Sims 2 - Pets disappear disappear after buying them from a community lot

Hi everyone, 

I've seen this issue pop up a lot and saw that it was supposed to have been patched but it appears to be still happening for me. 

I have my sim go down to Pepe's pets to buy a dog and when he returns home the dog is just gone, the only thing left is a memory that says 'Obtained $Subject'. I don't always like to have a pet straight away for story building of my families, its really frustrating that I can't buy a pet and get it home. 

I've included 3 screenshots, 1 from the other day, and 2 today from when I bought a second dog and returned home and he is gone too.

If anyone has any ideas on how to possibly fix this or bypass it, that would be hugely appreciated!