Dog's Death Raises Vet Questions

A Wilton family is grief-stricken and burdened with high medical costs following the death of their newly purchased dog, Oprah. But Christine DiCarlo, the woman who sold them the pet, believes the situation could have been prevented.

Victor and Cheryl Muniz purchased the teacup Yorkshire Terrier from Dicarlo's store, True Breeders, in Branchville on Sunday, Feb. 28. By Friday, the puppy had been put to sleep, unable to recover from a severe case of canine parvovirus.

"By Friday morning, it was obvious that she wasn't getting any better," Victor Muniz said after bringing the puppy to a 24-hour emergency pet care center in Norwalk on Wednesday of last week. "Her blood cells were extremely low and she'd developed a high fever and they called us to let us know that it was probably best to let her go. And that's what we had to do."

According to the family, the puppy started exhibiting signs of illness on Monday, March 1, the day after they brought her home. What occurred between that time and Oprah's death that Friday is now at issue between DiCarlo and the Muniz family, as is the nearly $5,000 the Munizes spent on the terrier and associated medical costs.

DiCarlo said that at the time of purchase she encouraged the Munizes to take the puppy to "Dr. Dann's" (Jordan R. Dann, D.V.M., of the Ridgefield Veterinary Hospital) if they had any problems. She said she does the same with all her new clients since she is familiar with Dann's work and includes a voucher for a free exam from him, which the Munizes could have used when Oprah fell ill.

The Munizes, however, felt more comfortable with their own veterinarian, Dr. Phil Bolton of the Redding Veterinary Hospital. On his way to Bolton's office on Tuesday, Victor Muniz drove by True Breeders and saw DiCarlo outside and stopped briefly to let her know what was going on.

"When they stopped by here, they saw me outside and I told them to bring the dog to Dr. Dann, which they decided not to do," DiCarlo recounted. "If they had, I would have picked up the entire bill."

DiCarlo went on to say that she believed by not diagnosing the puppy with canine parvovirus immediately and sending it home with the Munizes the same night instead, Bolton's misdiagnosis may have accounted for the dog's death.

"If she was taken care of that night, that dog would still be alive," DiCarlo said.

The Munizes, meanwhile, recounted things differently. They alleged that DiCarlo never said she would reimburse them for a veterinary visit and, when Victor Muniz told her about the dog's illness, somewhat casually replied that there was "some sort of puppy flu going around" and to let her know what happened.

According to Muniz, Dr. Bolton gave the puppy fluids for dehydration and medicine for diarrhea and released it. Muniz then took the puppy home but found the next day that her condition had worsened. At that point, Cheryl Muniz took her to the Norwalk clinic, where a test was done for canine parvovirus and quickly came back positive.

The puppy was unable to recover and was euthanized on Friday, at which point the Muniz family contacted the Department of Agriculture and made them aware of the situation. After confirming with a veterinarian, the DPA placed DiCarlo's store under a two-week quarantine that expires March 15.

DiCarlo ultimately refunded the full price of the dog on Thursday, March 11, around $1,600. But the Munizes spent an additional $2,700 in medical expenses, which they would like to be reimbursed for as well.

DiCarlo said she is working with the Hunte Corporation, the broker that initially delivered the dog to her store, to recoup money through their insurance.

"Whatever they refund me, I'll refund to [the Muniz family]," she added.

But she stands by the fact that the Munizes should have used the veterinarian she recommended and, had they done so, the entire situation could have been prevented.

"I think it's a terrible thing that happened," she said. "But, again, if they didn't take the dog to the emergency clinic, they would not have had a bill of $2,700."

For the Muniz family, the loss of the puppy, alone, has been difficult to stomach. Victor and Cheryl initially decided to purchase the dog for Victor's mother, Estrella, as they were leaving church that Sunday.

"We got out of church and thought 'Let's do this for my mom,'" Victor Muniz recounted. "We decided to go to [True Breeders] to ask questions and we pulled into the parking lot and looking at us in the window was this yorkie terrier...we thought it was a sign, it was almost like it was an intervention."

Muniz said he and his wife had been into the store the previous week but True Breeders did not have the breed they were looking for at the time. So, to see precisely the female teacup Yorkshire Terrier his mother had always dreamed of when they returned was all the reason they needed to go ahead with the purchase.

"I only did this for my mom because we thought she needed a therapy dog since she's a retired woman and she's basically by herself all day," Muniz added. "Now, it's almost like the puppy we bought is a martyr."

"I feel awful," DiCarlo said later. "I'm in this business because I love animals. It's been my whole life. I love setting people up with dogs. I have so many happy customers, it's incredible...I have one unhappy customer compared to the 21 dogs I've sold so far."

Though DiCarlo had to close her store temporarily under the quarantine, she has been able to continue the dog training portion of her business. She also made sure to stress that the Muniz's puppy surely contracted canine parvovirus before it came to her store, but she did not believe that would affect her relationship with the Hunte Corporation.

"The dog was carrying parvo before it ever came to my store," she said. "Parvo is contracted through feces and a puppy being a puppy, not being inoculated, is susceptible to any disease, virus or infection...Hunte is a good broker and I will probably continue to work with them in the future."