Richmond Hill,
Ontario, March 24, 2022 - A Richmond Hill, Ontario dog breeder was today
ordered to pay $2500 for falsely advertising the breed of a puppy. An Embark Dog
DNA test proved that Joanie (now 19-months old) is not a MaltiPoo
(Maltese/Poodle cross) as advertised. Rather, she is a mixed breed with only
14.7 per cent Maltese and 8.4 per cent Poodle.
“As soon as we brought Joanie home, people remarked that she
looked more like a Shih Tzu,” said owner Ken Cox of Nipissing Township, Ontario.
“The DNA test confirmed she is 43.7 per cent Shih Tzu with 20.5 per cent Lhasa
Apso.”
Deputy Judge Stanley Baker of the Ontario Superior Court of
Justice in Richmond Hill assessed damages at $2500 plus $500 costs for the
$3000 purchase. (Claim # SC21000007830000)
In October 2020, breeder Jamshid Hadioonzadeh advertised “4
female and 1 male Gorgeous Maltese X Poodle (MaltiPoo) are ready to go to their
forever home” on the classified advertising web site Kijiji.ca. The defendant
sold the puppies out of a friend’s house in Richmond Hill.
When contacted by email regarding the DNA breed analysis, Hadioonzadeh
replied, “If you don’t [want] this little baby, I would be very happy to
return.” Owner Cox and his wife, Vilia, made it clear that they would never
give up the sweet little mutt. Instead, they took the case to Ontario small
claims court where the judge has now ruled for the plaintiff.
“We felt we had been scammed by a breeder offering a highly desirable
breed and feared we were dealing with a puppy mill. We paid $3000 in cash but the
seller refused to provide a receipt,” Cox said. “Also, we specifically wanted
the non-shedding and hypoallergenic fur of the Maltese and the Poodle.
There was legal drama involving the defendant early in the
case. In an affidavit, the process server stated that a local resident
identified Jamshid Hadioonzadeh outside Hadioonzadeh’s pet store at 10225 Yonge
Street in Richmond Hill but the defendant denied who he was and walked away in
an attempt to evade service.
“I then approached Jamshid Hadioonzadeh again being certain
that he was indeed the person and attempted to hand over the legal document
while stating that I was the Process Server and these were legal papers, but he
would not take them so I left it in front of his feet. He got aggitated [sic]
and started to threaten so I took a picture of him and I left the area with no
further incident.”
The next step will be enforcing the court judgment at an
Examination Hearing into Hadioonzadeh’s financial situation, including his assets
and bank accounts.
Download documents here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ag8KXZU_KKNbgW4m7JFMkNSupsY3?e=qqVh31
