive a sickness. I hope your dog will be ok.

I’m not sure there is but hopefully one or more of our memebers who work with rescues can help.

Could you not foster her until she finds a new home?

I'm getting more and more nervous about adopting a dog I haven't seen. All rescue groups are not as honest as others. Am so sorry for her little one and hope things work out for both of you.

She was barely with the NJ group, given how bad she is I think she had to have been sick in TX. The NJ group and the vet shouldn’t have let her go home with my cousin given how sick she is though. He feels like the vet completely lied to him about her health.

This is his first dog, his mom and sister always took care of the family dogs, so he didn’t realize how sick she was or that he shouldn’t just trust an unknown vet.

They also dropped the ball with her shoddy vaccine records.


Yorkiemaddison, if you can’t foster her yourself I’d look for a group or shelter where she’ll be kept in someones home. She should find a home instantly given her breed, size, age, and gender. I wish I could take her lol.

Taylor, yeah that’s what I’m hopeing.

Lilgidget, I agree, I wouldn’t adopt a dog without seeing it. You may be able to find one locally since your down south though.


Thanks everyone

I got Gidget from a local breeder and saw her before I paid any money. There are too many unscrupulous breeders/rescue groups/sellers out there. Shame on them!

A lot of times when you take on a rescue there maybe health issues or behavioral issues that have to be taken care of.

Thank you! I would love for her to go to a group where they keep her in someone’s home. I really wish i could keep her but she is 1 1/2 and she really deserves a lot of attention and I can’t give her that. I have a 9 year old yorkie that won’t play with her, a five year old son who thinks she’s a a toy and 7 months old twin girls! I feel so bad that I can’t keep her but, I will not let her go until i have a safe place for her to go after reading about that poor yorkie. Any help would be so appreciated.

When getting a dog from a rescue, it is safer to assume there WILL be issues, either medical or behavioural that will need to be addressed. We usually take rescues, and currently have two.

Our oldest, Bailey who we got when he was 8 weeks or so old, had mange, flea infestation, and intestinal worms so badly they thought he would die from being wormed. He survived, and is a fabulous, caring, and nurturing almost 8 year old dog now. He was also so malnourished that the vet told us her best guess was he would never get over 18 lbs based on the size he was. He is a healthy, happy go lucky 65lb dog now (we think he is airdale or labradoodle).

Mario, who we adopted when he was about 1 yr old, was badly physically abused and it took months and months to get him through that trauma. He had also not been trained for anything including house training. Now, he is a confident and happy little guy who also was trained at home to be our daughter's service dog.

Rescue dogs can come with limitless issues, BUT they also can come with limitless potential!! If you are aware of what you are getting yourself into, it can be a wonderful transformation to watch!!

Mayzoo, I completely disagree, no responsible rescue should allow a nearly dead dog to be adopted. Some issues are to be expected, but ones this major are wrong. On their site they even say the dog will be checked in TX and NJ and given a health certificate.

If he got the dog from a pet store, breeder, or broker these bills would be covered by the lemon law.

He’s committed to this dog, and no disrespect to the dog, but for less money he could have bought the breed he wanted from a show breeder.

I don’t want to debate the merits of rescue dogs, I wanted to know if the lemon law applies to them.

"Lemon laws" are strictly for consumer goods that fail to meet industry standards. An animal is not a consumer good. So, no, the lemon law does not apply.

There may be another law that applies however. You would need to check with a lawyer in your state.

NJ does have a lemon law for dogs and it’s referreed to as one on some websites.
https://www.animallaw.info/statute/n...protection-act

A lot of times it dosen’t mean they will pay the bills it means they will take the dog back which would end up being the same if they had one for rescues. That’s another reason why if you are looking to rescue and can’t handle the bills of possible sick dog or one needing training that you should really check out the reputability of a rescue and the dog before jumping in.