Texas Lemon Law Blog
The state of Wisconsin is considering a puppy lemon law to protect consumers from puppies or animal with health problems that are unknown to the buyer and were not disclosed prior to the time of purchase by the seller. This will help combat puppy mill establishments and also shift the responsibility over to sellers of puppies and other animals.
This type of law is aimed to avoid a situation where a consumer purchases a puppy/animal and later finds out that the animal has health problems that requires thousands of dollars in subsequent medical bills.
Currently, the Texas Lemon Law does not officially cover animal or puppy lemon laws. I would find it difficult for Texas to mimic or follow suit because the current Texas Lemon Law is being administered by the Texas Department of Transportation to adjudicate defective lemon vehicle claims.
A consumer may be able to file a claim against a pet seller under the current Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). However, I would like to see the Texas DTPA be updated and expanded with more specific language to cover puppy or other animal purchases so that there is a bright-line test as to what is considered a lemon and what is not.