Pet shop payout after pooch found to be sick

A COUPLE who bought a puppy at death’s door have been awarded thousands of dollars for his care because he is a “family member” who cannot be replaced.

Monte. Sheree Bolton and Tara Mackay with their Cavoodle Monte. Tara Mackay and Sheree Bolton bought a puppy at death's door have been awarded thousands of dollars because they were sold a "family member, not a car". Picture: Eugene Hyland

A COUPLE who bought a puppy at death’s door have been awarded thousands of dollars for his care because he is a “family member” who cannot be replaced.

Sheree Bolton and Tara Mackay spent more than $8000 mending Monte the Cavoodle upon finding he had a life-threatening genetic condition after buying him from a pet shop last year.

But a tribunal found the Thornbury women should be compensated for his lifesaving surgery because of the emotional investment they had in their prized pooch.

“He's not just a pet, we call him our little man,” Ms Mackay told the Herald Sun.

“He is part of the family.”

The women bought eight-week-old Monte from Pets Family in Preston in January, 2014.

But within weeks he couldn’t walk, had difficulty breathing and was “screaming” with pain.

Vets operated on him but were unable to locate the cause of his suffering.

The store’s manager offered the women a refund or replacement pup but they refused, believing “you get a pet for life.”

Monte was eventually diagnosed with a portosystemic shunt, an abnormality that continues to circulate blood through the system instead of it being cleansed by the liver.

He was saved by another risky operation but still suffers lifelong effects of his congenital disorder.

Pets Family director Kang Chai said of all the puppies bought from that breeder Monte was the only one with problems and the women had been offered their money back.

But Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Senior Member Stella Moraitis said it was not enough to “merely offer a refund.”

“It’s not like a car where you can go and get another one.

“I can’t ignore the fact that when you sell a dog, you sell a member of the family.

“If a child gets sick you don’t take it back to the hospital, do you?” Ms Moraitis said.

The pet shop has been ordered to pay the women $7884.40 for his medical bills and surgery.

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