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| Sheba |
Real Stories
The stories you will read here are real, lived by real people, with real animals, who lived the real life of a puppy mill bred puppy. No guarantees to take the puppy back, no guarantees against hereditary or any other problems. These puppies were destined to live their lives in sporadic pain with bone problems, kidney problems, fear and sometimes rage. Their trust level is minimum. Not knowing the background of these puppies is sometimes a death warrant. Heed what you are reading here. Listen to the pain in the voices of those who are writing these letters. It could be your letter one day.
Sheba's Story | JennyB's Story | Honey's Story | Petey's Story Sweetcakes & Jellybean | Kavek's Story | Lady's Story | Rudolph's Story | Confessions Of An Ignorant Breeder
The Other Victims of Puppy Mills
Snickers - For love of a puppy mill dog! And what he endured
Sheba's Story
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| Sheba |
Sheba is a two year old
"cocker spaniel" (certainly does not meet all the standards, but now I
know it is due to probable in-breeding and/or careless breeding). My
husband got her for me after the death of my pup---there were no Cocker Spaniels
to be had, so a local pet shop imported her from Guatemala (I live in Honduras).
The story went that she and her brother belonged to a lady who could no longer
care for them and that they were 4-5 months old....when I went to pick Sheba up,
I met a scared, fearful, big for her supposed age, skinny dog. Nobody in
their right mind would have bought her...she was afraid to be picked up, would
not look me in the eye, shook like a leaf....but I thought to myself...what will
happen to this dog if I don't take her? She needed me as much as I needed a new
pup to take care of after Lily's death. So I plopped down $175.00 and went
on my merry way, little knowing that was just a drop in the bucket compared to
the expenses that I was going to be facing!
Well, not having any medical records, the first thing I did after fattening her
up some and getting her used to her surroundings, was start her puppy shots (all
over again?) Of course, that lead to multiple reactions, ....skin
problems, allergies, chronic ear infections, joint problems...or they could also
be because of her background. Her personality is clingy: she follows me
everywhere, and I DO mean everywhere!, has separation anxiety, is fearful of
anybody not belonging to the immediate household....but I do not regret one
moment with her...a more loving companion I could not have....I just wish she
could lead a better quality of life health-wise, and as long as there is a
breath in her body, and mine, I will do my best to help her do this. But, will I
ever buy a dog like this again. Probably not----will I ever rescue a dog
like this again? A million times, YES!
We are just starting the problem of puppy brokers, unsupervised pet shops and
indiscriminate breeding here in Central America and are years away from any kind
of solution....but I hope that by being a part to what is happening in the
states I can gain experience and someday help out here too.
Joya Bocock
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
bocock@netsys.hn
Honey's Story
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| Honey |
When I decided to add
a puppy to my family, I didn't know anything about puppy mills (PM's), or the
term back yard breeders (BYB's). So, I was in a pet store one day and saw
the cutest female Golden Retriever puppy! She was friendly, outgoing, and
had the sweetest expression.....I "couldn't resist!" And so,
"Honey" came into my life.
One day, I came home at lunch time to walk Honey. We went for our walk as
usual. When I put her back in her crate, she decided she did NOT want to
be in the crate! So, she turned over her water dish to show her
"displeasure". Naturally, I cleaned it up before leaving for work.
As I let her out of the kennel, in her "anxiousness" to get out of the
kennel she slipped, gave a yelp and wound up on her side. That was enough
for me......I took her to my vet the next day......he did x-rays.....and
diagnosed her with severe hip dysplasia at 10 months of age. He referred
me to an orthopedic vet. He examined her x-rays and told me she didn't
even have enough hip sockets left to perform a Triple Pelvic Osteotomy.....he
recommended Total Hip Replacement surgery....at a cost of $3000 per hip.
The cost was not even a consideration for me.....she was my best friend.....I
would have done anything for her. When I began to research hip dysplasia and the
chances of successful surgery, I was told the chances of success were somewhere
between 80 - 85% - the greatest risk being that of infection. If the hip
became infected, they would have to remove the artificial hip. Some
people may consider this extremely good odds....I was not willing to take the
chance. Fortunately, Honey's biggest problem at this time is getting up
from a down position and
the fact that she cannot jump. So, I've decided to wait and see if further
problems develop. As I write this, she is only 19 months old.
I was "fortunate" that the pet store was required by law to refund my
money for Honey. That will certainly go towards the cost of her surgery,
should I decide that the "risk" is worth it.
Then I began to "research" the Golden Retriever breed. I found
that not only are they prone to hip dysplasia, but also can develop eye problems
and heart problems as well. The pet store where I purchased
"Honey" told me because of the number of dogs that they buy, it was
not possible for them to deal with individual breeders....they used a
"broker"....and no, their broker could not provide me with any OFA
ratings (for hip dysplasia), CERF ratings (for eye problems) or SAS ratings (for
heart problems)......they told me though that once they knew a dog had a
problem, they went back to the broker, and he "supposedly" went back
to the breeder to tell them of the problem....and this supposedly,
would stop the breeder from ever breeding these dogs again!
Sure! Who's going to stop them?
While dealing with a reputable breeder is no guarantee of eliminating hereditary
problems such as hip dysplasia, etc., it certainly minimizes your risk.
The further back in the bloodline that you can go without any incidence of hip
dysplasia etc., the better your chances.
When I decided to add a second Golden Retriever to the family, this
time I did my homework! Fortunately I was able to find a
reputable breeder, close to home, that offered 5 generations of ratings for OFA,
CERF & SAS. No "reputable" breeder can claim that they never
have an incidence of hip dysplasia as genetics can do strange things.....but
this breeder has a very low incidence rate of hip dysplasia and when a case does
occur, it is not a "severe" case. Yes, I did wind up paying more for
Samson.....$300 more.....but I got five generations ratings, and my chances of
him not developing the hereditary problems that Honey has are, in my mind
at least, worth the extra cost.
I urge anyone who wants to add a dog/puppy to your family to do their
homework.....I was able to find reputable breeders through my local Golden
Retriever Club Puppy Referral person.....I'm sure other breeds have local dog
clubs that offer the same service.
Isn't your best friend worth the cost and effort in the long run?
Diane Makinney
Petey's Story
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| Pugnacious Pete |
When we decided to add
a dog to the family, we did our research on what breed would be best for us, and
decided on a pug based on the dog's size, temperament, needs, etc.
Unfortunately, that was as far as we went in terms of doing our homework. When
it came time to look for the right puppy for us, I contacted a reputable breeder
and spoke on the phone with her. When she told me what the price would be, I had
a slight case of sticker-shock. Since she was the only breeder I had found
(since I didn't know to contact the Pug Dog Club of America's breeder referral
person at that time), I thought I had no recourse for comparison shopping other
than the pet stores.
The first pet store that I called informed me they had a fawn female pug in
stock (which was what we thought we wanted), and were getting two more pugs in
in a few days. They further informed me they have a policy of not giving price
quotes over the phone, we would have to come in to the store. So that Saturday,
my wife and I went to the pet store. When we got there, we saw the cutest little
black male pug with the sweetest, gentlest demeanor you could ever imagine. It
was love at first sight. While they looked up the price, they let us take him in
the playroom to get acquainted. Of course, it took them a half hour to find the
price. By the time we found out the price (about $100 less than the breeder), we
were head-over-heels in love!
We didn't bring him home that day, as we did not have the money at the moment.
(We were not planning on getting a dog until we moved to our new condo a month
later. We were living in an apartment that did not allow dogs.) I would visit
Petey every couple of days, and from the second visit on he was never in the
display cage. The store owner explained that he "caught a cold from some
kid who was handling him," so they were keeping him in the back until he
got better. Except every time I saw him, his cough seemed to be getting worse
instead of better. Finally one day (he was still very sick) they decided he was
well enough to go back to the sales floor, and they put him in a cage with
another pug that was even sicker than he was. I couldn't watch any longer. I
borrowed the money from my father and we took him home two days later.
The store claimed he had been seen by their vet and was being treated with
antibiotics. They further claimed that the store's vet (who coincidentally was
the vet doing the complimentary vet exam you get with your new puppy) was not
very personable and did not like explaining things to lay people, so it was best
not to ask him many questions or he might get angry. Slightly intimidated by all
of this, I decided to also take him to my father-in-law's vet so I could get a
diagnosis I could trust.
Both vets diagnosed Petey with severe kennel cough. I decided to ask questions
at the store vet. Well, the store vet did not remember ever seeing Petey before,
let alone prescribing medicine for him. So we got our prescription and nursed
him back to health. A month later, he was finally free of the kennel cough.
Finally moved into our new place, we took him to a new vet (who is still our
current vet). The vet examined him and felt some laxity in Petey's left knee.
Within another month, Petey had progressed to the point of carrying the leg and
walking on three legs for at least a few minutes every day. Fearing this was the
start of something very serious, our vet referred us to an orthopedic vet for a
consult. Petey was all of 4 1/2 months old at this point.
The orthopedist examined Petey and took x-rays, and determined some good news
and bad news. The good news was that although Petey had some looseness in both
knees, neither one was severe enough to be considered luxating patella (a
genetic condition common in pugs in which the groove in the femur that the
patella rides in is not deep enough, causing the patella to dislocate) and after
two visits he was confident that his knee problems did not appear to be
worsening. He told us that lots of long walks would help to strengthen the
muscles which would allow Petey to compensate and have fairly stable knees.
Unfortunately, the bad news was that Petey has hip dysplasia. It is fairly mild
at this point (although if you place your hand on his hindquarters while he
walks, you can feel both hips clicking in and out of joint with every step, and
it seems to be getting worse) so we are waiting to see what happens before
considering treatment options.
Yes, we saved $100 by going to the pet store. However, we have spent far more
than that in additional vet bills, plus who knows what the future will hold for
Petey? He is the sweetest little dog, and everyone who meets him loves him, but
he was no bargain. So if you are considering going to a pet store to save a
little money, think of Petey and DON'T DO IT!
Alan Davis
davisal@erols.com
Sweetcakes & Jellybean's Story
The Story of Two Little Woof-Muffins
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| The Woofmuffins |
It had been a month
since our beloved little Pekingese, Simcha, had been put to sleep. She had
developed heart disease at eight years of age and with the help and thoughtful
caring of our vet, and our giving her medications three times a day, keeping her
from any exertion, and lots and lots of tender loving care and understanding, we
helped her to live an extra three years in a good quality of life. We were
still grieving and so heartbroken, but we knew it was time to add a new member
to our family in hopes to help us through the misery we were experiencing.
No one could ever "replace" Simcha - she was truly a gem - but we
needed someone to cuddle with, someone to fulfill the need we had in our hearts
to receive and give unconditional love - we just couldn't live in a home without
a dog in it any longer.
We knew that we wanted another Pekingese, and at that time, we weren't aware of
the breed rescue organizations, so we looked around in the newspapers and such
for ads for Pekingese puppies. My husband spotted an ad from a breeder in
New Jersey, our neighboring state, so we checked it out. We picked a
darling little female fluffball and named her Sweetcakes. She was four months of
age when we got her. All checked out fine for her initial visit to the
vet, but a month later when I took her in for shots, my vet mentioned that in
the future we may need to do some x-rays on her hips. I questioned why as she
kept studying Sweetcakes and she said she wanted to be sure all was okay.
Before I left that day, she said that since I was already there and if it was
okay with me, she thought she'd better just do the x-rays right then and there
and then we would know for sure if there were any problems. Well, a few
seconds after she went in to view the x-rays, she came out of the room waving
her hands above her head and yelling, "This dog has no hips! That's
just great! Damn breeders! How could anyone even THINK about
selling a dog in this condition!" I was shown the x-rays and saw that
on one side there was part of a socket for the hip joint and on the other side
there was no socket at all. She was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia.
My vet ranted and raved - she knew what we had just gone through for the past
three years with our dear Simcha. "It a shame - you
should have a normal, healthy dog now after what you have been through."
She explained that the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital does hip
replacement surgery, but it runs about $1,500 per hip. She went about
helping us to get our money back for Sweetcakes. At first, my husband said
we would have to return her - we just could not - no way - afford that kind of
money. We had come home from shopping one night and Sweetcakes greeted us
when we got home. My daughter picked her up and sat down on the sofa with
her and started to cry. "We can't take her back - I love her too much
already!" Then I sat down next to her and of course, I started to
cry. I was worried what would happen to her if we took her back, and I,
too, loved her. My husband looked at us as we sat and cried on the sofa
and assumed the expression of defeat. "I guess we'll have to keep her
and hope for the best.", he said.
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| Sweetcakes |
We requested The New
Jersey Pet Regulations from the Department of Consumer Affairs and found that we
had three options. One: We could take the dog back and get another
dog of similar quality. Two: We could take the dog back and get our
money back, or Three: We could keep the dog and get our money back from
the breeder. We decided on #3. We first took Sweetcakes to an
orthopedic surgeon for his opinion. He advised that we should do nothing
now and see how things went. She was too young at that time to have the
surgery done, anyway, and he said that she may never need it. We would
have to wait and see how she got along as she got older. We then took the
x-rays, a letter from our vet and the diagnosis and prognosis from the
orthopedic surgeon to the breeder and told her that under the terms and laws of
the NJ Pet Regulations, we wanted to keep the dog and that we wanted to be
reimbursed for the purchase price. Needless to say, she was not too happy
with the fact that she had to give us our money back. She said, "Well, you
have the dog and the money and I have nothing." I replied, "You
have your reputation." I told her that she should probably have
Sweetcakes' siblings x-rayed for hip dysplasia since it is inherited, but she
didn't answer and I don't think she ever planned to do so. So... we went
on about our daily lives, having no choice but to wait and see what the future
would hold for Sweetcakes in terms of her congenital condition.
In the process of going about our daily lives, one Saturday the phone rang and
it was the receptionist from our vet's office. She said that Dr. Jeffers
wanted to know if I would be able to stop by the office that day - that she had
something she wanted to show me. When asked, she said that she had no idea
what it was. Instantly my daughter starts yelling, "Maybe it's a
puppy! Maybe it's a puppy!". Well, I had just had Sweetcakes
in the previous day, along with a fecal sample. It seems she had probably
picked up a little virus or something from outside in the yard - nothing
serious. I figured she had the results of the fecal sample and wanted to
discuss something about it with me. When I got there, she took me back
into the hospital and started telling me that she had two of "Jerry's
kids" in the back that she wanted to show me - a male Rat Terrier and a
female Shih Tzu. (She refers to the handicapped ones as "Jerry's
kids" - as in Jerry Lewis). The Rat Terrier had a heart condition and
the Shih Tzu had a problem with her knees - something I had never heard of
before - lateral luxating patellas. She was seven months old and only
three-and-a-half pounds! She had a severe case of kennel cough and we
later found out that she also had a bad case of seborrhea and a belly button
hernia. My vet started to explain to me what lateral luxating patellas
were. It is a congenital birth defect where the kneecaps (patellas) of the
(rear) legs have slipped to the outside of the knees. The tendons in her
rear legs, therefore, shrunk and when she walked, she looked like a seal.
It was a pitiful sight. Dr. Jeffers continued to say that it was a
terrible thing she was asking me to do, (to adopt her), and that there weren't
many people she knew that she would allow to take a dog in this condition,
because she had no idea what to expect. She said that we may even have to
put her down in six months, but that she would rather see the dog have a happy
life in a good home for six
months than nothing at all. She had been given the dogs by a pet shop who
said that if she couldn't find a home for them, to put them to sleep.
Well, I instantly fell in love with her and now the only problem was to figure
out how I was going to talk my husband into letting us have a second dog - a
second handicapped dog. I told my vet that I would take
her home right now but I had to work on my husband. She said that she
wouldn't be able to go home with me anyway until she had gotten over the kennel
cough. Dr. Jeffers explained to me how to go about stretching her legs in
hopes of stretching the tendons. She said that if we could stretch the
tendons enough that they could do the surgery and that the surgeon there would
probably just do it for us. So . . . I stayed at the vet's office for a
while and played with Jellybean, which is what we named her, and tried to do the
stretching therapy, which she did NOT like at all. At that point in time,
she wasn't even in a mood to play. She just wanted to crawl into your lap
and go to sleep and that is just what she did. I held and comforted this
scrawny, helpless, depressed and definitely-in-need-of-a-bath furbaby.
Depressed? I
think she really was. What was life for her? She only knew of a cage
since she had been taken from her mother (and by the way, her mother has the
same problem with her knees - who would be stupid enough to breed a dog with a
genetic defect such as this?) - no exercise, no love, no attention and no one
ever noticed something was wrong with her knees until she was seven months old
and then they figured she wasn't worth the time and trouble to help. She
wasn't going to make any money for them - only be a liability - so she was
shipped off for disposal. Well let me tell you, she was DEFINITELY worth
the trouble, which to me wasn't any trouble at all. She is the most
affectionate dog I have ever known and a little stinker to boot! As long
as you are in tongue's range of her you will be kissed - and kissed and kissed
and KISSED!
Well, I went home and all I could think about was what was I going to tell my
husband when he asked what was up at the vet's? "Well, hon, she got
these two handicapped little furbabies and they are SO busy over there that she
wanted to know if I would be able to donate some of my time to do some therapy
on this little Shih Tzu with bad knees. I told her that I would be glad
to and so I have to stop in once a day to do the leg stretching." (My
vet told me that I could lie and she would swear to it! She's great - you
gotta love her!)
When my daughter found out, she was thrilled and she became another accomplice
in our attempts to adopt Jellybean. Faithfully, we visited Jellybean every
day for about two hours and took toys in to interest her and to get her moving.
She was on medication and the kennel cough was getting better, thus she was
feeling perkier and found out that playing was really fun! It was both
funny and pathetic at the same time to watch her run and scamper around after
toys. Our times there were mostly spent in getting her to run around as
much as possible and then when she tired out, we would just hold her and talk
quietly to her and love her. She was responding well and it came close to
the time when we would be able to take her home.
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| Jellybean |
We were on our way out
to do some shopping, my husband, my daughter and myself, and I said, "Hey,
let's stop at the vet's on the way out and you can get a look at Jel, er uh,
this little Shih Tzu and see how you think she is doing." We went in
and I could tell that he thought she was cute - under all that "in need of
a bath" mess he saw. From then on, my daughter and I started in
on him and he didn't have a chance! It was a bit of a challenge - he had
professed to being a one-dog person - "one is enough", but I think his
heart told him that she really needed someone and he was grateful to our vet for
all the help and kindness she had given us in the past. Jellybean came
home with us and a day or two after we had her home, my daughter and I knew that
he was hooked. We listened to my husband talking to Jellybean while we
were out of sight in another room and we heard in a baby voice,
"Jelly-Jelly-bean-bean, Jelly-Jelly-bean-bean". Well, needless
to say, she has been smothered with love since the inception. It took
three weeks, however, for Sweetcakes to accept her. Pekes are pretty
territorial and VERY jealous of their own possessions, which, of course,
includes the hoomins they own. It all worked out, though, and they became
good buddies and Sweetcakes realized it was kinda nice to have another
woof-muffin to play with. Now they are "partners-in-crime"!
Well, here we are again, going about our daily lives, which have been
significantly enhanced by the presence of these two little ten pound
woof-muffins. They are so wonderful to have around and all the love that
is constantly showered upon them, I'm sure, has been a source of therapy and
healing in itself. Both woof-muffins are presently doing great. They
chase each other around at about 50 miles per hour with occasional episodes of
"going nuts" play sessions of speeds up to 70 miles per hour!
Jellybean's tendons have stretched considerably on their own with all the
running around she did and she now walks more normally with only a slight limp.
(When asked, our vet said that if she is getting along fine now with no pain,
then no, you don't have to have the surgery done. Why put her through all
that if she doesn't need it.) Her back end is kinda rounded down, and she
seems to sit more often than stand, but neither dog appears to have any pain at
all. Jellybean's belly button hernia was corrected at the time she was
spayed, kennel cough was history after we brought her home, the seborrhea is
under such great control thanks to a shampoo we tried that my groomer had, that
it seems like it isn't even there, and her knees are doing fine for the time
being. We hope and pray that both our woof-muffins will continue to stay
in such good shape as they age. Lots of tender loving care and prayers -
that's what has gotten us by so far and we'll continue doing all we can for them
for the rest of their lives. They deserve it.
Joanne Porter -
owned by the Woofmuffins
TianshingI@aol.com
by Mary L. Harwelik
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| KAVEK |
Kavek, a Siberian
Husky my family purchased from a pet store, was my first purebred dog. My mother
had always wanted a Siberian, and my brother and I were thrilled to have
acquired this "blueblood" - papers and all. I have since learned a lot
about dogs, pet shops and puppy mills. I have learned where these animals come
from, what is perpetuated when you purchase a puppy from a pet shop, and that
"AKC Papers" doesn't mean a guarentee.
Soon after we brought Kavek home, the ideal we held in our mind of what a
purebred should be like slowly began to crumble. Kavek began exhibiting extreme
alpha tendencies - in other words, he was very aggressive and bossy, not the
type of dog a mother with small children would want to have around the house.
The dog would constantly challenge family members, "dare" you to touch
his food bowl, toy, or force him to do anything he didn't want to. "You do
what I don't want, what I don't approve of - I'll bite you". Only because
of consistent, no-nonsense training and co-operation on the whole family's part,
were we able to break Kavek of his aggression towards us. But any new person
that he came in contact with would be subject to the same, intense dominance
that he had originally displayed towards us, and he was always very aggressive
towards other dogs.
Next came the health problems. Kavek never grew the thick double coat that is
standard for the Siberian Husky. He always had a sparse, lack-luster coat. And
no matter how nutritious the food we fed him, no matter the proper vet
care, he always appeared "unthrifty" - along with his poor
conformation, he was the epitome of the "pet shop puppy".
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| KAVEK |
As Kavek aged, he
slowly began to loose any vitality that his genes had, by luck, I suppose,
managed to afford him. A six year old Siberian is not "old", yet he
had slowed down a lot by this age. By the time he turned seven, he
appeared to be closer to ten or eleven.
One morning, only a few weeks after Kavek's eighth birthday, my beloved, special, and beautiful little Siberian was found dead on his favorite spot on the back deck. A necropsy showed that his heart had been weak and had just failed on him. I was completely devastated. Not only had I lost him so young, but it had been a total shock. Later I learned that it is not at all uncommon for pet shop puppies to just drop dead, with no warning, due to hidden health problems. I had been lucky, though, because Kavek had lived a lot longer than some.
Mary L. Harwelik m1stic24@aol.com
by Vicki MacClements
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|
Lady - Sitting Pretty |
Summer, 1992:
The day I picked her up at the airport I gave her a toy, but she didn't
understand what to do with it. The leash confused her; she tried to run from it
and cracked her little face into a plate glass door. I took her ten months to
really respond to her name. You see, breeder dogs in puppy mills don't have
names. They also don't have toys or walks or treats or love or any of the things
we give our pampered companions.
Our biggest obstacle was house training, but it was never hard to be patient
with her when remembering how she had lived. It's sort of difficult to crate
train a dog who has lived in nothing but a cage all her life. Where else is she
supposed to poop? I was never much on leaving her in a cage anyway. After being
accustomed to being out of one, she shook uncontrollably when locked inside.
Lady's original cage was in a stack in a puppy mill where the waste of the dogs
above fell on her. When she arrived, she still had some skin lesions and
abscesses on her feet from walking on dirty, rusty wire. She was obese from a
lack of exercise, and her belly almost drug the ground -- from being stretched
so many times, I suppose. Lady was lucky; these were the only problems she had.
At least she wasn't blind like a lot of the Shih Tzu coming out of puppy mills.
Her rescuers had already given her a few weeks of attention and medical care
before she came to us. Oh! -- and they gave her a name.
It was so rewarding to watch her progress. Her first three months were spent
mainly under the bed. The next three months, she started sticking her head out
just enough so the dust ruffle framed a cute little bonnet around her face.
After a year, she sleeps on the rug beside the bed and romps and frolics with
her "brother " Tzu, Gizmo, every morning.
Lady tolerates her adopted mom's grooming experiments and sports the wildest Tzu
hairdo in town. She loves riding in the car, as long as the trip involves
getting strawberry yogurt. She earns her keep these days by modeling doggie
bandannas and bows at Gizmo's gift shop (which means she gets all dressed up and
snores on the counter.) She went to the beach last spring and took to it like a
pro: prancing through the edge of the waves and barking at the gulls, she
created quite a stir in her Hawaiian-flowered shirt and gold dog bone necklace.
But we learned she still had to conquer some of the finer points of civilization
when she walked into the sliding glass door of the condo!
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|
Lady - Having Ice Cream |
I still cry sometimes
when I look at her and wonder how anyone could treat such a gentle, undemanding,
grateful Lady that way. I wonder if she remembers? No, that's no way to treat a
Lady, a dog or any other living creature.
March,1999
Seven years later, she's still here. She's probably fourteen or fifteen now.
She's old, for sure. The eyes are cloudy and the ears don't work too good
either. The old ticker's not what it used to be, and some strange and sudden
liver and kidney malfunction almost got her a couple of years ago. But it left
just as quickly as it came, and once again that Energizer Bunny bounced back.
She always does .... so far. It's hard to believe that there are still some
people out there who don't know what a puppy mill is and ask why she needed
rescuing. Why so much effort and expense over one little old, unsocialized,
overbred, worn out dog? Aside from the fact that she returns the love a million
times over, the following anonymous writing is the best answer I've found, and
it's the little flame of encouragement that keeps lots of rescue people going --
when their pain is almost too much to bear.
"As the old man walked along the beach at dawn, he noticed a young man
ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Finally,
catching up with the youth, he asked him why he was doing this. The answer was
that the stranded starfish would die if left until the morning sun. "But
the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish," countered
the other. "How can your effort make any difference?" The young man
looked at the starfish in his hand. Tossing it to the safety of the waves, he
replied, "It makes a difference to this one."
I'm so blessed to have been able to make a difference for this special one. If
you think you could do it, just browse under "puppy mill." You'll find
someone who needs you desperately, and if you're not in a position to take one
right now, just learn all you can and tell someone else, and ask them to tell
someone else, and them to tell someone else, and them to tell someone
else.............. Please, for Lady's sake.
Vicki
Reprinted with permission
RUDOLPH
I don’t care if you are not an animal lover.
I just want to tell you a little Christmas story about a puppy named
Rudolph.
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CONFESSIONS OF AN IGNORANT BREEDER
SO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE FUN TO HAVE PUPPIES ?
by Joya Bocock
Our boxer, Lupe, was just turning two when my husband brought up the idea of breeding her. I was just beginning to learn a thing or two about the ins and outs of raising dogs, having just gotten on the internet a few months before, and at first I resisted the idea, but then I gave in thinking maybe this is something I might be good at (being a breeder) and could maybe go into. Ignorance is bliss, but it doesn’t last.
So, with my limited knowledge, and feeling like I knew it all, I started preparing Lupe for her mating. I got all her shots up to date (ah…the things I have learned since then), we found her a good-looking mate and voila! she was ready! I knew what days were right for breeding, being all-knowing, you understand, about breeding. And sure enough, within the month, we knew she was expecting. Her pregnancy went well, and the due date arrived, and although it was a little nerve wracking, she delivered just fine. Breeding was a cinch!
Within a week of having her puppies, Lupe started having a discharge. She got very skinny and I was quite worried about her, but got her back into shape with the old Satin Balls recipe. Her puppies seemed to be thriving….the vet said the infection was venereal passed on by the male. Mistake number two…. number one was breeding her in the first place. We could not do anything about the disease because she was still nursing so would have to wait to treat it.
Three and a half weeks went by and I started one feeding of gruel a day. One morning I awoke to a crying pup with a distended stomach. I called the vet and he came and gave the pup an enema, saying it was too soon to feed them. I forget what else he did, but he assured me all would be well and left. Three hours later I had a dead puppy. I insisted on an autopsy, because with my "vast" textbook knowledge, I thought it might be herpes, in which case all the pups would probably die. The vet did the autopsy, found red spots on the kidneys and agreed that it probably was herpes. Thank God he was wrong…if it had been, the whole litter would have died, but the rest of the puppies thrived. Lupe had to have twice-daily injections for two weeks.
Now, I knew it was very important to find good homes for the puppies…I was in love with them, but tired of all the poop and the feedings and they were almost eight weeks old, so time to leave the nest. I wanted to keep the male, Spike, but he was huge and I did not have room for another big dog. He was such a cutie. But I digress. The vet called and said he had a friend who wanted three puppies. The man came over and I inquired as to why he wanted three puppies. He said one was for his mother, and one for his sister and Spike would be his. I warned him about breeding siblings and he assured me that this was not going to happen. He came and visited several times and I went to his house once and checked it out. All seemed to be on the up and up. I had done my duty or so I thought.
This was close to Christmas. Well, he took the three puppies and about two weeks later I saw an ad in the paper with this man’s phone number. The ad said that he had all sorts of breeds of puppies (including boxers) for gifts for Christmas. This was my first experience with a puppy broker. He now has a thriving business. I wanted to buy the dogs back, but he was asking twice what I had sold them for and I just couldn’t do it. I was heartbroken and guilty about what I had done. Who knows what happened to these puppies.
Daisy, the littlest female, stayed with me till she was five months old. I had to give her to my husband’s best friend because he had given me Lupe and the deal was he would get a puppy in return. He had her grandfather. He promised me that when she came into heat the first time, she would come stay with me so she would not get pregnant (people here do not spay their dogs, unfortunately) . Well, the other day, he sheepishly told me that Daisy, who just turned one in September, had had six puppies, two died, and that he did not realize she was pregnant. One of the puppies is a boxer (the grandfather’s) and the others are who knows what. So Daisy is getting supreme care, isn’t she?
See-- the thing about breeding is that you are responsible for all these little lives. Just because they leave your home and go on to other homes does not absolve you of that. I will never do this again because I can never be sure that one of my pups is not abandoned, mistreated or worse. I did not even mention the other part of breeding---being sure that you are passing on a healthy line---because I didn’t know about that in those days. I have no idea if they have some defects that will show up later on down the line. And that, too, is irresponsible. So if you want another puppy, just like "Fido", get it from a responsible breeder and neuter/spay it….leave the breeding to the experts.
Joya Bocock
bocock@netsys.hn__________________________________________
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