Getting a new puppy is exciting. But it turned painful and costly for a Coconut Grove woman when her dog got sick. Can she get reimbursed for the unexpected vet bills? It\u2019s this Help Me Howard with Brandon Beyer.<\/p>\n
To see Shane now \u2013 you\u2019d never know just how sick this springer-spaniel mix puppy was just a few months ago.<\/p>\n
And it happened within hours of Faith Messing bringing him home from the pet store.<\/p>\n
Faith Messing: \u201cHe vomited on me twice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faith has lived in her Coconut Grove condo for more than 30 years. She had her last dog \u2013 Roxie \u2013 for more than half that time.<\/p>\n
Faith Messing: \u201cOh yeah, 16-and-a-half years. We did it all together, you know, \u2019til the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Roxie died of cancer last year, Faith waited eight months for her heart to heal.<\/p>\n
And then \u2013 it was time to welcome another dog into her home.<\/p>\n
Faith Messing: \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s too quiet here. I can hear a pin; I better go find myself a dog.’\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s when she found Shane. Just a few months old and on sale for a little more than $1,000 at a South Florida pet store.<\/p>\n
Shane is short for Shayna \u2013 which means \u201cbeautiful\u201d in Hebrew.<\/p>\n
It was love at first sight. But almost immediately, the puppy got sick. Vomiting, and Faith says, she saw blood in his stool.<\/p>\n
She took him to one of the veterinarians the pet store suggested.<\/p>\n
Faith Messing: \u201cAnd he said, \u2018I\u2019ll call the boss and see if I can treat the dog.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Within minutes, a decision was made.<\/p>\n
Faith Messing: \u201cAnd he said, \u2018Go back to the store. I called the boss and she said do not treat the dog.’\u201d<\/p>\n
So Faith took Shane to her own vet and was told he had two bacterial infections.<\/p>\n
She spent another $1,000 to treat him.<\/p>\n
Faith Messing: \u201cHow could I fall in love with that face and not take care of it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She said since the pet store wasn\u2019t going to treat shane \u2013 she did it herself.<\/p>\n
Faith Messing: \u201cBecause if I didn\u2019t step in and take the dog to the hospital, it would\u2019ve never gotten better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Howard, she paid a lot money for a new puppy then immediately had a big vet bill. Any laws in place to protect her?<\/p>\n
Howard Finkelstein: \u201cYes, Florida has a puppy Lemon Law. If your new pet is sick, you have three options: exchange the dog for a new one, return the dog for a full refund, or you can keep the dog and treat it and the pet store must reimburse you for all your vet bills \u2013 up to the full purchase price.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faith tried to get the pet store to reimburse her. When she wasn\u2019t getting anywhere, she called us.<\/p>\n
We sent them her receipts and a few weeks later \u2013 they refunded what she\u2019d paid for Shane.<\/p>\n
Faith Messing: \u201cThey did credit my charge for the exact amount of money I paid for the dog .\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Shane is happy and healthy, and has a long life to look forward to, thanks to Faith.<\/p>\n
Faith Messing: \u201cAnd now he\u2019s just happy everyday and I can\u2019t thank you enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is one lucky dog.<\/p>\n
Per Florida\u2019s Pet Lemon Law, you have 14 days to document contagious disease, and up to a year for hereditary defects.<\/p>\n
Got a problem? Need a hand? Here\u2019s how to find us. It\u2019s Help Me Howard. I\u2019m Brandon Beyer, 7News.<\/p>\n
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n \tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getting a new puppy is exciting. But it turned painful and costly for a Coconut Grove woman when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-276083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Email:\u00a0helpmehoward@wsvn.com<\/a>
Reporter: Brandon Beyer at\u00a0bbeyer@wsvn.com<\/a>
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN<\/p>\n