Charm City Puppies

Reviews 3

TR

Trish Rutledge

I work right by this store and stopped in several times at lunch time with my coworkers to get our puppy fix. One day I went in and found a adorable tiny yorkie puppy and fell in love. I went back three days later to see her again and was told she was in the back because she was "tired" after being played with all weekend. Jamie brought her out for me and while in the play area I noticed she was coughing and told Jamie about it. I have other dogs at home and told Jamie several times that I wanted to make sure she was healthy before bringing her home so she didnt get my other dogs sick and she said that she understood. She took her and said that they would keep her in the back until the vet came in on Thursday to be checked out but if I wanted her I had to put a $100 deposit on her and I did. I received a call on Thursday and was told that she had a upper respatory infection and that she could not be release until she was cleared by the vet the next week. I received a call the following week that she was still sick and had to stay there for another week. The following week I received and call and once again she was not ready to be released. so on the following week after that I received a call on that Thursday saying she was healthy and cleared to go home. I went in late on Friday to get her and completed a lot of paperwork that took an hour to complete. By this time it was late and I finally got the puppy and headed home( I life 1 hour away) from the store. While I was driving home my husband said that she was coughing bad. When I got home the store and their vet office was already closed so I waited till Saturday morning and called the vet. They could not get her in to be seen until Monday. I also called the pet store and left a message for the manager to call me. I took her to the vet that Charm city said to and the vet said that she was still sick and very contagious and she was started on a antibiotic. I was very angry and again called Charm city and left another message for her to call back. I was told by the vet that the doctor that saw her at the store was at a different office. I looked him up and get the phone number and called his office. The office manager called me and said that this was the first complaint that the had against this vet and that he is very particular about releasing puppies. My puppy had a follow up appointment the following week and was then started on a different antibiotic and was to come back the following week. I decided to take her to my vet and she said that she had kennel cough and was to continue the antibiotic and start robitussion DM. The following week after that she was coughing so bad that she was gasping for air so I took her to the ER. They did xrays and her pulmonary arteries were inflamed showing a possible pneumonia. When I purchased the puppy I was given a 30 day free pet insurance trial. I called them to try to get reimbursed for the 400.00 ER visit and they said that she was sick when I bought her that it would not be covered because of a 5 day waiting period. Now I have called the store for two days and left a message for the manager Becky to call me back and she hasnt. I will never step foot in this store again. They lie about the health of the animals and the customer service is horrible. Please do not waste your money in the store. My puppy is now 4 months old and still has not had any shots because of her being sick!!!! Read less

EM

Emma Dawson

I went here a few weeks ago with my brother and sister-in-law who were looking for a puppy to adopt and havent been able to get it off my mind. What other reviews state is correct - the smell is awful and the lack of water is appalling, but what is even more deplorable is the state of the dogs themselves. Immediately upon entering I could not take my eyes off of the attention-starved, doleful gazes that met mine. The entire store felt almost suffocating with the aura of depression coming off the puppies and dogs there. I couldnt even pet the poor things! So largely my issue with this place is their treatment of the dogs. Only one was behaving as a puppy should - energetic, jumping up and down for attention with its tail wagging and its tongue out. I remember thinking that it must be new there, because there were at least 20 other dogs there who were all either laying flat or sleeping in their too-small "cribs" and cages. There was a bulldog that barely even fit in his crib, who just laid on his side and stared at me as I passed, and I cant even describe how it felt not being able to save him from this horrid establishment. All in all, I very nearly cried upon leaving, having been unable to provide even a single puppy or dog with the attention and love they clearly crave and deserve. Please do not support this establishment unless you plan on rescuing one of these poor souls. There are plenty of animal shelters you can adopt from for a whole lot less and with some of the basic early veterinarian puppy care already taken care of - de-worming, neutering, etc. I honestly dont know how anyone could enter this place and call it a healthy and happy place for dogs. Walk into any animal shelter and youll be immediately greeted by an assortment of barks which at least tells you they are cared for enough that they are able to do so. At this puppy store the dogs cant even find it in them to muster the energy to bark! Probably because they are under-fed and under-watered and sickly. TL;DR: Someone please shut this place down. This is not a place where puppies thrive and lead happy, healthy early lives. This place is deplorable and depressing and I felt bad for every single dog with the misfortune to land themselves in there.

KA

Karen Williams

Against our better judgement we purchased a puppy from here on September 14th. We fell in love with a golden-doodle and even though I had reservations I just couldnt leave him there. Fast-forward to today, he has brain damage and is in need of additional testing (over $2k worth of testing, does not include treatment). Charm City Puppies is not willing to pay for the testing to determine what is wrong with my ill dog. They said I can return him (after Ive had him almost 1 month) and his fate is undetermined. To me this means he will be put down. I paid $2,200 for a healthy puppy and this is not what I got. Please, whatever you do- dont support this place. They are the worst kind of business and people. They dont even speak to you directly, they have forced me to deal with a 3rd party- Pawsitive Solutions on all issues pertaining the "warranty". Which is non-existent by the way. The right thing to do would have been to thank me for keeping a dog with a pile of problems to care for him in the future, give me a full refund and pay for testing and treatment. Its not like I had the dog for a year and then I asked for recourse. I had him 2 days and my children and I realized that he seemed hard of hearing, he does not respond when you call him. I paid for him to get the BAER hearing test (out of my own pocket) at the only neurology center in Maryland and almost 2 hours from my home. We found out his hearing was in tact so the neurologist suggested a full neurological exam because they too felt like something was wrong with him. The report from the neurologist says that he has developmental delays, he could have a disease or may have been abused from the puppy mill he came from or even dropped. He was 13.5 weeks when I adopted him and I asked a lot of questions about why an older puppy was there, every other puppy in there was 8-9 weeks. I got vague answers but all parties on my end agree that he was likely returned the breeder for having a genetic disorder or disease and then charm city puppies bought him at a discount and resold to me for full price. Nice business model. I now have an animal rights attorney and Im going after this place. I hope this warns anyone who was thinking about buying a dog here!