We hear this story time and time again. An unsuspecting consumer falls in love with a cute puppy in the window and just has to have it. They do not know that miles away hidden from view is that puppy’s parents, locked up and forgotten, simply breeding machines in a shed. The consumer is not told that their puppy’s parents have not been tested for genetic diseases, or tested to see if they are healthy enough to be able to be bred. That adorable puppy they are walking out of the shop with is potentially a ticking time bomb and they could be up for enourmous vet fees and untold heartache.
Charli, a beautiful Cavalier x Poodle or as the pet shops like to label them “Cavoodle”, was purchased from IN2Pets and Aquariums situated in Traralgon on Xmas Eve 2010.
5 days after taking Charli home he was taken to a vet clinic due to vomiting and diarrhoea, a few weeks later he was back at the vet clinic. A few of the vet reports are reprinted below.
13.1.11 Had a weeping eye this morning and eye keeps rolling back into his head. Previously deformed skull noted, had some twitching in his face. Cleaned of green discharge form both his eyes this morning. Third eyelids raised a little, holding left eye slightly closed. Sloppy diarrhoea no vomiting. Left eye has lateral stabismus and also miotic pupil. Some cloudiness of the cornea, fluro positive. Large dome and likely hydrocephalus.
24.1.11 At 5pm Charli started to vomit and continued for 3 hours (9 vomits in total) Heart and Lungs OK a bit snuffly from time to time but likely facial conformation. Charli has had stomach issues since purchase. Patella’s a little lax.
3.5.11 Stomach has doubled in size
4.5.11 Admit for abdominal radiograph. Treatment ACP/Methadone sedation, drain off 650ml clear straw colored fluid. NB Blood glucose 3.5mmol/l
7.5.11 Informed O that results suspicious of PSS-given effusion has returned that quickly, protein levels very poor. Will need surgery to correct. O not sure what to do at this stage, can palliate and monitor for now but will need to make decision soon. Wound from needle has opened slightly under pressure from oedema. Cont antibiotics and monitoring for now.
13.5.11 Owners have elected to euthanise at end of week Age 7 months.
So in 7 short months Charli suffered and the owners paid out $1330.15 in vet bills. The last line on the vet report states “ euth charge is to be charged to the Hams from Longford account” So ACA/Banksia Park puppy factory paid a few dollars for the dog to be euthanised. The pet shop In2Pets and Aquariums of Traralgon refunded the cost of the dog to the owner. But she is out of pocket $1330.15.
Mathew are you going to reimburse the owner ? Are you In2Pets ?
Ask In2Pets if they will still be purchasing puppies from ACA/Banksia Park Puppy factory ? If they are really ‘in 2 pets’ they would cease the trade in dogs immediately!
In2Pets have felt the need to take out a newspaper advertisement advising consumers that ACA/Banksia Park is actually not a puppy factory but a “local breeder”. When you confine 300 adult dogs and use them as breeding machines to supply the pet industry with puppies, thats a factory! The consumers wont tolerate being lied to In2Pets.
Ask Mathew Hamms if he will be reimbursing the owner for her extensive verterinary costs? Is he still using Charli’s parents as breeding machines? How many more “Charli’s” is ACA/Banksia Park puppy factory producing ?
RIP Charli. Let his life and his death not be in vain. Our thoughts are with Charli’s owner who suffered enormous grief and heartache because of the grubby pet industry.
I want Oscar’s Law
Sadly this is the story for so many furkids. I am infuriated and I plead with earnest when friends and colleagues talk of wanting to purchase designer breeds. They don’t consider the cost to the furkids or the fact that often these furbabies arent properly nurtered by puppy-mill staff and more often than not are removed from their mothers at an innapropriately young age due to places like in2pets wanting to have the cute puppies and kittens on display. Shame on them. I WILL spread the word and ensure no-one I know purchases pets from there or any other place like this.
What an absolute disgrace! I know the stress and heartache of a sick animal and what this puppy and these people went through is greater than what any monetary fee could compensate for. This puppy suffered horribley through his short life and his parents suffer through theirs.How In2pets does not feel compelled to demand reasons for this horrendous example of breeding is beyond me? How can they justify the continued use of this irresponsible ‘supplier’?! Disgusting.
RIP darling Charli…..x x x
So sad… I hope people read this and begin to understand this ugly industry. I have two perfect and gorgeous mongrels from Renbury pound… they haven’t cost me a penny yet
Oh dear Charli…rest your beautiful little soul…Good on you Debra Tranter for all your hard efforts. The more people that are aware of this ‘ugly’ industry the better!
My Daughter rang me a couple of years back and said “Mum, I am at a Pet Shop near the Vic Market and there is this beautiful dog, she is a Toy Pomeranian, can I get her!!” I was very hesitant, not because I thought she may be from a puppy farm – (I was not aware of puppy farms at that time)but because we had put down our 17 Yr old & our 14 1/2 yr old dog in the past 2 yrs and I hadn’t got over the heart break… Anyway, I gave in and said yes….
Mieka, as we named her, was the most beautiful soul, she was so funny and so loving, she helped me through a very troublesome time… We were sure she was not a full breed, she definately had chihuahua in her – we didn’t care we fell in love with HER….
After a couple of months Mieka (or Liddy Moo – this was my ‘pet’ name for her), started having bizzare ‘turns’ which out local vet started treating as epilepsy, she improved slightly to begin with, but evently she just kept getting worse (I always thought there was something else wrong)One day she was so bad that our Vet could help no longer and sent us to the Werribee Veterinary Hospital, and after a cat scan & spinal tap she was diagnosed with necrotising encephalitis, she never came home alive, she was only 10 Months old…. The Vet that cared for Mieka said he had seen this condition alot in America with ‘Puppy Farm’ dogs…
All up in Vet bills, it cost around $3500…
PLEASE HELP STOP THESE BASTARDS !! – People that run ‘Puppy Farms’ are nothing more than Murderers for Profit…..
(I Miss you every day my Liddy Moo x x x)
I have no patience or tolerance for the MONSTERS who breed for profit.
Animals are tortured to breed, cycle over immoral, unethical cycle!
We need to get behind Oscars Law and educate whoever we can to adopt from shelters and to DESEX all pets before they are adopted – and ensure that animals that are sold are desexed too!
Sure – there can be a continuance of breeds, BUT it should be under STRICT control as to who can do so, how they do it and LIMIT it to strict guidelines!
The problem is that there is far too much political strength, lobbyists and money coming in from the PET INDUSTRY – food, pharmaceutical, health sciences, & others who stupidly believe that a surplus of animals in the market is a good thing (So they can sell more products) and of course the whole mix of profiteering from the supply chain of misery from the farmer to the broker to the retailer (Advertisers, internet, newspaper, etc etc who ALL profit from the sales!!!)
It is a long hard road, we have been on it = working at it for years..OSCARS LAW gives us a good focus and strength and we should all pool our efforts to give this a stonger, longer reach – into the hearts and minds of the public – and into the lawmakers and legislators rooms as they draft laws to protect animals!
I have had ENOUGH! I want OSCARS LAW and I want it NOW!
RIP LITTLE CHARLIE. You are loved and missed so much by your family. No recompense for the heartbreak and tears. No recompense for the suffering poor Charlie endured, the suffering his family endured trying to help what they did not know would finally take his life. I have seen many of these stories where Puppy Farm puppies die young from conditions and diseases caused by … bad breeding and poor nurturing of not only the puppies but the mothers. It is time the Federal Government stepped in and put a stop to this barbaric mass production of our companion animals. These animals have been bred for years to be MAN’S COMPANION, not a money-making machine. They need human touch, human caring and above all HUMAN PROTECTION. They are sentient beings and need to be treated as such. Where are you politicians, these bastards hardly ever pay tax, they show no respect for anything. SHUT THEM DOWN NATIONWIDE.If we stop them in one State they will just move to another. ACA breed in Gippsland and proudly put it on their web page and in their pet shops scattered all over WA. WE WANT OSCAR’S LAW AND WE WANT SHUT DOWN NOW!!
Some smart buyers will ask to see the dog’s parents to determine their genetic potential before buying a puppy [eg, a GSD- German Shepherd Dog]. Should this become a routine practice? We should all raise awareness by asking all potential dog buyers to INSIST on seeing the parent before deciding whether to buy a puppy.
Also separating a puppy from its mother before 6 months will actually cause dog – personality problems. SO perhaps we can demand that they be kept with their mother until at least 6 months. That way we can see the parents and the dogs are healthier.
[GSDs can adapt to a human owner at 6 months' old, i think other dogs should not be a problem too.]
elaine…. as much as i support to rid the world of BYB and all putrid puppy mills, seperating a puppy from its mothers before 6 months does not cause dog personality propblems… if it is from a reputable breeder there will be no problems with this, all my dogs were seperated from their mother before 6 months of age… i aim for weaning at 8 weeks, no earlier, but their mothers have well and truly had enough of their puppies by 6 months… there is no difference in the personality of the puppy i kept, to the puppy i brought in as a 9 week old, they were both adorable with no personality problems
best wishes
alison
i live in traralgon where this pet shop In2Pets is situated, i visited there 6 mths ago and had a huge argument with the little older chubby female (that sounds polite!!!!) that works in there, right in front of all of her customers, over the condition of there birds as there was dead ones in the bottom of the avairy, and the fact theres not 1 healthy looking bird in the place, i can tell you i was quite aggressive no sorry passionate about it, 6mths ago i was oblivious as to where puppies come from, but now i no the truth, and that little older chubby female is going to start and hate me with the same passion that i used against her.
by the way i did call the RSPCA that day, i was fuming.
Tears cannot stop … Dagger through my heart … Too Charlies owners … I feel for your pain …This is so sad. I know $ will not bring Charlie back BUT it is the LEAST you deserve. More than that u need an apology.
People who have Puppy Breeding farms need to be jailed for cruelty to animals and people who own Pet shops need to stop selling puppies and kittens that are bred from these disgusting enviroments where the only thing that matters to these low life scum people is the “Almighty Dollar”. Stop buying pets from Pet Shops.
The plaque in the photo is a lovely tribute to Charlie.
The best outcome now would be Oscar Law across the board. What’s done is done ….BUT NO MORE!!
How sad and the breeder were the owners brought her from should be jailed t..I own a 7 mth old King Charles and I have not stopped crying since reading this story .Looking at my baby girl thinking she is the same age as Charli
I don’t understand why the law doesn’t investigate these breeding factories. This is obviously animal cruelity. The poor animals suffer because of the owners greed. Pass Oscars Law!
So Sad. This has to stop now! No more suffering for our little furry friends. Keep spreading the word. Please show your support by attending the Oscars Law rally on parliament House steps Sunday 18th Sept. Dawn
Whilst i agree with everyone else here that yes, we are mass producing too many puppies in these large farms and it needs to be stopped and yes, some farms do not adequately care for their hundreds of dogs they have in their care, yes puppies and dogs don’t get enough of what they need to become good pets in our society, there is another issue like in the above story demonstrated and that is, that dog farmers are not going to research bloodlines of their dogs and find out if the dogs they are breeding are suffering from any genetic problems. this can only be done if you have pedigrees and able to look back into pedigrees to ascertain if there is a genetic herediatary problem that should be avoided. you cannot do this with a cross as their family and bloodlines are not known, THEREFORE to breed blind like this is totally totally unacceptable and CRUEL. Owners suffer and the poor little dogs suffer.
it broke my heart to read this puppy’s story like so many others, these pups these farmers produce are swept under the carpet instead they promote how good it is to buy a designer breed from a shop as many of the pups you see in a shop have hidden genetic problems that only surface when they mature.