Re: [PyrNet-L] Re: Health: Ruptured Cruciate Ligament

[Kshoffman@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/23/98 1:25:54 PM Eastern Standard Time, JGentzel@aol.com
writes:

> Why should Lene pay this in order for them to have the puppy they have 
> already
>  purchased prior to the injury?

That is Lene's choice (or any other individual breeder for that matter) to
make. I absolutely did not intend it to be judgmental of Lene in any way. I
merely presented it as an option. Yes, accidents do happen.  Unfortunately,
this accident happened to someone else's puppy while in Lene's
possession....not intentional, not due to any cause or neglect on his part,
agreed. I don't think anyone would argue that these people should not take the
puppy.

It appeared to me with this situation as it stands that Lene doesn't feel he
is free to simply refuse to allow these people to take the puppy and insist
they either take a replacement or their money back. Which then puts him in the
position where he can't make a decision regarding what to do with this puppy,
as he would be able to if the puppy wasn't sold.

If he is looking for confirmation that it is okay to say to these people, "I
have offered you a replacement and/or refund therefore, if you go ahead and
take this puppy, I will not be held responsible for any future expenses
related to the knee problem" then I have absolutely no problem with that.  I
personally in such a situation would want assurances that puppy buyers had no
hard feelings and were still agreeable to a good, ongoing, breeder-puppy buyer
relationship. Buyers may say "okay we'll take the puppy", and feel some
resentment (founded or unfounded) and then you may have trouble ever getting
any information on how that puppy comes along.

There is no right or wrong way to handle such a situation. I came up with my
scenario just by trying to put myself in his shoes and the buyer's shoes to
come up with an acceptable solution for all parties. If the buyers don't take
the puppy, then Lene will still have the injured pup in his possession, and
will have to decide for himself what he wants to do from there.  If it were
me, I would most likely seek the opinion of an orthopedic specialist to
determine the extent of the damage and what the probable future quality of
life would be for this puppy before deciding what to do. In this case, I would
have to assume the cost of such an evaluation anyway. Then, depending on that
evaluation, I'd probably be faced with the following options: 1) wait it out
and see what happens, see if it heals on its own; 2) euthanize the puppy; or
3) have surgery done and then try to sell/place the puppy.  If I chose to
incur the cost of the surgery because I had reason to believe it would be
successful and the dog would still be suitable as a family pet/companion, then
I would expect to sell the animal at pet price with full disclosure of the
medical history. If I did not feel surgery was an acceptable long-term
solution, then I would probably euthanize the puppy. I can't say with
certainty in such a situation which option I would choose. It would depend on
the circumstances in any case.

Lene should do whatever he feels comfortable with. I just tried to offer a
workable solution that would hopefully ensure all parties are happy. Lene is
perfectly free to disregard. No harm or judgments meant WHATSOEVER.

Back to lurking for me.

Kelley Hoffman
kshoffman@aol.com