Simon's story, another heartbreaking story about my puppy that was purchased at the Westland MI Petland in September 2009. Simon is a 5 lb Torkie, Toy Fox Terrier and Yorkie mix.

After losing my collie Rascal to cancer in July of 2009, I desperately wanted another canine companion. I made at least a dozen attempts to locate the right companion at my local Humane Society but, had no luck finding the right match. On my way home from the Humane Society, I passed by the Westland Petland and saw a puppy for sale sign out front and my temptations got the best of me. I stopped in and the minute I saw little Simon, it was love at first sight and my thoughts went into rescue mode. I had to get him out of that small cage, away from the kids pounding on the glass and the other chaos going on in the store.

I inquired with the young sales girl about Simon and that's where the story really begins. I thought I asked all the right questions about his breeding and his health. I was not aware that Petland had so many pending issues with selling sick puppies. I was told that Simon was a healthy 2.5 lb Torkie puppy that had been regularly checked by the stores preferred vet. I was informed that Simon had an issue called Luxating Patella or in common terms a trick knee, I was not familiar with the issue so I inquired and was told Simon would grow out of this issue. I was also told that it was common in small dogs, that it was not serious and would not require medical attention.

Well months later his so called knee issue was not getting better. Simon has now been diagnosed by both my vet and the stores vet that he has a very serious issue called Legg Perthes. The issue was not with his knee, it is a congenital hip issue that causes a dog to go lame and can only be corrected with costly surgery. Simon's back right leg is completely lame and it's causing strain on his back left leg. Simon is being robbed of his wonderful puppy hood, he can't run and play like a young puppy should because of the pain and discomfort in his hip.

Petland is well aware of the issue and I have asked their assistance in helping me with the expected $2100.00 surgery fee. I have asked to speak with the store owners in person but, so far I have only had personal contact with the store manager. The owners did send me a few letters expressing their concerns but, so far have only put me in contact with their vet to do the surgery at a reduced fee. This is the same vet that miss-diagnosed Simon in the first place.

On 4/28/10, I inquired about the breeder and was told by the manager that they knew who the breeder was and would follow up with me with the info. When I want back to the store on 5/10 to pick up my copies of Simons X-rays and asked again for the breeder info the store manager told me they did not have the info like I was first told. I went home and called the store back, I felt I was being lied to and the manager admitted the owners put her up to it. They intentionally had her lie because they did not want to release the breeder info.

At this point I am beyond upset, I feel the store is hiding the fact that the are dealing with bad breeders and puppy mills. I just want justice for Simon, I need to come up with the money for his surgery and I feel Petland and their vendors should be responsible for covering the costs. I also want to make sure the breeder is held accountable for selling sick puppies. I don't want another one of Petland's customers or puppies to go through this heartache and pain

i think this is a good place but with somehow a bad employees. they are nice and would be accomodating -- TOO ACCOMMODATING that they have to ask their customers to hold a bag for them when it breaks. and yeah, too accomodating that they push you to buy something... And they act too knowledgable about fishes that they put plastic bioballs in a sack with water -- treating it like it's living! and when i said, this is the type of catfish we have --- she said "no that is a shark" but it was really a catfish breed though it is called iridescent shark which is a CATFISH SHARK! She also said "i love fish, i have gallons and gallons of fish tank at home for 12 years!" who cares? esp if she says "i like platties, i recommend you have that too to make your aquarium colorful" then i said, "we don't like it" then she said with an ugly face "whuuutt???? you don't like it? they are pretty! how could you not like them?" oh well i said, to tell you honestly, they look like they have mouth problems! and they are considered fish food at home! they multiply so easy that they become so annoying! then she said "duh! this gold fish are the fish feeder" (and she sounded pissed that we don't want to buy what she is RECOMMENDING" she thinks she knows so much that she wants us to buy those only that doesn't have colors and that are weakling fishes! she recommends a chinese algae eater than a wonderful pleco! we don't understand why she would insult some customers by thinking she KNOWS IT ALL and by saying "there is nothing that i dont know about fish" but hey, she really doesn't know about BIOBALLS!!! and plus, they just scoop the poor fishes carelessly and pour them on the bags CARELESSLY! we were doubtful if the fish survive long enough even when they are cheap they look so unhealthy! we will never buy fish there anymore --- but i will go back and tell her it is really a type of catfish, and that bioballs need not to be in a bag of water when you buy it! when i asked her what it was for, she said it helps with oxygen, then i said, how does it do that? does it have something inside it or what? she said "yeah"... i think she is really dumb because bioballs are just piece of intricate plastic that roll on the water close to the aerator to bring in some bubbles that carry oxygen!. if she didn't intervene and started catching the fishes we really don't like (we got them for the sake that she wanted to catch them herself and she had a hard time getting it -- she was taking all the decors out the tanks!) we would have got chichilid and other nicer fish! hence, they would have sell much more money! she got blond hair, built big and have a bit big eyes and dirty blonde hair! beware she thinks she knows too much and keeps talking you out of what you want and keep insisting that what she wants is better and before you say yes or no she would start putting them on your bag! --- why can't she just leave people alone and buy what we really want? and anyway, bettas don't aged 12 years!!! she said she have one for 12 years! they only last 2-3 years so that she will know..

Store refused to accept their advertising coupon for $10 off on a single purchase of $25 or more before 1/15/10. When I tried to buy a $30 bag of Science Diet Puppy food, they said the coupon was not good on dog food. No where on the coupon is this stated and I feel they are intentionally deceiving the public.

My sister and I went into the Petland store to look at the ferrets, as we had bought a ferret there before. What I witnessed was a very ill ferret, wasn't able to move. I told an employee of this and this male employee picked it up, blew in its mouth and tossed it back into the cage hard and said, "Oh it fine". Not only do these people at Petland not care about customers safety, but they do not care and WILL sell sick animals. Deplorable cage conditions, the ferret cage smelled terrible and they were out of water, and poop in their food bowls. Thank God the baby I bought months before is still alive and so far is healthy except for a minor heart arrythmia. These people need to be shut down!!!

We bought a 1 month 29 day German Shepherd from the Springfield, MO Petland on 23- July-09 we brought him home. We put him in his kennel for the night after we feed and watered him and he went out and went potty. The next day we went out for a couple of walks and it was like right after our walks he had to take a nap and well we thought ok normal alot of exercise for puppy so he just needs a quick nap. He slept alot that day. That night my girlfriend and I took the puppy for a walk and we didn't get but 20 yards from our house and he started gasping and backing up for air. My girlfriend then picked him up and was holding him his eys started rolling back into his head and his tongue started turning color and becoming very limp. Blood then started coming out of his nose and mouth and it was dark red in color. So it was kinda dried. If it was current blood it would have been bright red. After that he had no pulse and was not breathing. We then called Petland and they told us we needed to bring him in for a autopsy. We brought him back on Saturday morning and the vet concluded that he had Acute Pneumonia. We were told that we could get our money back that day by the General Manager Rob and now we received a letter stating that we are not getting our money back that we can get another puppy. We do not want another puppy from them.