What We Could Do With $4,300 . . . and what consumers can do when they're lied to

In a comment to my last post, someone mentioned a coworker who had purchased a dog from the Lucky Puppy for $4,300. I have previously not heard of their prices going that high, and I obviously cannot prove that they are getting over four thousand dollars for certain puppies. But just in case they are, let's consider what we could've accomplished with the $4,300 that was (allegedly) spent on that 8-pound "Tea Cup" Yorkie.

-$4,300 could subsidize 50 adult dog adoptions from our shelter.
-With $4,300, we could alter about 170 cats.
-We could treat 29 Heartworm-positive dogs.
-We could run a television ad to raise awareness about pet overpopulation.

You get the picture. $4,300 can do a lot of good. I realize that that $4,300 wouldn't have been ours anyway. How many people who decide not to drop that kind of dough on a puppy will turn around and give it to their local animal shelter instead? Less than one-in-a-million, I'm guessing. So I'll quit daydreaming about windfalls that aren't to be and move on to something more constructive.

I'n the past 18 months, I've talked to several individuals who bought puppies from puppy boutiques and were very upset to learn after-the-fact that the breeder identified on their paperwork was in fact a large-scale commercial dog breeder. Some of these people had gone into the store knowing about puppy mills, but believed the store employees when they assured them that the store did not acquire dogs from such places. Seems to me that lying to a customer who is about to drop a grand for a puppy might constitute "consumer fraud" or "deceptive practices."

Deceptive or unfair business practices and consumer fraud are of great interest to the Attorney General's Office (see http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/index.html). Anyone who feels that a business in Illinois has been unfair, dishonest, or misrepresented the facts of a transaction, should report their experience to the Attorney General's Office. Here is a simple consumer complaint form: http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/conscomp.pdf.

Complaints about a business can also be filed with the Better Business Bureau. Here is a link to the Central Illinois BBB: http://heartofillinois.bbb.org/Find-Business-Reviews/#middle-result. I've checked the BBB website and found that no complaints have been filed about the Lucky Puppy Boutique. This despite a number of complaints that have been relayed to me and other people that I know. View the store's listing here: http://www.bbb.org/central-illinois/business-reviews/retail-pet-suppliers/lucky-puppy-boutique-barkery-in-champaign-il-90006518.

If you talk to anyone who was unhappy with a pet-store experience (whether related to the purchase, the contract terms, or negotiating a return), please suggest they do something about it! Filing a report with a local BBB and/or the Attorney General's office isn't difficult.

See also: http://unluckypuppies.blogspot.com to report experiences with the Lucky Puppy Boutique.