Our Cockapoo Meg born on 23rd April (we believe, but not certain) We responded to an ad in breedersonline and K9puppies websites by Mike Molloy, he was very plausible and patronising saying he had bred dogs all his life. We collected her on the 12th June being told she was 8 weeks old. Straight away we realised she had ear mites and got some drops from our vet.
After 5 days she had terrible mucus and bloody faeces, we went to our vet again to be told it could be the food recommended and supplied by the breeder. He provided some intestinal food, she got worse so we produced a faeces sample to the vet, this went away to the labs, (copy attached) She had Giardia very badly, I also caught it and also lost a huge amount of weight (1 stone in 6 days) After the diagnosis we both had to take medication at the same time to avoid re-infection.
I notified the breeder Mr Molloy who said there was nothing wrong with his dogs, it was my fault! Since then I have met and corresponded with 5 other owners of puppies from Molloy, they all had problems, he passed the blame back to them. Sadly, one of the puppies died within 10 days, Milo belonging to Helen. Molloy, when told, said it was not his problem and she had killed Milo! We reported him to East Dorset District Council and RSPCA Inspector Hammond, they both visited him and were starting prosecution.
Molloy moved in Sept to: Bretby BURTON-ON-TRENT DE15 0RH. Please be aware!
10/2011 Chilli's Story.
Update on Chille 12/1/2012
More bad news for this dear sweet pup. He has now been diagnosed with elbow dysplasia and has undergone surgery on both elbows to remove loose bone fragment and cartiledge, which will in the long term leave him with early arthritis, all due to his bad breeding.
I answered an ad in April this year for an Alaskan Malamute/Siberian Husky mix puppy, after phoning the breeder, checking their website and asking several questions we decided to go and visit the pup and his family, the breeders were Mr Mark & Mrs Sharon Bartlett of Arcticwolves KC affix Engbull also known as Huskamutes.co.uk, Lampeter, Carmarthenshire. They were licenced through the Carmarthenshire County Council. When we visited the puppy we were taken to an area outside where we were shown mum and dad in a kennel, we were then taken to another area to see the puppy, when we asked why he was the only puppy left out the litter as he was then 12 weeks old, we were told they were let down by a timewaster who had left a deposit on him and after several attempts to contact them they had no joy so decided to sell this puppy at "below half price" as they needed to go on holiday and didn't want to leave the puppy at home unsold as he would be difficult to sell when they came back due to his age. We decided to buy the puppy and were told to go inside and complete some paperwork, it appears that there was some communication by phone with the breeders and once the paperwork was completed they were waiting by our car holding the puppy, they asked where he was sitting and placed him in the car, we were told he was dirty as he had been rolling around on the newspaper in his pen, but once in the car and on closer inspection were realised how dirty he was so we took him home and bathed him, he also had thick black wax in his ears which we later found out were mites.
As we had travelled 4 hours back home we let the puppy sleep most of the night in his bed, it wasn't until early the next morning I got up with him I noticed he was bumping into things, after taking him out into the garden I then tried playing with him but he became very withdrawn, and he was wincing away from the sunlight. I asked my husband to look at him and he said call the breeder after 8am. I called the breeder and expressed our concerns about his vision, she said don't worry he was checked by my vet and there is nothing wrong with him, this breed is laid-back and clumsy, not to worry he is not used to furniture as he has been kenneled outside in a large open kennel, she said she was going on hoilday that morning but if I wanted to bring him back it would be after the 12th May which was nearly 3 weeks away. We decided to take him the vets the next day and the vet had the same concerns as us and referred him to the Opthalmologists for some tests.
After several tests and scans it was confirmed that the puppy was totally blind with detached retinas in both eyes and a small chance of cataracts forming, and this was probably from birth, we were totally devastated but this was our dog and we wanted to keep him. It was only then when we looked back at how the sale was carried out that we knew the breeder had known, they had apparently been breeding this breed for 12 years and hadn't noticed anything wrong with this puppy after having him for 12 weeks? I don't think so! We emailed this breeder with the findings and offered to keep our puppy and give him the best possible home but after several attempts to come to some sort of arrangement to refund us what we paid for him and what we had spent out in vet fees she became angry and refused unless she had the pup back. I then reported her to Carmarthenshire County Council, who said they visited the property and found everything in order for the licence requirements and couldn't do any more I emailed the kennel club also and reported them to the trading standard.
Our puppy will require specialist check-ups every 6 months to check the pressure of his eyes and prevent any cataracts forming. He is now 8 months old, we believe that during his first 12 weeks of life he had no human bonding what so ever as it has taken us all this time to get a tiny amount of affection from him but we have other dogs who he is totally soppy with. We love this dogs to bits and he is in the best home he could have, he also has a big fan-club at the local park, but had I known all this before I would have stayed clear. We are now in the process of taking this breeder to the small claims court but this to me if anything will only deal with the financial side of things and I wouldn't like anyone else to buy from this breeder and go through the same devastation as our family have. I would like to make you aware of this breeder because after we bought our pup we have noticed she has given away several adults dogs of the same breed as ours free and is still selling numerous pups everyday on the free sites
Buster's Story
Last year me and my partner decided to buy our first dog. We found an advert on an internet site for a little westie. We called Cremdella Kennels in Suffolk and arranged to view the little puppy. We travelled the long journey to Suffolk and it brought us to Mildenhall, Willow Park travellers site in Becks Row, Suffolk.
The kennel owners seemed ok and I was pleased the dog came with a full vet check and was licensed by the local council, so we handed our money over and we took home Buster, my little westie.
When we got home we noticed Buster had terrible diarrhea. I called the vets and they suggested rice and chicken diet. This did not work, so I took Buster to the vets with a faecal sample. The vets started Buster on anti-biotics and sent the sample away for testing. The sample came back as poor Buster having Ecoli poisoning. Buster had also had to start on a stronger set of anti-biotics. My friends daughter had been handling the puppy and came down with classic signs of Ecoli poisoning. The doctor suggested that the little girl be tested for Ecoli. My heart sank. Luckily the little girl was Ecoli clear. But I was told we had all been very lucky.
Buster started to have some strange behaviour and one day he snapped at me. I also noticed Buster was excessively chasing his tail. I went to look at my friends puppy and realised there was something wrong with Buster. I was also sick of people stopping me in the street questioning me if Buster was old enough to be out for a walk. I went home and immediately booked an appointment at the vets.
I took Buster to the vets and asked the vet to confirm Buster age and give my little dog an MOT. My vet confirmed my little dog was 2 weeks younger than the vaccine card stated and what the kennels had sold him to me as, by looking at the dogs teeth. My vet started to get worried as he noticed that one of Buster's pupils would not dilate. This means there is pressure on the brain and was causing him to tail chase and be aggressive. The vets book Buster in for an MRI scan. There were other physical signs on Buster that it was possible Buster's parents were interbred.
The next day, Buster was playing in the garden and had an enormous burst of energy. After 5 minutes of running around, I noticed my little dog was having problems walking and kept failing side ways and seemed disorientated. I went and called Buster and he fell on his side and started to have a seizure. I called my vet as the seizure was happening and he explained to me that he had spoken with the neurologist who he was due to see and he believed that Buster could have Hydrocephalus. Because of the puppies age, the prognoses was grave and the best thing I could do is put the little dog to sleep. After the seizure, Buster back leg kept giving up. I had my little dog only 4 weeks and there I was taking him to be put to sleep. It broke mine and my partners heart.
If you want to buy a puppy, please don't buy from these kind of establishments. I am about £1000 out of pocket but don't regret a penny. I know i did the right thing for Buster. We miss him everyday. What is left of poor little Buster is in the picture above.
Belle was bred by Mr and Mrs Davies, Blakeney,Gloucester. KC affix Rockybar.
Last year we bought a puppy from the internet, a beautiful blue Chihuahua bitch. We had been waiting for years for a blue chihuahua to come along and this one seemed perfect and Kennel Club registered. We didn't view the dog until we picked her up but left a £100 deposit.
The woman and her husband seemed nice enough and seemed to know what they were talking about. We didn't have much experience with Chihuahuas so her information seemed useful. We picked the dog up a few days before she turned 7 weeks old, at the time we didn't think anything of it after all we had been waiting nearly 7 weeks to get her!
On the way home the pup had diahorrea which again seemed to be okay as the journey was four hours back home but after a few days it seemed to be getting worse and worse.. in the end she was taken to the vets and treated for it. The vet made sure she was okay and did a full check up for my parents and found a heart murmur, as you know some puppies can puppies have heart murmur's but the vet seemed concerned, he informed us he would need to see Belle again in a few weeks time to see if it had cleared at all. In the end this was diagnosed as Patent ductus arteriosus.
Belle had to have open heart surgery at a few weeks old which has damaged her as a puppy, she became a little timid as she had to stay at the vets over a long weekend whilst the healing took place.
We got straight onto the phone of the breeder as this operation was worth quite a few thousand pounds, we had been told at the time that this condition could be hereditory and so we wanted to make sure the breeder could get in touch with the other couples who took one of the litter and ensure their puppy was okay. We were told at this point by a vet that without the operation Belle would have probably died before reaching 1 year old.
The breeders refused to take responsibilty for this problem, refused to give any money back or take the dog back (which we really didn't want to do anyway) or help out with any vets costs incurred. Instead we were told that PDA occured when we had bought the puppy... and is must have been the food we fed it on?
We succesfully took the breeder to court on 24th Jan 2011. Breeder was ordered to pay £1650 compensation.
4th July 2010 Evie's Story Purchased from Linton's Pet Shop, Berkshire.
At the end June my partner and I visited a garden centre that had a pet shop. They were selling puppies in this pet store. We left the centre, but spent the next week thinking about one little pup we had seen. The following Saturday we went to see if she was still there. She was, we could cope with the puppy, and decided we would give her a home. She was an 11 week old Border Collie and we named her Evie.
We were told she came from a local private breeder and was one of 5. She had been given her 1st vaccinations and we had a vaccination certificate.
On Sunday I noticed she was a little lethargic and had some diarrhea. I put it down to the heat and the stress of moving. On Monday I took her to the vets just to check and to get her 2nd injection. She was admitted to the vets on Monday with an IV and antibiotics as the vet thought she was dehydrated and maybe getting over an infection. Sadly, on Wednesday she was diagnosed with Parvovirus and on Thursday our little pup passed away.
By Emily Tonge
Puppy Love say again, please don't buy pups from pet shops and always, always see pup with its mother in surroundings it was born
Bailey's Story.
Purchased from Carol Cavanagh and Adrian Bicknell, KC affix Shimano.
Bailey, an alleged Kennel Club registered Dogue de Bordaeux puppy was purchased from a breeder of 18 years experience in the breed. The purchaser had researched the breed and asked the seller all the right questions before going to view the puppy at four weeks of age. On visiting the seller she asked to see the grandfather and father of the puppy who its alledged are champions, Casanova Von Canyaya and Tanakajd Szepe Zamorrow. She was impressed with their looks and asked to see the mother Wolfram Vampette together with her puppies and alleges she was told this was not possible as the bitch was very protective of pups so she viewed the mother separately before viewing the puppies.
There were only two puppies available, one male and one female, the buyer wanted a male but was concerned that the puppies eyes did not look quite right. She alleges she was told by the seller that it was because he had just woken and had sleepy eyes. The sale was agreed, the asking price of £1,500 for the puppy and arrangements made to collect puppy when he was old enough to leave his mother.
On the day of collection the buyer was still concerned with Bailey's eyes and alleges she questioned the seller again but was told as before it was because he was sleepy. Bailey was crated for his journey home during which he yelped and cried a few times but the new owner thought he may just be afraid of the car. On arriving home Bailey slept for hours, so long that his owner became concerned and contacted seller and alleges she was told that they were a lazy breed of dog and it was not unusual to sleep for long periods.
On awakening Bailey screamed, this happened every time that he woke from sleep. The concerned the owner who took him to her vet, who shared the owners concern about Bailey and asked if he could keep him at the surgery for a few hours to run some checks on him. On collecting him his owner was shocked to be told that Bailey had serious problems with his vision which required further investigation.. The vet prescribed medication, steroids, pain killers were prescribed as vet suspected meningitis, a full course of drugs was given by the owner but with little to no effect on Baileys condition. The vet suggested that the owner should take Bailey to see a Neurologist, he was referred to Davies veterinary specialists in High Gobion, Hertfordshire. Bailey's owner was advised that her puppy more than likely had Hydrocephalus or Syringomyelia and the specialist stated that he would be unlikely to live longer than six months of age and would not grow to normal size for a puppy of that breed. He did prescribe some drugs and there was a slight improvement but it was still difficult for him to gain any weight at all.
Bailey also saw an ophthalmologist who stated "Bailey is skinny in body condition with a roached lumbar spine and uneven gait suggesting hip weakness. He remains rather dull for a young puppy. Both eyes were open but there was marked epiphora from the right eye ,associated with lateral lower lid entropian."
During this difficult time Bailey's owner alleges she contacted the seller and asked asked if she would consider taking Bailey back, it is alleged she refused, leaving Baileys owner to continue to do the best she could for her ailing puppy. He was given the very best care and love but sadly aged just 13 weeks his back legs became paralyzed and his front legs were buckling. The vet said this was caused by pressure from the fluid on Bailey's brain. His little body could not tolerate a higher dose of drugs, so with a heavy heart and on her vets advice Bailey's owner released him from his suffering and pain and ended his short life.
Before Bailey was put to sleep, the process of trying to recover the money paid for him and his subsequent veterinary fees had already begun. It is alleged the seller stated that she would only refund the initial purchase price of Bailey and not the veterinary fees that had occurred since purchase. The owner felt at the time she had little choice but to accept the purchase price of the puppy of £1,500. Although under consumer law the owner was within her right to take the matter through the Small Claims Court. At point of sale purchaser was promised KC papers as soon as they were available, in the 5 weeks she owned Bailey KC papers were not received.
The story above was relayed to us by the purchaser, backed up with documents from vet and specialists
Molly's story, A Kennel Club Registered Puppy.
Bred By Karen Crowley Of Gravesend, Kent. KC Affix Apsledene
Wrttten by Tania Ledger.
We spent 3 months researching, taking heed of health issues surrounding this breed. We were completely ignorant, we had never heard of puppy farming. We were aware of the breed problems, mainly heart and eye.
We saw and advert for a tri-girl, she was advertised as an only puppy. I contacted the breeder and arranged to see her. Everything seemed perfect, the house was clean, the breeder informed us she only bred one litter a year. The Breeder is Kennel Club Registered which at the time gave us reassurance as we believed they were well respected and part of the establishment.
The puppy for sale was one out of two in the litter and it didn't take us long to agree to buy her and paid the breeder a deposit. We called her Sweet Molly. The first sign of trouble was when molly was 3 months old, for no apparent reason she would yelp, on one occasion she screamed very loudly, We took her to the vets on numerous occasions, checking all sorts of things without result.
We were careful when walking as she never seemed to be able to walk very far without looking exhausted. Sometimes she would stop and refuse to walk. More often than not she would have to be carried home. Eventually the Vet decided she should have her back legs x rayed, he suspected she might have a problem with her hips, the results showed she had dysplasia in both hips and her knee was popping out, which is probably the reason for the yelping. (Luxating Patella) For a while she seemed to improve, all of a sudden she became much worse.
We had a sweet little dog who had severe problems with all four legs. Molly could not walk. We decided with the Vets approval to take her to a leading joint specialist. The news was bad, he said she had severe case of Syringomelia, it was inoperable and he didn't believe she would make her second birthday. Molly was given back to us, she was waggy tailed, bright and pleased to see us.
We were devastated when we received this information. We thought we had been so careful. I wrote to the Kennel Club, explaining everything, they basically sent a political fob off letter. So if a breeder is Kennel Club Registered it does not mean anything at all. We live with a ticking bomb, except we do not know when it is going to go off!!
Mollys Health Issues.
Elsie's Story
I had been looking to buy another Whippet as company for my 5 year old whippet, for some time, and couldn't believe my luck when I saw one being advertised in my local paper. We phoned the number immediately and arranged to go that afternoon and see her. She was brought out to us and the first thing we noticed was that she had a cough. My husband said that we were worried that the cough was kennel cough, but we were reassured by the man, who we thought at the time was Mr. Whelan. He said that these were the first whippets they had bred and didn't realise they were so sensitive to the cold, and that they had turned her heater up in her kennel, as the cough was due to the cold weather we had been having. We collected her the next day and the same man gave us a bottle of medicine for her to take for her cough. ( the bottle had no vet's label on to say who the medicine was for, or what dosage.)
The following day after we had visited our vet, my husband phoned back and spoke to the man who we still thought was Mr Whelan. We told him that the vet had questioned marked kennel cough. He told us we could have our money back if we took the dog back. There was never any question of us taking Elsie back as she was part of our family now. It wasn't until Elsie deteriorated and we were told that she had had pneumonia, that I phoned up again. This time I did speak to Whelan, who had been on holiday. He was very aggressive in his tone and wouldn't let me speak, he kept talking over me. I asked him for help towards the vets bill which was still ongoing. He told me he needed to think about it, but wasn't promising anything. I took advise from the dog lovers breeders association, and wrote Whelan a letter and sent it recorded delivery, I asked for him to pay the vets bill and compensation. The next day Whelan called me and was furious for sending him a recorded delivery letter, and also for not waiting for him to get back to me. It was the same as last time, him doing most of the talking and not listening to what I had to say. He thinks that because he offered me my money back right at the beginning and I didn't accept it, then everything was above board. He also said that the puppy had been RSPCA checked and also checked by his vet and was deemed fit. If that was the case, why was she taking medicine. The phone call ended abruptly when he hung up on me. I have now reported him to the RSPCA, who supposedly checked the puppy, the trading standards, consumer advise and the local paper who his advert appears in.
To date; Elsie has been to the vet 5 times, and has another appointment on Wednesday She has been admitted and hospitalised while they put her on a drip. She has had pneumonia. She has suspected kennel cough. She is so riddled with worms, she has been treated twice, the worms are coming out both ends, alive! She has had these for a month now, and still they keep coming. She is underweight. She has had diarrhoea and vomiting. Sticky runny eyes. As her first inoculations were such a long time ago, the whole course will have to start again. Elsie is nearly 14 weeks old now and as a pretty poor start to her life.
Susan Baverstock.
The name of this breeder is Mr. P. Whelan, Houghton Regis, Dunstable, LU5 6JS. Please be aware! If you have bought a sick puppy from this seller please inform Trading Standards and South Bedforshire District Council. You may also be interested to know this kennel was featured on Rogue Traders
Puppy Love would like to say that we have been investigating dog breeders who sell to pet shops and through small ads for years, we have yet to find an ethical licensed breeding establishment where dogs get the care they need. No decent breeder would ever sell pups to a pet shop... do not believe otherwise. The puppy farmers are at the bottom of the chain of greed, the pet shops and dealers rob you and make the biggest profit from misery, shame on them ! Also a quick word about advertisers, radio stations and local press e.g. Yorkshire Post, Manchester Evening news make a hefty profit from misery too, they take the money to advertise for the pet shop then evade any questions about ethics, there is no limit to the amount of people who's conscience is eased by a few pounds.
Bella's Story
Bella was a beautiful Yorkshire terrier, purchased from Dogs4us and registered with Dog Lovers Registration certificate. She was much loved by her owners who were heartbroken when at just seven months of age and after months of complication's Bella died from a massive seizure. Despite vets best efforts there was nothing they could do to save her. Bella was just a few days over Dogs4us 6 month guarantee so the store refused her owner's any recompense. Bella was bred in Carmarthenshire on an establishment licensed by Carmarthen Council and was featured channel fives expose. The breeder is E. Harries, Maesbryn Kennels in Pencader Carmarthen. As far as we know this breeder is still breeding so be aware! Puppy Love will say again, you cannot expect healthy pups to be bred in conditions shown in the expose.The bitches are over bred and weakened, the stud dogs are stressed. It doesn't take much intelligence to realise you could never find a happy socialised puppy bred in one of these god forsaken premises.
Jacka's Story
Jacka was purchased from DOGS4US pet shop in Bramley Leeds and registered with Dog Lovers Registration. In August 2008. Four months later, a few days before Christmas, Jacka was put to sleep. He had intra-hepatic shunts and possible extra-hepatic shunting vessel cranial to the renal cavity, a congenital condition present from birth. All Jacka's litter mates would have the same problem,have you purchased a sick westie from Dogs4us, if so let us know. Jacka was born on a farm in Carmarthenshire licensed by CCC, Jacka was bred by Mrs H B Morgan. LLwnfallen. Carmarthen council are are very lax in upholding license conditions or the animal welfare act and we found dogs in this establishment with matted coats, rotten teeth and eye infections,these conditions were confirmed by vets and we have all vet reports on the dogs we rescued from this farm. RSPCA were given statements and vet reports but decided not to prosecute. However the breeder was interviewed under caution and improvement notice served. She will remain on RSPCA radar should there be further complaints.
Jacka belonged to Robert, 10 year old son of the family and was Robert's first ever puppy. Poor Jacka never stood a chance, however Dogs4us vet signed him as fit for sale. Is it time the veterinary profession started to refuse to sign pups as fit for sale if they cannot pick up on these kinds of illnesses ?
Dilly's Story
Dilly was bought from DOGS4US pet shop in Bramley Leeds,and registered with a Dog Lovers reg certificate. She was very sick and would not eat or drink. Dilly spent most of her first few weeks in the vets on drip and twice she was not expected to live. She had coccidosis,thankfully she did pull through but at an immense cost to her new owners. Dogs4us would not help with vets bills so Dilly's owners are taking Dogs4us to court. Dilly was also bred on a farm in Carmarthenshire her breeders name is Evans, Veindre Farm, Pencader. Since our investigation this breeder has closed down voluntarily.
Puppy Love had investigated this farm previously and found dogs so very stressed that they spun in circles endlessly. We asked Carmarthen council to revoke the puppy farmer's license in December 2008, but they refused to pay any heed to our concerns. If they had revoked license then Dilly would not have been for sale in the pet shop. This shows a total lack of concern by Carmarthen council for you the consumer. What gives them the right to license these establishments and then wash their hands or bury their heads in the sand when the complaints come back to them ? It is a scandal that all over Wales dogs are bred in this way and suffer because of local council total ineptitude. The Welsh Assembley talk about new legislation yet they cannot ensure the basic legislation is upheld today. The Animal Welfare Act and license conditions are breached on a daily basis. For the past 20 years campaigners have complained only to be patronized and told the situation is under control, we know this to be a huge lie as the channel five expose has just proven. Being responsible for animal welfare is a serious job and should not be taken lightly, especially when there are so many licensed dog breeding establishments in Carmarthenshire. The head of public protections Mr Philip Davies freely admits he has never set foot in a puppy farm or as he likes to call them breeding establishments, yet he continues to defend the puppy farmers and deny the cruelty.
Izzy's Story
Izzy was also purchased from Dogs4us and registered with DLRC who deny they register puppy farms. Izzy had deformed ribs,breathing problems because her nasal passages were not properly developed, an enlarged heart and other problems and remember this....Dogs4us vet signed her fit for sale as he did with all these dogs. Again Dogs4Us refused any help with vets bills,so again court action will be taken against them. Dogs4us did offer full refund for Izzy as though she was a faulty washing machine but her owner refused as she loves Izzy dearly. Again a dog bred in Wales to make quick money by a Miss M Jones,Pantgwynbach,Llanfyrnacn, Pembs. Izzy has recently been diagnosed with serious hip dysplasia which means more pain and suffering for this little dog.
Buster's Story
Buster is a Basset and he too was purchased from Dogs4Us and registered with DLRC. His owner soon realised Buster was having trouble walking. He was lame and diagnosed with joint laxity. After a prolonged campaign against Dogs4us his owner was refunded half of Buster's cost but money to help with vets bills was never forthcoming. Buster was bred by Pam Davies, Ace Kennels Cefn Cloch Farm Meidrim Carmarthen. Do you see a pattern developing here? The parent's of such pups probably live with constant pain yet they are still bred from. No vet examines the dogs to see if they are fit to breed and no animal welfare officers do more than a quick check once a year.
Amber's Story
Amber, a Golden Retriever, was very ill soon after purchase from Dogs4Us and she was diagnosed with Parvo Virus which can be a killer and highly contagious.She spent days in the vets on drip and did manage to pull through. Her owner is pursuing court case to try and get compensation for vets bills. Amber was also bred in Carmarthen.
Emma's Story
Nine years ago my mum presented me with a surprise Cavalier puppy as I was thinking of getting a companion for Charlie. Mum bought her from our local pet shop but I wasn't too perturbed as we had always gone there for pet supplies. I had the pup vetted and was told she had a significant heart murmur. I spoke to the pet shop owner who had bought the pups from a 3rd party and when I traced it back to its origins it was indeed from a welsh farm. I have since discovered it was a puppy farm. Of course I kept Emma because I didn't want her sent back where she would probably have been put down.
Emma was a nervous pup which is unusual for a cavalier. She had a good life with us, we are animal mad (since Emma we have only taken on rescue cats and rabbits) but her little life was marred and cut short by the health issues that we are in no doubt were inherited from callous interbreeding/over breeding of defective "puppy machines", how could anyone do this to sweet sweet trusting cavaliers?????
Emma had an inherent heart murmur from a pup, she developed inherited diabetes, she developed cataracts early in life and went blind. Apart from the heartbreak of seeing your beautiful friend develop these conditions, if you love her you try to put right what you can and this involves huge financial burdens too!
Emma was on heart tablets, she was injected every day by me with insulin to control the diabetes, I paid for her cataracts to be removed by a top eye veterinary opthamologist in London so she could see again.
Emma was not insured so I worked out that her treatments cost me somewhere in the region of £8,000. of course I don't begrudge a penny!
"HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGY IN THE WINDOW" - think, how much is it really going to cost you!!!
Emma died in my arms at the vets just before Christmas 2009, she had a massive seizure. I am so so sad and at the same time very angry, because of these evil puppy farmers untold sadness has been caused to my whole family.
The pet shop Emma came from was Aquapets, Tolworth Broadway, Surbiton, Surrey. The address in Wales was in town called Maesbryn.
Nine years ago there was not much publicity about the wicked practice of puppy farming, now there is!, So there is no excuse! Please please take heed from mine and the other stories, DO NOT buy these puppies, help the campaign, STOP IT NOW!
Sue Rawlinson
Duffy's Story
Duffy was bought from PUPPIES WORLD, Romford.
Duffy was featured in the Y Byd ar Bedwar programme on puppy farming in Wales which was screened on S4C in Dec 2008. Since the programme Puppies World has closed down but again we believe the owner Stacy Hayward is now selling pups from her home under a pet shop license from Crays Hill, Billericay, please be aware as she will still be buying in pups from the same puppy farms to sell on. If you live in that area you might like to complain to the council?
Duffy had many internal problems, her digestion has always been very poor meaning she doesn't get the nourishment she needs from her food. Also she has a heart murmur.Her owner has spent a lot of money to get her well and she still has ongoing problems.
Duffy was bred on a farm licensed to keep 89 dogs by Carmarthenshire Ccouncil. Carmarthen Council is very lax upholding license rules and he animal welfare act.
Duffy's owner was successful in taking Stacy Hayward owner of Puppies World to small claims court and the judge awarded in her favour, he ordered Stacy Hayward to pay back all veterinary fees to Duffy's owner.Well done that judge, these pet shop owners need to know they cannot continue to dupe unsuspecting buyers and get away with it. Together we can make a difference. If you would like to watch the Y Byd ar Bedwar documentary you can do so here
The pups below were all bought from THE RETREAT owned by a Tania Mcintosh.
Despite having a large file of complaints against this seller Ayelsbury Vale council took no action against her.....shame on them!
The Retreat has now closed but we are reliably informed Tania Mcintosh is still selling pups in the Dunstable area....please be aware.
Belle's Story
Belle's Story...told in her owners words......
In April 2007 Belle was diagnosed with Idiopathic genetic epilepsy,the vet said that this form at her age was very rare and both her parents would have had to have had it, so they should have never have bred from them in the first place.
She was put on Epiphen but this drug had to be upped as she was still having mini fits so in the end she was on 45mg twice a day with the added potassium bromide once a day. In the end they think this is was killed her due to the young age that she started to have fits, her liver just gave out even though we had regular blood tests. The blood that they took from her 2 weeks before she died was so thick with fat that they couldn't even see through it and this was after 12hours of starving.
Poor Belle had HD in both hips, her right was worse than her left and the right hip socket was hardly there. She was on previcox and synaquin meds and was in the end down to 15min walking once a day due to her severe pain. The vet said she when she reached two years of age she would need surgery.
Then after xmas Belle was limping on her front legs and was on a different pain killer that didn't seem to work and so we went to see a specialist who gave her more xrays and a camera was put in to the shoulder joint to which he found a large amount of inflammation so put a capsule of meds in to the joint and gave us tramadol to give to Belle, which she hated!!! This didn't work.
Then in February.
Belle couldn't move and was sick and wouldn't eat her food, this wasn't like her at all as she loved her food. We took her to see Del (vet) and we knew that we wouldn't be bringing Belle back home as you could see in her eyes that she had given up. When Del put the cannula in her paw, Belle just gave her her paw as if to say I've had enough. She died in a peaceful way she was in our arms and licked us in the very last breath she took.
I would like people to know our story as we were sucked in big time as the retreat wasn't dirty or smelly it was clean and the pups we are bright and seemed happy, we were even told that mum wasn't there as these pups were found and had to be re homed, not that they were puppy farm pups bought in for resale.
Jackie.
Bailey's Story
This beautiful puppy was bought at Retreat by kind-hearted people who didn't know the background of their purchase.
Bailey came from a puppy farm and has many health problems.
Bailey will not see his first birthday, he will be in too much pain by then and will have to be put to sleep His owner and the family will be heartbroken to lose a much loved pet. They have spent countless pounds on vets bills and yet they must still suffer emotional pain when the time comes to say goodbye to their much loved companion.
His ailments are as follows....
Mylo's Story
Mylo another pup from The Retreat was a little luckier, he was very ill soon after purchase and it was found he had Gaurdia a parasitic infestation making him very poorly. His new owner has two more dogs and Mylo infected both, one older dog nearly lost her life. Numerous trips to vets and hundreds of pounds spent in vet fees plus heartache and worry.
Most pups bought over the internet, advertisements in newspapers and pet shops will have come from puppy farms... this is a fact.
Mylo can now look forward to a happy life we hope but his mother and father will still be locked in some dark, dirty hovel, frozen in winter and roasted in summer. They will have spent their lives in a cage producing litter after litter of sickly pups for you, the public to buy. They see no vet if they are ill and when their useful days are over they will be shot or clubbed to death.
Do you really want to keep these evil people in business? Please think twice before buying a puppy from a commercial outlet selling lots of different breeds. No matter how cute these puppies may look, think about the poor mothers who have borne these puppies and are continuing to suffer at the hands of the Puppy Farmers & Agents for financial gain only. Only you, the public, can help bring an end to this horrific trade.
The owners of these pups want you to read this and take heed, they want to spare you the pain they have suffered.
If you do buy a sick pup report it to your trading standards and local council immediately.
Please, if you are looking for a pup consider a rescue dog, there are hundreds in rescues all over the UK through no fault of their own. If you want a specific breed ask your local vet for the name of an ethical reputable breeder.