Thurs 7th July: A curse on all breeders

Tony was on his way to a foster home

I had to take puppy Tony to the vet to have his second vaccination before sending him off to his foster home, and as always he was very quiet and easy throughout the boat trip.  Many puppies yell to be let out of their crate, but even though I was quite happy to have Tony sitting on my knee he was content to stay where he was.  I noticed that he felt quite hot and was coughing a bit and was concerned that he had picked up kennel cough, which is doing the rounds at the moment.   I had a look at his gums too and they did seem a bit pale although sometimes it's hard to tell, especially in the bright sunlight.

As always the staff at Acorn were cooing over Tony and his undeniable cuteness, and as there was nobody else in the clinic I let him wander around a bit.  He was happy to explore and was waving his tufty-ended tail in the air, so it seemed that he wasn't too sick despite his cough.  However when it came to having his pre-vaccination check, vet Dr Hazel also thought his gums seemed rather pale and took some blood for testing.  The results showed that Tony has tick fever, or should I say it's assumed he is infected because his red cell count was very low and I had to leave him behind to stay in hospital to start treatment.  That damned tick fever is everywhere.

Harriet is almost bald

The two new ex-breeder Shelties were already at Acorn being thoroughly checked over, and the results weren't too encouraging either.  For a start Larry, the male, has heartworm and a chronic ear infection which has obviously been there for a long time.  Harriet, the female, is practically bald although not showing any obvious sign of mites or fungal infection, so a T-4 thyroid test was done to see if that was the reason for the hair loss.  Both dogs have been de-barked, a common and cruel thing done to breeder dogs so they can't make a noise and give away their location.

Larry's ears are chronically infected and he has heartworm

Up until very recently these two Shelties were being used to make puppies for the pet trade, and were thrown out because of their health issues.  They are the lucky ones, because they will have left behind many others who are also unable to bark or cry for help.  However many times I've said it I will keep repeating myself until the message is heard: please don't support this kind of business by buying puppies from pet shops or breeders. You can pretend you need a certain breed or that somehow the puppy you have paid money for isn't part of that disgusting trade in life, but you will be wrong.  It doesn't matter where the puppy came from, which pet shop or even which country, because the same applies everywhere.  Those people who use animals for profit are in it for the money, and that is all. The terrible suffering and cruelty that you don't see is part of everyday life for the poor mother dogs whose only purpose is to produce litter after litter for the buying public.

Henna the pomeranian was also waiting at Acorn after having been back for another check-up.  She had come with the previous batch of breeder dogs, all Yorkies except for her.  She has been very ill with a chest infection which was thankfully treated in time to save her.  Although still coughing she is on the mend from near-pneumonia and she should be fine.

Henna the pom has been very ill

As much as I support the Proposed Amendments to the Cap 139B Animal Trader Licenses, simply because something is better than nothing, in truth I would like to see all breeding stopped.  It seems immoral to say the very least that millions - and I don't exaggerate - of pet dogs are destroyed every year while breeders keep producing more, and in the most appalling and inhumane conditions.  While many people are in uproar about the Yulin dog eating festival for example, they are quite happy to buy puppies that are the result of ongoing and extreme suffering.  How hypocritical is that?