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An NBC 6 investigation is revealing complaints about sick dogs being sold here and around the country by a popular South Florida pet store.
When you buy a dog, you are supposed to get a health certificate signed by a veterinarian, but one customer was surprised with a health certificate given to her by Wizard of Claws.
Amy Smithey and her mother, Janet, are lifelong dog lovers. So, when they saw Lili at Wizard of Claws, it was puppy love.
"I wanted her as soon as I saw her. I knew she was the dog that I wanted," Amy Smithey said.
Amy Smithey claims Jim Anderson, who runs Wizard of Claws, assured her not to worry.
"He told me I never had to worry about any health problems. They assured me a healthy puppy, I would never have a problem, that they do not sell sick puppies," Amy Smithey said.
Instead, two days after she picked up Lili, she had to rush her to the hospital. The vet diagnosed a grade two heart murmur and recommended she return the dog.
"I put the stethoscope in my ears and when he put it up to her little chest, I heard thump, whoosh, thump, whoosh, thump, whoosh. There was no doubt in my mind that the puppy had a heart murmur," Janet Smithey said.
NBC 6 discovered Lili's health certificate makes no mention of a heart murmur and, in violation of the law, it's unsigned.
"Here is a blank health certificate for 'Lili.' Why would Wizard of Claws issue a blank health certificate?" reporter Jeff Burnside asked Jim Anderson, who operates Wizard of Claws.
"(Be)cause she was bringing it to the vet for a free check up," Anderson said.
Amy Smithey said that's not true and claims she was told something else by the salesman when she returned Lili.
"(The salesman) said, 'Oh, the vet was coming back today to sign it. We were waiting for him,'" Amy Smithey said.
Amy Smithey and her mother got another surprise. They found Lili back up for sale and renamed Tiffany on the Wizard of Claws Web site.
NBC 6 went into Wizard of Claws with a hidden camera to confirm that Lili was now back up for sale despite the heart murmur diagnosis. And sure enough, there she was.
"Absolutely. And it's sold," Anderson said.
"Sold?" Burnside asked.
"Absolutely sold. Absolutely no problem with the dog," Anderson said.
"Found no heart murmur?" Burnside asked.
"No heart murmur. Wrote a health certificate," Anderson said.
"If somebody asked me if they should go there, I would tell them absolutely not. They will screw you over. That's what they did to us," Amy Smithey said.
The veterinarian who examined Lili confirmed that the dog did have a heart murmur and advised Amy Smithey to return her. But, the manager of the animal hospital used by Wizard of Claws told NBC 6 that its vets gave Lili a clean bill of health and found no heart murmur.
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Animal Advocates of Howard County |
PO Box 1403 •
Ellicott City, MD 21041
(410) 880-2488 •
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