My wife and I bought a bulldog/puggle puppy from Berich Farms, Bethany S. Dye, www.berichfarms.webs.com, 7560 TR 334, Millersburg, Ohio 44654 330-231-8080. The puppy was guaranteed to have no major health problems. If the major health problem was lethal a new puppy would be provided. There was no specific remedy defined if the dog had a major health problem that was not lethal.
We agreed to meet Bethany in Toledo, OH to cut down the drive from our home in Canada. When we arrived to pick up the dog, we noticed the dog to be very calm and almost lethargic, but assumed that she must have just been scared or tired from the ride. Shortly after getting back on the road to head home, we noticed some dead fleas on her despite being given a certificate from a vet dated the previous day which stated that she was a healthy puppy. Upon arriving home, our puppy continued her lethargic demeanor and slept for the majority of the next few days. Upon bringing the puppy for a checkup due to our suspicions, the vet immediately treated our puppy for fleas due to her visible signs. Her diarrhea for each day caused the vet to investigate with a fecal flotation stool test. Even after treatment, two and a half weeks later, her diarrhea had progressed and was now bloody with mucus. Due to the severity of the situation we had to pay for several expensive medications and diarrhea tests to determine the cause of the problem.
The test results showed that our puppy had cryptosporidium which is transmitted by eating infected animal feces, predominantly found in horses. Bethany Dye does breed horses and did admit to us over the phone in a verbal conversation that she does let the dogs roam the pasture and had noticed that some of her puppies had come back to the house with horse manure in their mouths at times. In addition to this, our puppy also tested positive with Coronavirus and tapeworm which also had to be treated with even more medication.
Due to the troubles and bills we have faced with our already expensive puppy (purchased for $850 USD), we requested that Ms. Dye would compensate us for some of the $700 CND in vet bills we have incurred. Although we feel that these problems are of a direct result of her ignorance allowing the puppies to roam free, we only requested that she cover half of our costs. She has ignored many of our phone calls and has been very difficult to communicate with. When we do actually make contact with her, Ms. Dye continues to deny that these issues have anything to do with her methods of caring for her puppies or from her facility. After faxing professional documentation suggesting that our puppy has suffered these conditions as a direct result of the breeder, Ms. Dye has refused to compensate us for our expenses, stress and trouble. As a side-note, she has also indicated on more than one occasion that her husband has left her which suggests that she does feel some responsibility and is looking for another way to avoid compensation.
We cannot make a statement in regard to the condition of her farm due to the fact that we met her to make this transaction, so be your own judge.
We could never have predicted that purchasing our first puppy could produce such a horrible situation and thus feel compelled to warn others that this too can be you if you purchase from a breeder who operates a business in a similar fashion.
Buyers Beware.
Kyle & Chantal