The following is the story of
      Christopher and Julia Karis, of Poland, and their purchase of a Weimaraner dog they call Chappie, from Harbor Pet Center,
      7338 Market St. in Boardman.
      “They lied to us about the now ‘Happy Chappie’ having AKC registration, after we made it clear that was our biggest concern before buying the puppy, probably asking the salesman nearly ten times or more,” Julia Karis said.
      Her husband, Christopher, details the story from there:
      On Feb. 23, my wife Julia, and I decided to stop in Harbor Pet in Boardman because we needed Gill rot and a net for our Betta fish. We had a busy day, and it was the closest pet store on our way home.
      We wanted to run in quick and looked for the products we needed when I noticed that there were a few Weimaraner puppies in the window. I called for my wife in another aisle to come over and look at them with me.
      We already had an almost 4-month-old UKC Purple Pedigree-registered American Gascon Blue Tick Coonhound Hound female at home. We had been wanting a Weimaraner and had spoken about getting one after we are more settled both personally, and as a married couple.
      I asked a young salesman...the price of one particular male Weimaraner with blue eyes that was in the same cage as a spotted Great Dane puppy. We noticed the male Weimaraner had a sore on his left back leg. The salesman said the price of the ‘Weim’ was $1,399.99 and he was ‘on sale’ for $100 off for Harbor Pet Club members.
      After hearing the price we decided to keep moving and began walking away because we knew that was high. The salesman proceeded to go in the back and he came out with the puppy we liked in his arms and brought him to us without us asking to see him.
      The first question out of my mouth was, “Does this dog have papers? Is it registered?” My wife interrupted before he could answer, “We will only be interested if the Weim has papers, we are absolutely not interested if he does not.”
      The salesman replied, “The puppy does not have registration through Harbor Pet. To be honest with you both, the breeder who is local and from Canfield, wanted $500 more per dog to sell the puppies with the registration papers so we did not buy them with it. The company wouldn’t make any money if we were to buy them at $500 more per dog so they declined. The parents are both AKC registered and you can go directly to the breeder to get them. He may charge a fee for them at most.”
      The salesman showed us the breeder’s name and address in the adoption certificate, pointed to it, and in his words said “just show up on his doorstep.”
      We asked a few questions, including one asking about a sore on the dog’s leg.
      The salesman told us the sore was from the Dane the ‘Weim’ was caged with, was chewing on [our] dog and to put neosporine on it.
      We kept coming back to our main concern---making sure we could get registration, a pedigree, and lineage for the puppy, especially at the sale price of $1399.99. We knew he was overpriced at that, but the puppy immediately began o grow on us.
      Still, my wife and I asked the salesman at least five times, if not more, about the papers, and each time he gave us the same confident answer, ‘you can get them directly from the breeder no problem.’
      My wife and I discussed purchasing the puppy outside in the parking lot and we agreed to buy the dog since the salesman had assured us that getting AKC papers was not an issue. We proceeded with the paperwork and didn’t have any issues signing that we knew we weren’t getting registration through Harbor Pet.
      Within the first week of purchasing ‘Chappie,’ our male Weimaraner puppy settled in and was welcomed into our home, and to his initial vet appointments with Dr.Singh in Canfield (to keep standing with the warranty from Harbor Pet).
      Next, we decided to start working on tracking down the breeder so we could get his official registration paperwork submitted.
      And, my wife happened to be speaking to a friend of hers and showed her our new puppy because her friend also had a Weimaraner. Julia told her how we purchased ‘Chappie’ from Harbor Pet Center in Boardman and we paid a lot money for him, that he was well-overpriced, and we were soon going to be getting a hold of the breeder for his AKC registration )as we were verbally directed and assured by Harbor Pet).
      My wife’s friend replied noting she knew a weimaraner breeder who lived in Canfield. She said “if it’s the same breeder I could have got you the puppy for $350, or a little more. Turns out it was the breeder indeed.
      We messaged the breeder and within 15 minutes, he called us. We were so happy and excited to hear from him so we could finally get the paperwork we were promised for our $1500 purebred Weimaraner.
      I told the breeder how we had recently purchased his male Weim from Harbor Pet and how they told us to find him, gave us his name and address, and said we could get Chappie’s AKC papers from him, for at most a charge.
      The breeder was shocked by the sound of his voice, and he proceeded to say neither of our dog’s parents had any type of registration, and there is absolutely no paperwork for his puppies, nor have they ever been registered. The breeder told us he wasn’t sure why the Harbor Pet salesman would have told us that, adding that he sells his dogs as pets only, with no papers. He said he would be in contact with Harbor Pet immediately to discuss this.
      I let my wife speak to him before we got off the phone with him. She was very upset and repeated the story with what the salesman had assured us with concerning the registration papers, and how we never would have budgeted the cost for ‘Chappie’ if we knew he had no papers.
      After speaking with the breeder, we decided to immediately drive to Harbor Pet Center to address this matter, feeling we had been highly deceived, lied to, and were told fraudulent information in order for us to agree to purchase Chappie.
      My wife stood witness to everything the salesman verbally told us and assured us, and it was all a big fat lie---my wife and I knowing and signing six documents in store acknowledging we knew ‘Chappie’ was unregistered through Harbor Pet---but we were told over and over to go to the local breeder for them.
      Registrations prove the puppy’s lineage, and ancestry, to personally make sure for piece of mind the puppies are not inbred and their bill of health checked out based on ancestry.
      We had purchased a registered Purple Ribbon Gascon Blue Tick Hound for hunting and planned on taking our new ‘AKC’ Weimaraner puppy along for all the registered hunts!!! Weimaraners have a long lifespan and we thought about having our future children showing him at the Canfield Fair and in 4-H if they wanted.
      My wife and I walked into the store holding ‘Chappie’ when we asked to speak with the part-owner of Harbor Pet, Amanda McLaughlin.
      Mclaughlin met us, yelling ‘I had to get their paperwork.’
      She said that she just got off the phone with the breeder so she already know what was going on, and she had spoken with the salesman who denied ever telling us ‘any of that.’ She said our stories were contradicting and Harbor Pet had six pieces of paper we signed saying we knew the dogs were unregistered. She barely even let my wife and I tell her that was not the case.
      By her side was Ray Greenwood, an ex Struthers cop who was fired for inappropriate conduct of his duties on the force, defended McLaughlin.
      We told McLaughlin how we emphasized the importance of being able to obtain papers, and how over and over again the salesman told us the same story how Harbor Pet declined purchasing the puppies with their AKC paperwork because the breeder wanted $500 more per dog and at that cost the company would not make money so they declined. The salesman repeatedly assured us as having papers and registration was our only concern, we made it very clear from the beginning we would not be interested if he had no papers.
      The part owner and store manager McLaughlin began to get angry, defending her salesman, questioning why we needed papers in the first place. She offered no solutions, she just kept repeating herself, and it soon turned to her becoming very unprofessional and rude.
      I told her they lied to us big time and we would have never purchased the dog at that price, for that amount of money and we would be contacting our lawyer and filing a civil suit in Boardman if need be. She continued yelling at us, disrespecting us, etc., so we left.
      We did speak to an attorney and he told my wife and I that there are laws in Ohio to protect consumers against situations such as this; and there are laws against selling paperwork and registration separate from puppies to begin, and there are laws against deception and leading consumers to believe something that is fraudulent or faulty.
      My wife and I are newly married, we work very hard for everything we have and have achieved since we have changed our lives and joined together in marriage. We pride ourselves on working hard, doing good, and good will come back to you.
      We were lied to repeatedly, and suckered into a purchase that we never would have made had we known that real truth. We do not have our own children yet, our Gascon pup, and now our Weimaraner ‘Chappie’ are our kids. We love them so much are very, very proud of our dogs.
      It is truly disgusting and insulting to us that Harbor Pet lied, just to make a few dollars. ‘Chappie’ has become part of our family, a brother to our coonhound, ‘Jill,’ and child to us, and we were bamboozled for a very large amount of money, to us at least.
      We never would have bought an unregistered dog, ever knowingly.
      But ‘Chappie’ has become part of our family. ‘Jill’ loves him and so do we.
      Harbor Pet lied to sell this puppy and it’s a shame this happened to my wife and I.
      When we first brought ‘Chappie’ home he was shy and scared, and seemed almost traumatized by being caged with the Great Dane. He hid in corners and the back of his cage with no facial expressions or reactions to anything.
      It has taken a lot of love to turn him around.