Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Petland has been defrauding customers by charging premium prices for pets that are falsely certified as being healthy, according to a Georgia pet owner.
Plaintiff Rosalba Cisneros filed this Petland class action lawsuit with the assistance of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. She alleges that defendant and global pet store chain Petland deceptively warrants its pets as being “healthy,” “fit for sale,” or “vet checked at least twice.”
“In reality, Petland does little to ascertain the health of these animals, many of whom are knowingly sourced from inhumane ‘puppy mills’ and arrive at Petland with infectious diseases or other health issues that are never diagnosed by Petland inspections,” Cisneros alleges.
She claims Petland colludes with defendant PAWsitive Solutions Inc. to further its fraudulent practices. Petland contracts with PAWsitive to provide customer services for pet owners seeking to make a warranty claim when their pet becomes ill.
The alleged collusion supposedly extends to Petland’s “preferred veterinarians,” those who are responsible for providing Petland-arranged veterinary treatment.
Cisneros says that in December 2015, she paid $2,400 to a Petland franchise store in Kennesaw, Ga. to purchase a Shih Tzu puppy named Giant. The purchase price included a certification that Giant was healthy and fit for sale, and it also covered animal care services through the PAWSitive program and Petland’s preferred veterinarians.
According to Cisneros, Giant became seriously ill as soon as she brought him home. She brought Giant to Petland’s preferred veterinarian for treatment and was given a course of antibiotics.
But the next evening, Cisneros says, Giant’s condition was so poor that she took him to an emergency veterinarian for treatment, to the tune of a nearly $1,000 bill.
The emergency vet diagnosed Giant with parovirus, a disease that Giant’s Petland certification of health specifically guaranteed he did not have. When Cisneros raised the issue with Petland, the store instructed her to bring Giant to their preferred veterinarian if she wanted to seek reimbursement under the store’s warranty.
Cisneros did as Petland instructed her. The veterinarian gave Giant no treatment, she alleges, and the puppy died within a few days.
A representative of PAWsitive called Cisneros. Instead of telling her about Giant’s death, the representative allegedly told her that Giant was recovering and would be released the following week.
Cisneros says she did not learn of Giant’s death until several days later, when she received a report from the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Only after police intervention did the veterinarian’s staff finally admit to Giant’s death and surrender his body to Cisneros’ daughter.
Based on these allegations of fraud and collusion, Cisneros’ Petland class action lawsuit raises claims under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.
Cisneros proposes to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of “[a]ll persons who purchased a cat or dog from Petland anywhere in the United States from July 2013 to the present.”
She seeks a court order barring the defendants from continuing to allegedly misrepresent its pets’ health and the value of the certifications and warranties that accompany the sale. She also seeks a damage award including treble and punitive damages, restitution and disgorgement of profits, and reimbursement of court costs and attorneys’ fees.
Plaintiff’s counsel includes attorneys Michael I. Fistel Jr., William W. Stone and David Weisz of Johnson & Weaver LLP, Tamara Y. Feliciano of Tamara Feliciano and Associates, Jessica J. Sleater of Andersen Sleater Sianni LLC, and Kelsey Rinehart Eberly and Anthony T. Eliseuson of Animal Legal Defense Fund.
The Petland Fraudulent Health Certification Class Action Lawsuit is Rosalba Cisneros v. Petland Inc., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-02828, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
UPDATE: On April 17, 2018, a class action alleging that Petland Inc. and PAWSitive Solutions Inc. conspired to sell pets that were not as healthy as advertised was dismissed from federal court.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
22 thoughts onPetland Class Action Says Puppies Prone to Illness
I worked at Petland and speak from personal experience when I say their entire business model is based on their goal to sell diseased and inbred puppies with false health certificates and sham warranties to unsuspecting consumers. Conduct similar to that described here act is the norm for Petlands everywhere,
NOT the exception. Petland did those acts for which they were accused n the Cisneros case. Conduct beyond reprehensible by any means. The merits of the case are clear and have strong evidentiary support, and yet, it was lost here and on appeal. Petland’s deceptive predatory conduct has continued for fifty years now. It’s a top-down corporate scheme to sell sick puppies with a falsified health certificate and sham warranty. They know their puppies are sick and inbred… like fake Gucci handbags from the scratch and dent clearance aisle at Dollar Tree sold for top dollar at Bloomingdale’s. Puppy mills exist because the public funds them. They will always exist as long as people keep buying their “products”. They make millions every year- why would they stop? Is the responsibility of the puppy purchasers to do their due diligence and research from where they are purchasing their puppy and to make informed decisions. If a person can’t find ten minutes to do a Google search when buying a puppy then they probably don’t have time for a puppy anyway. Puppies almost always become sick or die after purchase because they are puppy mill puppies. It’s to be expected. I wish people would stop funding this cruel industry….
Nonetheless, the unjust outcome of the Cisneros case is clear demonstration of Petland’s influence and the power of money.. Petland is well-connected in Ohio venues and with those in political positions. Of course they are. after 50 years of corruption and abuse. Countless RICO complaints filed, yet never an adjudication. Perhaps they were too narrow in scope and missed the bigger picture. They failed to name corporate, all Petland veterinarians nationwide, all franchise owners nationwide, and all their breeder/brokers as defendants and parties to their organization. There can be little question of racketeering activity when considering the Petland enterprise as a whole…
Bought a beset hound. The dog was terribly sick with a congenital defect. The dog was returned so they could care for her properly. The dog was put for sale four days later. And today she was sold to another family.
The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!
I’m so sorry your precious family had to experience this nightmare. Thank you for being willing to share. I was trying to encourage my family to see one of their puppies but after the research we will stick to rescuing.
we purchased a Husky from PetLand in S Florida and she was diagnosed with Campolybacter virus, she had severe diarrhea for over 6 months, after we cleared this… on her first Birthday she went completely blind. Over 10k later she has had surgery and can now see through one eye. Petland has given us the cost of our baby back however refuses to reimburse us for all of the bills relating to her going blind.
I too bought a $4,600 Cane Corso puppy from Petland in Las Vegas on June 1. 4 days later, she was diagnosed with Parvo. She is still currently in the Vet hospital. I may end up filing a lawsuit against Petland too just to get my money back because they don’t care about this situation. I think they are scam artists involved in puppy mills.
I lost my snoodle last night we only had her for 8 days she had all kinds of issues went to pet vet they recommend did not do the medically necessary testing 3 hours after leaving the vet we rushed our dog to hospital but after 6 hours fighting for her life we lost her, petland sales sick animals from bad puppy mills they also own bluecross hospital and the insurance they own it all
i hope your dog will be ok they need to be shut down so many lost their animals so many have large vet bills they do not want to cover our hospital bill we need to start class action law suit and shut them down my email who ever is interested in joining in debfranken@yahoo.com.
I just got my puppy (Lhasa Apso)- she is about 14 weeks; she been dry heaving- possibly kennel cough and or puppy (dog) flu…. I will be super upset off if passes away…. I am demanding to see there preferred vet ASAP… if my situation turns as the story above; I am going to file a Lawsuit.
We bought our first pet/dog for our family and gave it to the kids for Christmas. It was a cavapoo…we took the dog to the groomer 4 months later to get his first haircut and he died at the groomer…of a heart attack… we had no idea he had a heart issue…imagine our family’s devastation as we had to tell our children that their first dog had died…it was horrific…the vet said he had many dogs that died that year from pet land…they wouldn’t reimburse us in any way. We paid thousands of dollars for the dog…never buy a pet from there!!!!