Wikipedia Commons, 8/25/2015 "The Puppy"
People are careless and often, when facing someone with a cancer diagnosis, can say careless things. Most of the time, it's due to being clueless and most of the time, there is a degree of well-meaning sentiment behind the careless statement. But then there's the sheer stupidity that comes out of people's mouths.
A friend of mine in another country (She gave me permission to tell this story.) arranged to buy a puppy from a breeder. She paid the full amount of money and waited for the puppy to be the proper age to be weaned from Mama Dog. She lives in a distant city from the breeder and the following conversation took place:
"The dog breeder has decided I can no longer have the puppy that I have paid for as I have cancer! I was speaking to her to organize transport for him. She refused to send him down for another few weeks because he was "unaccompanied!" The pet transport guy said it was rubbish as even if I flew up I would not be accompanying the pup. I asked that she be reasonable regarding dates as I was having chemo. So then today she said I lied to her! Didn't realize a person had to divulge their medical issues to buy something."
My friend had asked all the right questions regarding interstate transfer and there were no objections on the breeder's part. The breeder accepted the full payment of money (over $1,000 US) with full knowledge that the puppy would need to travel. Considering that my friend was using a professional pet transport company, there was never an issue about the pup being unaccompanied. The puppy was never going to be sitting in the lap of an airline passenger.
The only reason for the cancellation of the sale was due to the misfortune of having cancer ... terminal cancer at that.
My friend shared this in a support group and choice words flowed from her many friends. It took some persistence, but my friend did receive a full refund for her money. But there was no refund for the heartbreak that both she and her family experienced as their hearts were set on this puppy. They are continuing their search for "just the right dog."
Yes, there were probably legal ramifications that could have been pursued, but it gets down to this ... when you are living with cancer, trying to live as normal life as possible, you just don't want to waste time dealing with lawyers and stupid people. You'd rather spend your time moving on, looking for a puppy and enjoying life.
But seriously? Discrimination because you have a disease? I know there are laws in place to protect against workplace discrimination, but this is the first I heard of a sales transaction being denied due to disease. I thought I had heard it all.
I recognize there could have been concern about the dog not being cared for should the owner die. However, no questions were asked. Just the statement, "You lied (by not telling me about your condition)," refusal to engage in further conversation and immediately relisting the puppy for sale.
Obviously, words don't fail me, but then again, words fail me. This just shouldn't have happened.
A friend of mine in another country (She gave me permission to tell this story.) arranged to buy a puppy from a breeder. She paid the full amount of money and waited for the puppy to be the proper age to be weaned from Mama Dog. She lives in a distant city from the breeder and the following conversation took place:
"The dog breeder has decided I can no longer have the puppy that I have paid for as I have cancer! I was speaking to her to organize transport for him. She refused to send him down for another few weeks because he was "unaccompanied!" The pet transport guy said it was rubbish as even if I flew up I would not be accompanying the pup. I asked that she be reasonable regarding dates as I was having chemo. So then today she said I lied to her! Didn't realize a person had to divulge their medical issues to buy something."
My friend had asked all the right questions regarding interstate transfer and there were no objections on the breeder's part. The breeder accepted the full payment of money (over $1,000 US) with full knowledge that the puppy would need to travel. Considering that my friend was using a professional pet transport company, there was never an issue about the pup being unaccompanied. The puppy was never going to be sitting in the lap of an airline passenger.
The only reason for the cancellation of the sale was due to the misfortune of having cancer ... terminal cancer at that.
My friend shared this in a support group and choice words flowed from her many friends. It took some persistence, but my friend did receive a full refund for her money. But there was no refund for the heartbreak that both she and her family experienced as their hearts were set on this puppy. They are continuing their search for "just the right dog."
Yes, there were probably legal ramifications that could have been pursued, but it gets down to this ... when you are living with cancer, trying to live as normal life as possible, you just don't want to waste time dealing with lawyers and stupid people. You'd rather spend your time moving on, looking for a puppy and enjoying life.
But seriously? Discrimination because you have a disease? I know there are laws in place to protect against workplace discrimination, but this is the first I heard of a sales transaction being denied due to disease. I thought I had heard it all.
I recognize there could have been concern about the dog not being cared for should the owner die. However, no questions were asked. Just the statement, "You lied (by not telling me about your condition)," refusal to engage in further conversation and immediately relisting the puppy for sale.
Obviously, words don't fail me, but then again, words fail me. This just shouldn't have happened.
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