Sick dogs sold by online breeder, USDA probe
Athens, TX (US)

Incident Date: Saturday, Jan 31, 2004
County: Henderson

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Carla Michele Strange

A Falls County dog breeder whose business has been the subject of several complaints to the local Better Business Bureau has filed for bankruptcy.

The action could be bad news for customers with complaints against the breeder, Carla Strange of Lott. She had previously told them that refunds for unhealthy puppies they bought would be paid back by the end of March 2004. However, under the proposed payment schedule filed in Strange's bankruptcy case, some customers who are owed refunds may not see any money for nearly two years. Strange, who does business under the company name Poos R Us and sells poodle hybrids, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy on March 12, 2004, according to court records. That chapter of bankruptcy asks a court to place a person�s future earnings under the supervision of a trustee and lets filers keep their property and use their income to pay all or a portion of the debts over three to five years.

The filing comes after a year that Strange has characterized as the worst of her life. Her uninsured house burned to the ground in September, she lost 15 puppies to a bad vaccine and had 11 reconstructive surgeries to fix damages caused by a cosmetic surgery, she has said. Those events left her in dire financial straits, Strange has said. In a telephone interview this week, Strange said she decided to file for bankruptcy so she can pay everyone she owes. She abruptly hung up the phone before The Tribune-Herald could why she wasn't able to pay everyone this month as promised.

"I could have charged off everyone but I am paying everybody back," Strange, 42, said. "I want to make it right."

Some of Strange's customers say the problems with Poos R Us pre-date Strange's recent financial troubles. Two customers who bought puppies from Strange while she was living in Athens, Texas, said they received dogs with parvo virus but never received promised refunds. Strange moved from Athens to Lott four years ago. Better Business Bureau records show three complaints were filed against Poos R Us when it was located in Athens. Since the business was moved to Lott, seven more complaints have been filed. Most of the complaints are from customers who say Strange sold them sick puppies and failed to give them promised refunds, said Susan G. Morton, customer relations coordinator for the Better Business Bureau of Central Texas. Only one of the complaints has been resolved. Five of of the complaints are classified as unresolved, Morton said. The seventh complaint, which was filed in February 2004, is listed as unanswered because Strange did not respond to three letters the bureau sent her about the situation.

Poos R Us is listed as having an unsatisfactory record with the bureau because of the unresolved complaints, Morton said. Strange is also being investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture, which regulates certain types of pet sales. Darby Holladay, a spokesman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the inquiry into Strange that the agency started last month is still open. The USDA opened the investigation after finding out Strange did not have a license to sell pets. The law allows an exemption for those who sell pets to people they already know. Strange has said she meets the term of the exemption, but Holladay has said it appears she is engaged in regulated activity. Since most of her sales are generated through the Poos R Us Web site, he said said it's unlikely she knows who she is selling to. Information from Strange's bankruptcy filing indicates she cares for a large number of animals. Listed among her assets are 200 breeding dogs worth $40,000. That presumably does not include the dozens of "rescue dogs" Strange has said she cares for on her property. The care for the dogs is also quite costly. The filing lists her monthly business expenses as including $2,400 for feed, $1,400 for veterinary bills and $900 for medications.

Strange's bankruptcy payment plan calls for her to repay 94 percent of her debt to unsecured creditors � those who don't have property that can be taken as collateral to satisfy the debt � over a period of nearly five years. Customers owed a refund fall into that category. However, they won't get their money right away. Under the terms of Strange's payment plan, unsecured creditors will only be allotted $15 per month for the first 20 months. It's not until the 21st month that a substantial amount is given to unsecured debts. Of the 25 unsecured creditors listed , 22 are customers Strange owes refunds to, according to court records. The refund amounts range from $250 to $1,200 and total $15,550. Some of those customers aren't counting on ever getting a refund. One of them is Kjerstin Taylor, of Orinda, Calif. She bought a labradoodle, a poodle-labrador mix, from Strange in October that died from parvo and cost her $3,000 in vet bills. Since Strange has promised in the past to give Taylor a refund but failed to do so, the customer said she is doubtful about getting the money this time. "I'm still skeptical," Taylor said. "Maybe with a bankruptcy, she won't be able to continue doing this to other people."

Christina Easterling of San Antonio is another customer owed a refund by Strange. The cockapoo (cocker spaniel-poodle mix) she bought from Strange in November was diagnosed with a heart murmur . Strange agreed to let Easterling keep the dog, as well as refund her purchase price, since Easterling had to spend hundreds of dollars on vet bills. But Easterling never received any money. She said she hopes to eventually get some re-payment since she continues to have high vet bills related to the dog's condition. "I'm not really surprised," Easterling said of the bankruptcy. "I had a feeling it (the situation) was going south and that's why I contacted the Better Business Bureau."

A meeting for Strange's creditors to discuss her payment plan has been scheduled for April 19, 2004. A hearing for a judge to approve the payment schedule is set for Sept. 8, 2004.

References

Waco Tribune - March 29, 2004

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