Well, Laura,
I admire you for wanting to assume financial responsibility for
unforeseen health problems, but to me it is not possible. As I have
said, I lose a great amount of money breeding (as I'm sure you do as
well, knowing that you test and work very hard with your dogs) and I'm
not in the position to insure buyers against health problems. Insurance
companies over here won't insure against MVD and other inherited
problems that are known in Cavaliers; should I know more than their
actuarial folks? There are two reasons in my mind to do all the work
and testing that I do; one is to improve my own breeding program (after
all whom am I fooling but myself if I don't admit problems) and the
other is to do my level best in every way possible to send off healthy
pets. Beyond that, Acts of God are not anything for which I feel I can
be responsible.
And, that is what it seems to me that you are doing, providing health
insurance which I sure would have like to have gotten free for both my
children and my animals! I can't imagine how you can manage that; have
you ever had to pay for a long term medical problem for a pet which you
have sent out? Suppose you DID find that you had a genetic problem in
your lines some years from now? What if by selecting for good hearts,
eyes, hips, patellas and such you have inadvertently selected for
cancer, epilepsy, or a myriad of other problems? Can you think that you
will be able to pay for medical care/replacement for all pets that have
such difficulties? If not.........then will you go bankrupt trying or
will you have to turn to the owners and tell them that it is really not
something that you can do after all?
I'm told that surgery for medial entropion is $800 in some cases. (One
of my very over eager pet buyers thought that she needed to do this and
the pup's head hadn't even developed yet so not even the vet thought it
necessary at this point). How would you handle that situation?
Perhaps I have my viewpoint on this having had ONE $6000. veterinary
expense on a rescue dog which I adopted. Clearly there must at least be
a limit that you state for which you are willing to insure? Are you
saying that you will help with medical treatment up to the price of the
dog? Even at that amount........can you really afford to say given that
you could conceivably end up with ten or twenty dogs who need lifetime
care for one problem or another or even ten dogs with medial entropion
who needed surgery?
You say that because Cavaliers are so expensive you feel obligated to do
this. However, I'm darned sure that you, like me, make not a penny on
one of them and end up losing money hand over fist. They are expensive
because of all we put into this work. In my mind, buyers of my pups are
getting that for which they paid; to wit, my work, testing, showing to
prove my program, immense amounts of my time, lifetime connection to me
for anything I CAN do to help them, early socialization............the
list goes on as I'm sure you well know.
Best,
Suze
Laura Trunk wrote:
>
> > it right when she says it is unfairly raising expectations of owners
> > that somehow YOU (yes, you who guarantee the health of their pup) can
> > assure them that you've worked some magic and *their* pup won't get ill.
>
> Not one of my puppy buyers have *raised expectations* that their pup won't
> get ill. But I do believe they should get what they pay for. If their
> puppy dies from MVD at age 6 or needs patellar luxation surgery--I fully
> believe they did NOT get what they paid for. So I help out.
>
> > My contract says just the opposite. It says that I have done
> > absolutely everything in my power to assure the health of their pup
> > (which I do), but that they assume the risk of all inheritable
> > diseases.
>
> I guess this is probably one reason why I can't afford to go to a lot of
> shows or buy more than one import every 10 years! I just am not made of
> that strong a constitution and could not imagine telling my buyers anything
> like that. Maybe if they were paying $300, or even $500 for a puppy--but
> when they pay over $1000 for a puppy I just can't do it!
>
> Laura Lang
>
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--
Suze at Llawen Cavaliers
"...I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man
to depend simply upon himself." -Isna Ia-wica
"Thought comes before speech" Luther Standing Bear
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