FOX 11 confronts man accused of selling sick puppies

(FOX 11) - Her name was Lacey and she was a little ball of furry energy. A happy and apparently healthy puppy who quickly won the heart of her new owner, Sheri.

"That was my baby."

While across town, Sheri's cousin Kristy and her husband had bought Lacey's sister, Liberty, and it was puppy love. But just days later, tragedy struck as both Lacey and Liberty were diagnosed with the deadly Parvosirus.

With expensive and around the clock veterinary care, the fight was on to save the puppies.

Meanwhile, a family friend named Loretta who also bought a puppy from the same litter began to see her puppy Bella deteriorate too.

"She seemed lethargic, didn't want to eat and then she couldn't stand up," Loretta said.

"It was parvo, and I lost her six days after I purchased her."

Parvo is a highly contagious and most-often fatal virus, and within days Lacey also died.

As Liberty continued to fight for her life, the owners were left heartbroken and with thousands of dollars in veterinary bills. Not to mention, the $320 they had paid for each dog.

Sheri called the man who had sold the sick puppies. She said he told her his name was Daniel, which would be lie number one, and he had listed the pups on Craigslist, saying they were all from the same litter and born to his grandmother's dog.

Lies number two and three.

When Sheri called Daniel, much to her surprise, she said he didn't seem to care that two of the dogs died.

"It's a lucrative business for this man, and he doesn't care about anybody else," Sheri told FOX 11. "He doesn't care who he hurts."

Sheri told us Daniel would not refund her money and had stopped taking her calls, eventually changing his number.

So FOX 11 tracked him down. It wasn't hard because months later he was still peddling puppies on Craigslist, selling them from a South Bay parking lot.

By that time, we confirmed five cases of puppies with parvovirus that he reportedly sold. The dogs were from different litters, and there are reports of more.

We responded as potential buyers and set up a meeting. It turns out that "David" is really Gustavo Gonzalez, who also goes by Gabriel, and the puppies are not his grandmother's.

Watch the full report above.

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