Legal advice (seller was lying but we have proof of that)

[mikey2781]

please delete.

[Selanne_200]

Well depending on the amount, you could get someone to serve the paperwork for you, which may or may not be worth it. Also, maybe you could try the phone book to see if you can see a registered address? I've heard of cases where a defendant cannot be found, you could serve it at his/her last known address and after a certain period, it's considered served.
But seeing the case as it is, even if you win a judgement, it'll be hard for you to recoup the money.

[zilley]

I really don't see a high chance of winning the case here tbh.

If you bought a car from a private party and it breaks down the next day.
Chances are your gonna have to pay for it outta your own pocket.

Same goes for the dog, your friend didn't take it to a vet and get checked up first?

[mikey2781]

"Wouldn't email history of the seller saying to the buyer that the dog is 100% healthy and that the seller knew nothing about the health problems be enough to show that the seller is lying?

I have proof of the seller knowing about the problems before the dog was sold.
"

In a car perspective, car seller says the car is working 100% and NEVER had any problems with it (all in the email history). But from another car shop, it shows that the seller was notified of such and such problems. And to another person via email which includes the same contact # and name, the seller says I sold the car because it had such and such problems.

[bing]

I believe there is a service called skip trace for this sort of thing. Fee may be hefty but they may not charge you if they can't locate them. A lawyer should have more info on this.

[Energy]

Best advice we can give you is to get proper legal advice.

[StylinRed]

what sort of proof?

are the medical issues you claim she knew about the same ones that you're having to deal with now?

were the claims made during the sale in writing? or can they be backed up anyway?

how much time has passed since the dog was acquired?

how much time has passed since you knew of the health problems before you contacted the previous owner?

etc etc etc there's a lot to go over your best bet is to just sit down with someone

consultations are normally free

[Soundy]

Pics of the dog?

[Hondaracer]

+1 for what's the proof

If some vet examines the dog and tells you this was an existing problem from before yet the vet previous owner took dog to never caught it, if I was that previous owner id probably tell you to gtfo too
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[thumper]

this is terrible. glad to see that the dog is doing better.

my friend is always adamant about getting the pet checked at a vet or legit paperwork showing a clean bill of health before buying. she bought a little dog the same way you did (craigslist ad, just a cell phone number for contact info, and a meeting place in front of the mall) and the dog ended up dying from a tumor about 2 months later. her kids were distraught and of course the seller was long gone at that point

have you tried posting this in the pet forum? maybe someone there knows more.

or perhaps contact one of the local news stations and see if they are interested in picking it up.

[Zedbra]

Originally Posted by zilley

I really don't see a high chance of winning the case here tbh.

If you bought a car from a private party and it breaks down the next day.
Chances are your gonna have to pay for it outta your own pocket.

Same goes for the dog, your friend didn't take it to a vet and get checked up first?

That's actually a poor analogy. Even used cars, though specifically stated, have a form of buyer's protection in the eyes of the court. My brother sold a truck to a guy, he drove it up north and the rear end exploded within a week. The guy took my brother to small claims and my bro had to pay.

Not sure how this works with pets - but you would need the actual vet she went to probably to make a statement.

[Ducdesmo]

You have have a case as the seller already knew about the health issue... You can probably sue for mis-repesentation if you can prove it. But obviously consult with a laywer first.

[jasonturbo]

Beyond what others have already said in his thread...

It would be difficult for you to win any sort of judgement that would require the seller to cover the cost of surgery, best case scenario IMO would be that the court would require the seller to compensate you for the cost to replace the animal.. or what you paid her for the animal.

Sorry about your luck.

[pissedoffe55]

Originally Posted by mikey2781

Asking this for a friend.

They are planning to take this to small claims.

"
So this is what happened:

- bought a dog off craigslist/kijiji
- owner said 100% healthy, says that they never knew he has health problems and that all vet reports came back 100% healthy (however, we know for a fact that she went to multiple vets)
- brought the dog to our vet, vet says he has a problem that will require surgery
- family bonded with the dog, dog is clearly living a better life than before
- we want seller to pay for the surgery

- we have proof that she knew it has health problems which is why she sold the dog

- i have the seller's phone #, but never intended to give it to me. it was an accident on the seller's part.

- seller never replies anymore

To file a claim we need the seller's address, not sure how to proceed with this case. Seller delivered the dog to us.

"

Sorry to hear about your friends bad luck.

My advice would be to bite the bullet and tell your friend to just pay out of his own pocket for the surgery and take it as a life lesson...I have first hand experience in small claims and the time/money/headache in the end really isn't worth it.

Is your friend planning on waiting until everything settles in small claims and he actually physically has the money before he gets the surgery? or is he going to pay out of pocket and hope to be reimbursed?? Because court can be a lengthy process and thats pretty unfair to the dog that apparently needs some type of major surgery..

You also have to understand that even if your friend wins in small claims there is no guarantee that the guy will even have money to pay. They were selling sick dogs on craigslist, realistically they are probably in a pretty bad finanical spot...

At the end of the day if your friend really cares about the dog and can afford to get the surgery he should just do it asap and take it as a lesson learned.

[MTV Cribs]

If I was the seller and I had to pay for the surgery, I would like the dog back minus the money your friend paid for the dog.
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[mikey2781]

will update on what happens

[godwin]

I am sure the forum sponsor can help:

McComb Witten Lawyers are your personal VICTORY lawyers!

Originally Posted by mikey2781

I know for a fact that both the seller and buyer are well off. The buyer just doesn't want to feel like he got ripped off.

The surgery cost is pretty much equal the dog's cost. It isn't a major surgery.

So here is what happened:

BUYER posts an ad about the SAME type of dog with the SAME color to see if the SELLER would email about the dog. Why replace a dog with the same dog?
BUYER buys the dog seeing that the SELLER never looked for a replacement.
SELLER emails the BUYER'S FAKE ad regarding the SAME color dog.
SELLER says in the email that they sold dog because of the health issues.
BUYER freaks out and brings it to 2 vets, finds that he DOES indeed have those health issues exactly as listed.



Also, where can i get free consulting for this?

[rsx]

Seems pretty simple, weren't you give the medical history of the dog when you bought it?

[mikey2781]

The seller gave medical history, but clearly it wasn't everything. Seller changed vets a couple months ago.

[Autorice]

is it a cellphone or landline? was payment made by cheque or cash? courts will only make you 'whole' so they would tell you to first get the surgeries done (which sounds like you already did) and you just sue for the surgery you deemed were the seller's responsibility. I recommend you keep transcripts of all of your correspondence with the seller (hopefully it's by email) and all correspondence with all of the dogs' vets.

[zilley]

This sounds so confusing. I m not longer following what happened.

[Nlkko]

That's the risk people take when they buy from back yard breeders. Normally nothing happens, the pups are healthy because they're from normal healthy dogs mating and the sellers just want to sell the extra pups. Buyer got cheap happy dogs. Win win.

When the parents aren't healthy that's when the troubles lie. Do your due dilligence.
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[mac25]

...it's your fault for buying the dog.

if you bought a used car and didn't get it checked out before you paid and the seller sells it as is, then when something blows it's not the responsibility of the seller.

Same for the dog, you never know when medical things will pop up and if the seller sold it as is then any future medical issues are yours to deal with.


Unless you have a date, time and place where the seller found out about the exact health problem, and you have a record they were the one the vet told, then the seller posted the dog as "in perfect health" on the add, you may have a case.

but even then the judge would have to order the seller to repay you the value of the transaction and take the dog back, you wouldn't get the dog and a vet bill.

[mikey2781]

@Nlkko, seller is not a breeder

@mac25, not sure how it is the buyer's fault. Vets keep records of everything, she went to multiple vets that told her the dog has those problems. SPCA calls into vets and can get those info. Seller did sell the dog saying "as far as I know, there are no health problems with the dog".

Everyone is comparing a dog with a car, they are totally different.

[mikey2781]

Buyer did not do the surgery on the dog yet, it is a problem that will haunt the dog for the rest of his life when he becomes around 2 years old.

He is currently less than a year old.

So majority of the people on this forum is saying scamming is okay, and there should be no karma for the scammer? Just let the scammer keep scamming other people. The thing is, if the buyer returns the dog to the seller, the seller is just going to get rid of it again.

If I was the seller, no shit I would just rather take the dog back and give the buyer the money back. That's the best case scenario for the seller when all these evidence of the seller lying multiple times.