ORLANDO, Fla. – Christine Messina is grieving again. After the death of her dog Bentley, she hoped to fill the void with another golden retriever, but just days after she found a dog online and brought it home, the puppy suddenly died.
“She was going to be my family,” Messina said.
Messina, who lives in Tavares, found the puppy through the website flgoldens.com. According to the website, Florida Goldens is a “marketplace for you to find your golden or goldendoodle of your dreams.”
After texting back and forth with someone she believed was named Sheldon, Messina traveled to a Winter Park home on Nov. 18 to pick up her new puppy she named Daisy. Messina said she paid $3,000 for the dog, but four days later, Daisy was dead.
“I did not get a healthy dog, I got a sick dog,” Messina told News 6.
According to the necropsy report, the likely cause of Daisy’s death was an intestinal intussusception. This means a portion of the puppy’s small intestine had folded into the next section, causing a severe blockage and cutting off blood flow to that part of the gut.
After Daisy’s death, Messina said she tried reaching out to Florida Goldens, “I called, their answering machine was full. I sent them a text, let them know, ‘Dog is dead, please call me,’ no response. That was kind of the thing was no response, no response no response.”
Eventually, on Nov. 27, the man who sold her the dog agreed to give her a refund, Messina claimed, but the money never arrived.
“On the 15th (of December) they emailed me and claimed the check got returned (in the mail),” Messina said.
Messina reached out again in January, but she said she has still not heard back.
When Messina first picked up the dog, she said she was given a veterinary certificate confirming the dog was healthy. Messina said she was also emailed an American Kennel Club certificate confirming the dog’s pedigree, but News 6 discovered both of these documents may be fraudulent.
The American Kennel Club confirmed to News 6 the pedigree certificate is fake.
“That’s not how our logo looks at all, and that’s actually not our executive secretary’s signature either,” said Brandi Munden, V.P. of Communications, American Kennel Club.
“You wouldn’t be handed a pedigree with your dog’s name on it right away. Most breeders will not do that for each individual dog because pedigrees are not free,” according to Munden.
When News 6 called the veterinarian who supposedly certified the puppy was healthy, we discovered the veterinarian specializes in horses. The veterinarian, Dr. Hiram Pomales, said he did not fill out the form and that his signature on it was forged.
News 6 went to the Winter Park home where Messina said she picked up the dog. The man who answered the door refused to identify himself.
“We deliver dogs, so like I would put her directly with the breeder she got her dog from. I don’t breed dogs at all,” said the man.
The day after News 6 went to the home, the Florida Goldens website had vanished, replaced by this message thanking its supporters:
Under Florida law, anyone who sells a dog or cat must provide a health certificate.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services tells News 6 it is investigating three complaints against Florida Goldens.