Parvo - had our new puppy for only hours

Had our new puppy for only hours.

The story of "Moose"

My family and I have been looking to adopt a puppy for months now. Searching everywhere for just the right one. We found him on Kijiji. He was a 6 week old yellow lad/Shepard. The owners seemed very nice and were willing to drive the puppy out to us. He was $150.00 and I offered to give them an extra $20.00 for gas and delivery. They brought him out at about 6:30 pm September 2nd. He was adorable. He didn't seem too lively but we just figured that he was scared and he had gotten sick on the ride over. That evening he spent the night in the garage with our 2 cats. The next morning I let him out of the garage but he seemed very lethargic, had yet to eat anything and then he started vomiting. I decided around 10am to call my vet. She asked me to bring him in immediately. He ended up being diagnosed with Parvo. My vet said he would more than likely have a 10% chance of surviving treatment and it would cost us close to $1000.00. We had to have him put down. It was heartbreaking. I am such an animal lover and my 2 year old girl just loved him. We ended up paying approx. $350.00 for a puppy we had for only hours. We found out where the previous owner lived and he refused to repay us, he said he would only give us a replacement and at the time he only has a 9 month old female German Shepard but he also wanted an extra $100.00 from us for her. . Well for one I would not accept another Parvo puppy from him and in no way was I going to give him another $100.00. When we arrived back home at about 9:30pm that night there was an email from him saying that he will not repay and if we bother him anymore he is going to talk to a lawyer. hhmmmmm....shady. This person runs an animal rescue in Edmonton for cats and dogs. The puppy, whom we named "moose", was said to have had his first shots and deworming which we found out was administered by this man and was given when the puppy was only 4 weeks old. After speaking to my veterinarian she informed me that puppies are not supposed to get any shots until at least 6 weeks of age. We also had to take our German Shepard to the vet a day later for a $120.00 exam to make sure she does not contract this horrible disease. I just pray that this person gives up on being a so called animal rescue because he is in no way doing a good job at it.

So now my family and I are out $470.00 but are still trying to find the perfect puppy. Even though we only knew "moose" for a few hours he was loved and will be missed

Sadly, this is why I stay away from kijiji and other such sites. I've had a puppy die from parvo, horrible thing it is!

I suggest you go to a lawyer. Keep all emails and write anything that you say to this person. That way you have a record.

It is not illegal to vax your own dog, but if you plan on it, it is a good idea to know what you are doing.

I suggest you go to a reputable breeder or rescue next time. If you need to know how to tell the difference, feel free to ask. I'm tired at the moment though, so I'm not keen on typing much more.

So sorry this happened to you and your family. It happens alot more than you'd think. All I can say is, lesson learned (I truly hope).

That's sad.

The only bad part about going to a lawyer about it, is that the costs for such a case would not even be worth the costs you lost unfortunately (in monetary value that is).

The only thing you can do is take the positives from the situation and learn from your experience. It is unfortunate the the poor puppy died from succumbing to the illness and I would have loved to have heard different, but now you know of how important it is to do the research the breeder and the dog's parents' history.

I hope that you find another puppy in the near future that is of great health and genetics that brings you happiness and joy. Best of luck to you.

can you not go to the police? or launch a complaint against the rescue?

Any update on the situation?

Update. September 21.09

Hi,
Thanks for the replys. As of now we have spoken to the SPCA and they are doing a full investigation on this Animal Shelter. We have contacted the police regarding his threats but they say there is not much they can do unless he physically does something to us or our property. I have also found out that this person has been questioned by many other people who have adopted a Parvo puppy from his business. And of course after the SPCA contacted him we received an email from him and he is supposed to be serving me papers this week charging me with... I'm not even sure what exactly but I had a good laugh over it anyway. Hopefully soon he will be closed down and this may help the horrible spread of Parvo that has been going through Edmonton and surrounding areas. I'll keep you posted. Thanks.

Oh and also, our German Shepard came down with the disease. It cost us another $538.00 for her treatment. She spent 3 days in the vet and is home now and doing very well. Terrible thing for her to have to go through but at least she pulled through it and is back to her normal self. Thanks.

Good thing she pulled through.

What shelter does this guy operate?

jaloney wrote:Update. September 21.09

Hi,
Thanks for the replys. As of now we have spoken to the SPCA and they are doing a full investigation on this Animal Shelter. We have contacted the police regarding his threats but they say there is not much they can do unless he physically does something to us or our property. I have also found out that this person has been questioned by many other people who have adopted a Parvo puppy from his business. And of course after the SPCA contacted him we received an email from him and he is supposed to be serving me papers this week charging me with... I'm not even sure what exactly but I had a good laugh over it anyway. Hopefully soon he will be closed down and this may help the horrible spread of Parvo that has been going through Edmonton and surrounding areas. I'll keep you posted. Thanks.

What has happened with this Animal shelter? Is it still in business or did it get shut down. I hope so. People like that should have their faces plastered all over the tv and media. That way they will never be able to sell a dog again.