Joan, I said it was a longer story!
New Puppies
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Ok, so this week I went on Operation Puppy Rescue. Saturday, I happened to go to a rural shelter with a friend to look for her a dog. The conditions were pretty bad so Monday I decided to go back and adopt one of the puppies I had seen. I got there right when they opened but the puppy wasn't there. Apparently, a volunteer had taken several puppies at 8:15 am to meet up with a rescue group in Clarksville, about 4 1/2 hours from the shelter. While I was still at the shelter, a phone call came in from the rescue group. They were returning the puppies because one tested positive for parvo. The entire litter was returning to the shelter to be euthanized.
I spoke to the animal control officer who agreed to let me meet up with the volunteer on her way back and take the puppy I came for to take to my vet. The volunteer had a flat tire so I wasn't able to meet up with her until 6 pm. When the volunteer arrived all six puppies were in the open bed of her truck in wire cages. No water to drink but soaking wet (in case they overheat said the volunteer) :eek: I wanted to point out that soaking them with water doesn't prevent dehydration! To top it off we have had some serious heat in east tennessee…temps around 100. The puppies were all weak and severly dehydrated. I knew there was a good chance they were parvo positive but I ended up taking the puppy I came for plus her litter mate.
Went to the vet Tuesday morning and yes they were both strongly parvo positive. Since they were both still eating and drinking with no vomiting we opted to take them home on their meds. One puppy started vomiting and had to go to the vet to get on an IV. The other puppy has continued to get better.
The good news is the sickest puppy came home today with no vomiting and has a hearty appetite. The vet feels like both pups should make a good recovery. They are both staying with my mom and getting spoiled. Now that they look like they are going to survive we are curious to get some input on what kind of mix they might be and how big they might get. They are both brindle about 2 lbs and are about 7-8 weeks. The larger of the two looks like she has long legs but the smaller one has short stumpy ones.
What do you guys think?
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It's kinda early to make any really good guesses….and bless you for taking pity on these babies. I think I would call them dachsenjis for now
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You are so sweet to have taken on these adorable puppies…please keep us posted on how they are doing. They really are cute.
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Just wanted to say what a good person you are for rescuing these puppies. They are adorable! Shame on the workers for not showing more care to them. You would think that they would know that bowls of water should have been provided to them! That makes me so angry:mad:
Jodie:) -
What a great person you are to take in these puppies. You have done a wonderful thing!!!
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You would think that people working in a rescue would have a clue. Poor little guys. I have no clue what they might be except cute!
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You re a great person for helping these pups and giving them a chance. I'm not sure what breed they are but I sure know that they are simply adorable and incredible blessed that you came into their lives. keep posting info and pics
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Too cute for words!!
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OK this is where lots of people will get realy realy mad at me but I'm going to say it anyway.
While I appreciate desire and any rescue or raid the puppy mill groups desire to save some animals in deplorable conditions - I keep coming back to the phrase, "unintended consequences". Because dogs were purchased at auction or out of a pet store or some place in deplorable conditions - you have increased the 'market' for that breed of dog. They (PM's) don't care about your kind heart, have little guilt about the conditions they were in - they know the dog was sold.
Several years ago many in basenji rescue and BCOA were involved in a horrid situation in Kansas City. Placing a huge number of dogs - now many breeders have not bred in some time because there is no "market' for puppies from reputable breeders - some because they gave up homes that were on their lists to these rescues - some because they've taken in some of these dogs themselves and can't have any more dogs in their house.
While it pains me to say this because I do have a heart - I think there is a point where because of our collective 'heart' we are making the problem worse. If there was not a 'market' for these animals - we would not have puppy mills.
BTW - the only way you can even think about this is if you don't have your fur-baby on your lap. But do think about it a bit.
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Many of the dogs up for adoption in my area are not BYB or Puppymill puppies and dogs. They are mixed breeds, strays, night drop offs, and dogs with various nuisance behaviors. These dogs did not ask to be in this world and honestly, I do not see that helping them is taking away homes for responsibly bred dogs. I find that the people who contact me for one of my puppies are looking for different things then the people I talk with at the shelter. One thing that is universal is the need for education about responsible pet ownership. Most people don't have a lot of experience in how to find help when they start to have a problem with their dog.
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education - you bet BUT one thing that people that know me also know - is that I actually bought my first basenji from a puppy mill. I thought I was doing good research but…..... guess not.
I have an almost 15 year old basenji downstairs that his owners returned to me because when the daughters friends came over they left the gate open and the dog would go down the street after a scottie. (of course they had a front door and a side door that did not impact the gate but - they always had kids enter in the back) how stupid is that.
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OK this is where lots of people will get realy realy mad at me but I'm going to say it anyway.
While I appreciate desire and any rescue or raid the puppy mill groups desire to save some animals in deplorable conditions - I keep coming back to the phrase, "unintended consequences". Because dogs were purchased at auction or out of a pet store or some place in deplorable conditions - you have increased the 'market' for that breed of dog. They (PM's) don't care about your kind heart, have little guilt about the conditions they were in - they know the dog was sold.
Several years ago many in basenji rescue and BCOA were involved in a horrid situation in Kansas City. Placing a huge number of dogs - now many breeders have not bred in some time because there is no "market' for puppies from reputable breeders - some because they gave up homes that were on their lists to these rescues - some because they've taken in some of these dogs themselves and can't have any more dogs in their house.
While it pains me to say this because I do have a heart - I think there is a point where because of our collective 'heart' we are making the problem worse. If there was not a 'market' for these animals - we would not have puppy mills.
BTW - the only way you can even think about this is if you don't have your fur-baby on your lap. But do think about it a bit.
I understand your stance on the puppy mill but these puppies were actually from the McMinn County Animal Shelter in Athens, TN. The deplorable conditions I described occurred at the shelter and while on transport with the shelter's volunteer to a rescue group. Even though this is a shelter run by a humane society the conditions there we overcrowded, dirty, and no better then a puppy mill. With that said, the volunteers who work there do the best they can with few resources and little or no knowledge about veterinary medicine. They do provide a service when in the month of June over 400 stray and surrendered pets were admitted to the shelter. If you've ever been to a country that lacks a system to deal with stray animals then the importance of such a system is apparent, regardless of the conditions found at the shelter. Who know's where the parents came from but in the south (as in much of the country) we have a large problem with the lack of spay and neutering. I actually paid $0 from the shelter to obtain the pups. Since they were headed for euthanasia the volunteers and animal control officer released them to me so I could provide them with medical care.
More than likely these pups were from someones' dogs out in the country who weren't spayed or neutered and probably was allowed to run free. Who knows maybe the parents were from a backyard breeder or puppy mill but I would never advocate for people to pay a large sum of money for a purebred dog instead of a good ol mutt from the pound just because somewhere along the way a relative of that pound puppy might have been from someplace I don't support.
Everybody has to make their own decision but I have trouble faulting the shelter and its volunteer workers when its the city, county, and federal government and its representatives who should do a better job providing the funding necessary to train competent workers and provide adequate housing conditions. In a rural county such as McMinn in Tennessee these resources are just not available.
