Dog Community

Ringwormed pups in pet shop.

Posted : 1/28/2007 10:01:25 PM

A few weeks ago, I was very surprised to discover a litter of Staffy pups in a local pet shop that obviously had ringworm. I wondered what was going to happen to them. I couldn't see anyone being silly enough to buy puppies with bald patches, even if the pet shop did do the most irresponsible thing imaginable in trying to sell them. I had a pretty good opinion of this pet shop, but who knows what the people that run them are really like.

Well, a couple of weeks later, I was in the same pet shop and the pups were still there. Story goes, they came from a registered breeder, but developed ringworm the day after they arrived. The pet shop owner called the breeder, who told them to send the puppies back and they'd euthanise them! The pet shop owner decided instead to keep the puppies isolated in the store and treat them. The poor things are quarantined in a small display case at the back of the store, but at least they're getting treatment, and at the pet shop owner's expense. The puppies will go on sale when the ringworm has cleared up.

Just goes to show that you can't trust registered breeders any better than you can trust anyone else selling animals. [>:]

Bobsk8

Posted : 1/28/2007 10:09:17 PM

Sounds like the breeder is a puppy mill.

jeano

Posted : 1/28/2007 10:12:22 PM

Anyone can register pups if the parents were registered. It has no meaning other than you know who the parents were, and possibly the grandparents. That is, if it is even a reputable registry. There are those bogus registries where you can get a piece of paper saying you have a WhateverIWantItToBeToSoundImportant Hound. It means nothing.

Lots of really poorly bred puppymill dogs come with AKC registration. [:@]

tina robinson

Posted : 1/29/2007 12:18:50 AM

Personally anyone that sells to a petshop is not trustworthy anyhow.

corvus

Posted : 1/29/2007 1:25:06 AM

In this case, I think the pet shop owner turned out to be the better of the two.

spiritdogs

Posted : 1/29/2007 7:26:16 AM

True, but if the ringworm takes too long to clear up, then he will have a litter of unsocialized Pittie pups for sale. Yikes.
I would be willing to bet that the breeder is a mill, or just an individual jerk. Who would euthanize puppies because of ringworm? Only a heartless SOB. [:@]

anne

Posted : 1/29/2007 12:14:31 PM

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

I would be willing to bet that the breeder is a mill, or just an individual jerk. Who would euthanize puppies because of ringworm? Only a heartless SOB. [:@]

A local shelter euthanized a cat who had ringworm. I thought the same thing.

I would 100% for sure report this puppy store to the proper authorities.

corvus

Posted : 1/29/2007 5:10:38 PM

We have BSL about pitties over here, so when we say staffies, we mean Staffordshire bull terriers.

I think it's possible that the breeder wouldn't have euthanised them, but was just calling the pet shop owner's bluff to avoid the problem. But then, you've gotta wonder about a breeder that has ringworm in their kennels anyway. I can't imagine them caring very much about their pups.

As for the pet store, well, they're not doing anything wrong at the moment, so I can't really report them. I happen to have a fairly good opinion of the this pet store. They have a big play pen for their puppies and I like that they feed the pups on raw meat along with some premium kibble. As pet shops go, this one is pretty good. If that one got shut down, all the bad ones would be the only choices left.

Anyway, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment and leave them to treat the pups out of their own pocket. At least the shelter wouldn't have to fork out the money to do it. I expect the pups will be easily sold at the end due to the pity factor.