Helped rescue a girl from a BYB situation last night after I heard the pleas from a friend-of-a-friend in a local FB group for help.
Long story short, this friend-of-a-friend had been passing through StL a week or so ago and bought a boy puppy from this breeder. After seeing what poor health he was in she just couldn't leave him and agreed to buy him. The "breeder" showed her pics of the parents... mom is EXTREMELY emaciated, and both parents are living outside on chains. And she had one puppy left, but couldn't take both.
She had plans on reporting her to local authorities, but wanted to make sure the little girl was safe first. That's where I came in to play. I met up with the breeder last night and bought this girl. I was immediately concerned. For supposedly being 4 months old she was extremely lethargic, not very interested in us or anything going on. Once we were in the car I gave her a quick look-over and was very worried. She was infested with fleas and ticks that her gums were white from anemia. I gave her a capstar and applied a topical flea/tick prevention.... and this "breeder" claims she had just given her a bath!!!!!!!
I called and consulted with some of my other RVT friends on what to do and when I got home gave her some food and water. She immediately drank some water but showed no interest in food, which made a little sense to me because the "breeder" said she had thrown up in the car several times for her (she did not throw up for me) so if she was nauseous then she wouldn't have an appetite. I was just so concerned for her, she didn't want to stand, only wanted to lie down, barely lifted her head, but otherwise her vitals were stable. Once she was home for a bit and the capstar/vectra 3d started to do its job and the flea/ticks were falling off and the stress and nausea of the car ride had dissipated, she started to pink and perk up a little bit, but still didn't want to eat.
Last night she criiiiied and criiiiied and criiiiiiied, so I lugged bedding downstairs and slept with her on the floor. (we are keeping her quarantined because I don't want her giving anything to my crew).
This morning... she was a brand new dog!!!! She ate like a pig, was running around, playful, getting her Husky voice, and normal BMs! Gums were still a little pale but seed ticks were falling off left and right even still. Since she was feeling better, that afternoon I gave her a bath (don't worry, Vectra isn't like Frontline where you have to wait a few days!). I knew she still had a lot of ticks on her, but O-M-G I was not expecting this otherwise white dog to turn BLACK from all the ticks trying to jump ship when I had her in the water. They just kept coming and coming and coming and coming... I spent over 30 minutes with her in the tub rinsing and rubbing the ticks off of her... and I know there are still more.
Needless to say, she is a brand new pup this evening... acting like a normal puppy again!
Tomorrow morning I leave to meet her mama in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, where she will take her to her furever home
Oh... authorities have been contacted. We have an address/license plate for the "breeder". Our concern now is to get that poor, emaciated mama out of this lady's hands!!!!!!!
When I got home last night:
Finally eating this morning:
Just a few minutes ago, clean, bored, and wanting to play!!:
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