Animal Advocacy | Veterinary Care

Please Don’t Buy Your Pet Off Craigslist

An amalgamated short-story based in truth, from a Veterinarian’s perspective.

So, you’re thinking about adding a new member to your family. You’ve been deliberating it for awhile now. You’ve been saving up and talking to your friends who have pets; all have glowing reviews. You’ve gone on a shopping spree and bought toys, accessories and bedding. You’ve moved your furniture around and proofed the house in anticipation.

You’ve done everything you’ve needed to do. All that is left is to make the actual purchase.

You’ve been going through websites for months; but there either isn’t the breed that you want or they’ve all sold out like hotcakes.

One day, you finally come across a listing online. It’s on Craigslist. There are dozens of pictures of a precious little boy, bright blue-eyed and calling out to you. The exact breed and the exact colour you’ve been wanting. The price isn’t too bad you suppose; middle-range but still within budget. It’s an instant connection. You bite the bullet and contact the seller. They ask for a deposit and you eagerly pay, because when else will you get another opportunity like this right?

The money goes through. After a few exchanges, the seller texts you a location: “The carpark of the local pet store, blue car, tonight 5pm”. You think “Great, I’ll be able to get some pet food at the same time”.

You’re at the carpark at 4.45pm and you’ve already bought the pet food. There is literally just one. last. step.

A blue car enters the carpark and you can see a figure holding on to a little puppy in the passenger seat. They pull up beside you and come out of the car. The puppy looks a little quieter than expected; his eyelids are a little droopy, but they tease the same two piercing blue eyes you fell in love with. As the figure hands the puppy over she says: “Lucky you, last one in the litter. We’ve been feeding him raw meat with puppy kibble, seems to love it. Has also had his first vaccinations”.

All you can do is smile and say thank you. You’ve already forgotten about all the other questions you’ve wanted to ask. Your attention is on the little one; Harvey, you’ve decided to call him. He’s finally yours. You make the rest of the payment and you bring little Harvey home.

The first week with Harvey is great. He’s exploring his new home like a trooper and loves all of his new toys. He even seems to be taking the potty-training very well. He follows you around the house, especially when you’re in the bathroom. And greets you with enthusiasm when you’re home from a long day’s work.

You’re more in love than ever.

One thing you come to realise is that Harvey does not eat as much as you expect. “Maybe he just does not like this brand?”, you ponder, before making a mental note to pick up a different brand the day after.

The next few days come and go and little Harvey takes to his new food no better. In fact, he even seems to be sleeping more throughout the day. At first you don’t think much of it as he’s a puppy and puppies, like babies, sleep a lot. In addition, maybe his excitement of a new environment is starting to wear off. You push it to the back of your mind.

The next night, you’re awoken to the distinct sound of retching. You rush to Harvey’s crate only to find him looking miserable, trembling, and on his side. There are splotches of vomit and half digested food all over the floor. And, is that streaks of frank blood you see? You freak out. You fumble for your iPhone on the nightstand and look up the nearest Emergency Hospital. Thank goodness it is only ten minutes away at that time of night.

By the time you’ve reached the Emergency Hospital, little Harvey appears weak and limp. As you’re about to hand him off to the triage nurse, he squelches out a stream of watery diarrhea onto the floor. The nurse rushes him to the back as you fill in yours and Harvey’s particulars.

The next fifteen minutes are absolute hell.

The Veterinarian finally calls you into the consult room with a serious look on her face. After pleasantries, she delivers you the first blow: “Harvey is very sick. His blood glucose is unreadably low. He is severely dehydrated and his body is in shock. He is much smaller than we’d expect for his age.”

Thoughts of despair run through your head. You knew he was not eating great but you didn’t expect it to be this bad.

The Veterinarian continues the consult, asking about his first week with you and what you know from the breeder. As her questions roll out, you realise that you can’t tell her much. You can’t tell her what size Harvey was compared to his litter mates, nor whether he was kept in a clean environment at the Breeder’s house. You can’t tell her whether Harvey’s parents looked healthy nor how old they were. You can’t tell her whether there were problems with Harvey’s birth nor if there were any deaths of other littermates. You can’t tell her which Veterinary clinic he had received his first vaccinations from (if he even truly did) nor whether the breeders had de-wormed him. All you can tell her is that he was given raw meat by the breeder and that you had been tempting him to eat with different types of pet food since having him.

The Veterinarian nods and sighs. She delivers the second blow: “From what you’ve told me, Harvey could be sick from any number of reasons, or a combination of them. The most likely causes are diet-related or infectious or parasitic in origin. A less likely but plausible reason is that Harvey has a birth defect preventing him from thriving. In addition, I am worried that he may have aspirated material into his lungs whilst vomiting. We need to run more tests to start ruling differentials out. He will have to be hospitalised for a few days to receive intensive care whilst these tests are done. An estimated cost for what we need to do is between $3000–5000. And depending on what we find, and his response to therapy, these costs may need to be increased.”

You are stunned. You’ve already spent $6000 on Harvey, a Blue French Bulldog. You knew that he’d eventully fall sick but you didn’t expect it to be so soon. You haven’t even gotten around to getting him pet insurance yet.

But you know you have to give it your all. You will give him your all. He’s a life and a life is worth fighting for. Even if you have to take on some debt for awhile.

But then the Veterinarian delivers the final aching blow: “There is a chance that Harvey may not make it through the night or the next few days. There is a chance that we may not be able to get Harvey back home to you.”.

You’re crushed. But you stand firm in your decision.

Tears flow freely down your face as you say goodnight to little Harvey in his new house for the next few days. This time, he is far from the excited little puppy you brought home just over a week ago. For the first time, you’re seeing him as the fragile little being he is, connected to tubes and monitors. Only the beeping from the devices tell you that he is alive, as he is shrouded up with blankets to keep him warm.

You already know that the next few nights will be sleepless.

The following morning, the Veterinarian calls to say that Harvey remains critical but more stable, he’s fighting. Initial testing has shown evidence of a parasitic presence in his intestines, but investigations are still ongoing. You are allowed to visit later that afternoon.

You start to recall all the questions that the Veterinarian had during the consult. In frustration, you pick up your phone and call the breeder.

There are a few rings but then it goes to voicemail. You try again.

This time, straight to voicemail. They are intentionally avoiding your calls. But you have absolutely no way to contact them otherwise (and you know that they know it).

You call a third time and leave a strongly-worded voicemail. But you know in your heart of hearts that there is not a chance of them replying.

You’re nearly defeated.

But you keep fighting.

It has been five days since little Harvey was admitted to Hospital. It turns out that he had a very heavy parasitic burden. He developed profuse diarrhoea because of it. There was a period of time where the Veterinarian thought that he was developing an intussusception (the telescoping of one intestinal loop into another causing an intestinal obstruction), as a secondary complication, which would have worsened his prognosis.

But Harvey fought through it all.

It has been five days since the scare. Five days of torture.

But Harvey is finally home, again.

FIN

A note from the author

This short-story is my solution to even begin talking about my qualms with irresponsible backyard pet breeders. It is not a true story in and of itself but it is based on my interactions with a range of clients who just did not know better. What the ‘Veterinarian’ says in the story is exactly what I would tell my clients should their pet present that way.

There are TOO MANY backyard breeders who are only in it to try to turn ‘easy’ profits. There is no realisation of how much actual planning responsible breeding involves, nor is there understanding that breeding can be just as costly, especially if there is a difficult birth.

I have had TOO MANY poorly conformed dogs (bulldogs and french bulldogs especially) come through my doors that are so structurally deformed (and so inbred) that they are barely compatible with meaningful life. The only time they ever get to truly breathe is when they have an endotracheal tube down their windpipes.

It downright disgusts me that there are probably people out there complaining about being unable to breathe wearing face masks when they can’t see the stark irony of them irresponsibly breeding brachycephalic dogs to their demise.

I’ll leave you readers to contemplate this article. Contemplate your actions when choosing your future dog. Do not support irresponsible backyard breeders. Ask your breeders all the right questions. Make sure you see the breeding environment and the rest of the litter. Do your due diligence.

Or better yet…. Adopt, Don’t Shop.

If this article has resonated with you, I encourage you to read more of my related works.

You can find them on my page’s index under “Advice & Education”, here.

Thank you for your support.