A freind and fellow rescuer took in 2 - 4 day old pups about 2 weeks ago.The owner claimed they were born to her dog in the back yard and the rest of the litter had died.There was no mother dog or evidence of any when she picked up the pups.When asked why she had not been spayed the woman replied "well she couldnt keep her legs together so its her fault right?"
The pups were underweight and dehydrated but began eating ok for a while.When the started growing something didnt seem quite right about one of them.At less than a week old its is difficult to tell for sure.Shortly after when they should have started trying to stand and walk more trouble came up.One couldnt walk,the other walked backwards only.They would both cry loudly when touched.One was extremely fussy and would thrash around when trying to eat.
Today little Gaia and Boots had to be PTS.The vet said both had hydrocephalis (sp?) the smaller one he said was the most severly mentally handicapped pup he had ever seem.He said imagine the most mentally challenged person you have ever seem,times 10.The other pup had no joints formed in her little legs.He said that you dont get this degree of deformity unless there has been some inbreeding for several generations and that the likelyhood of these being from backyard "accident" with a casual stray were slim.He is guessing that someone is doing some very irresponsible backyard breeding and they need to be stopped.
I just wanted to share thier story so that thier very short lives and my friends tears would not be for nothing.Hopefully someone might read this and realize the importance of responsible breeding,genetic testing and having your pets spayed. Run free baby Gaia and Boots.