Thousands of pets will end up as Christmas presents this year. To make sure pet stores are giving consumers a fair shake, inspectors from the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will be visiting pet stores to make sure they are following the so-called pet lemon law. As Chris Casquejo tells us, the law will protect you if you end up with an unhealthy animal.<\/p>\n

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Hear it here: Pet Lemon Law Could Protect You This Holiday Season<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

A pug puppy may seem like the perfect gift for a loved one. But store owner Carol Hoover has a suggestion for those thinking about buying pets.<\/p>\n

?You might want to think about getting the supplies for the animals,” she said. “And actually wait until after the holiday season to buy the animal.?<\/p>\n

Under Florida law, cats and dogs can?t be sold until they are at least 8 weeks old.<\/p>\n

When buying a cat or dog in Florida, look for the official veterinarian?s certificate. It tells you how old your pet is and exactly what shots it?s had.<\/p>\n

If the pet gets sick or dies within two weeks, the seller has to pay the vet bills. Buyers can also exchange sick animals or ask for a refund. The Department of Agriculture says choose wisely.<\/p>\n

?If you have small children, there are certain breeds of aggressive dogs you don?t want to have,” said Terence McElroy, with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “If you have a small dwelling, say a one-bedroom or studio apartment, you probably don?t want a large animal.?<\/p>\n

Pet store owners like Carol Hoover also want to remind people to consider that pets require a lot of care and a lot of time.<\/p>\n

?You need to take the animal?s welfare into consideration before you make this life, lifelong commitment,” she said. “It?s a very long commitment. It?s like taking on a new child.?<\/p>\n

Parrot lovers beware. Florida?s so-called pet lemon law only applies to cats and dogs. For more information about the pet law or to make a complaint, call the Department of Agriculture at 1-800-HELP-FLA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thousands of pets will end up as Christmas presents this year. To make sure pet stores are giving consumers a fair shake, inspectors from the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will be visiting pet stores to make sure they are following the so-called pet lemon law. As Chris Casquejo tells us, the law […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}