Puppy Owners Sue Pembroke Pines, Fla., Pet Store After Dogs Fall Sick, Die.

By Nicole T. Lesson, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 12--Six people claiming their puppies became sick or died filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Pembroke Pines pet store where they purchased the animals.

The six plaintiffs, including a mother and son who bought one of the puppies, claim the owners of Wizard of Claws misrepresented the quality of its puppies, violating state law. Three dogs died and two are alive, the suit states.

The suit, filed in Broward Circuit Court, comes six weeks after a lawsuit was lodged against Puppy Palace Inc., a pet store with locations in Hollywood and Boynton Beach. That suit's nine plaintiffs claimed the stores also misrepresented the quality of its puppies.

In the suit filed against Wizard of Claws, the plaintiffs said the puppies sold by the store were sick with genetic diseases such as hip dysplasia, a bleeding disorder and pneumonia.

The plaintiffs, including two South Florida residents, ask to be reimbursed for the price of their dogs and veterinary bills.

Terri vomSaal, of Cooper City, was searching for a papillon puppy and found a newspaper ad that led her to Wizard of Claws. In July 2002, she bought an 8-week-old puppy for $950 and named her Tara.

Four months later, the puppy went blind, became sick and later died from a congenital problem called hydrocephalus, a condition in which excessive fluid is found in the brain, the suit said.

"To say Tara suffered is an understatement," said vomSaal, who added that she accumulated $2,531 in veterinarian bills. "I did my research and saw the price was average, and they said they worked for a select group of breeders. I usually get my dogs from animal control or the Humane Society, but I wanted a papillon and they are not easy to come by."

After Tara died, vomSaal researched the Internet. There, she said she found other people who said Wizard of Claws sold them sick dogs.

"What they've done and what they continue to do, I want to see them get shut down," said vomSaal, who was given another puppy as a replacement.

Some plaintiffs and other animal activists plan to demonstrate at 11 a.m. Saturday near the store at 9113 Taft St.

Jim Anderson, the manager for Wizard of Claws, which is owned by his wife, Gilda, said he has sold about 3,800 dogs in two years, with 80 percent coming from Internet sales.

"This is six people in 4,000, and no matter what you do and no matter how hard you try, they won't be happy," Anderson said as he stood outside the store while looking over a copy of the lawsuit.

"We are not interested in selling sick animals; we are lovers of animals."

Anderson said his store is not violating any state law, gets its dogs only from reputable breeders and guarantees dogs genetically for one to three years.

Marcy LaHart, who is acting as co-counsel for the Wizard of Claws plaintiffs, also is the lead attorney for those who sued Puppy Palace in late October. Since then, LaHart said, she has heard from about 90 people who bought dogs from Puppy Palace and claimed that the animals suffered from congenital defects and became sick.

"I hope anyone that will be adding a new four-legged member to the family during the holidays will not support puppy mills by buying from a pet store, particularly when 1,000 dogs and cats are killed in South Florida shelters every month," LaHart said.

As of Nov. 26, the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services had processed at least 10 complaints filed by people who said they bought sick dogs from Wizard of Claws, the lawsuit states.

Shannah Diaz purchased a Maltese puppy she named Prince in September 2002. For nine months, until April 27, he was normal, she said.

"Then he started acting not right," said Diaz, of Miami. "I took him to an emergency vet that night and he died that evening."

A necropsy performed on the 6-pound puppy found that he had a congenital/hereditary bleeding disorder, said Diaz, who wants to be reimbursed $1,538 for the cost of the dog and veterinary bills.

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