what do i do...

Do you know the breeder, and if so, have you considered contacting them? If they're a good breeder, they probably have a clause in their contract with your mother that the puppy must be returned to them.

It does seem likely that the puppy is from a puppy mill, though, and in that case, I would say, what do you want? If you want to keep the puppy, that's certainly not a bad thing, but it's also very easy to fall in love with a cute puppy sitting in your lap that maybe you actually don't want long-term. And I don't mean any judgment by that at all, I've done it plenty of times myself.

With regards to the money, your mom might not actually be entitled to recover that from you. It's complicated, and I'm not a lawyer nor super familiar with Texas law, but I have some experience in related areas of law and it can get complicated. I don't want to say more than that, but it may be something to look into. I don't know how much money you have of course, but for a lot of people a few hours of research is lot cheaper than $800.

Of course if you do fight your mom on that, then that will probably have some major ramifications on your relationship with her that you need to consider and that may not be worth it. Only you really know the answer to that one.

/r/puppy101 Thread