Puppy smuggling draws protests (smuggled in from Mexico; most die)

Sun-Sentinel ^ | 4/28/06

[Wolfstar]

Alarmed by cross-border sales of ill pets, animal groups push for law
By Vincent J. Schodolski
Tribune national correspondent

SAN DIEGO -- Sandra McConkey's cocker spaniel had just died. Halloween was approaching when she and her daughter Ashley, then 14, were walking through the parking lot of the Plaza Bonita mall here.

All of a sudden Ashley started shouting, McConkey recalled. "Mommy, look, puppies, let's buy one!"

There in a box were two cocker spaniel puppies. "They were adorable," McConkey said. "They looked just like our dog who had died."

McConkey said she bargained with the Mexican woman selling the puppies, and eventually she and her husband paid $300 for both after being assured they were purebreds and had received the initial inoculations from a veterinarian in Tijuana, just across the border.

Within hours, however, both dogs showed signs of illness, and not long after, both were dead.

"My girls had to watch all this," McConkey said, adding that Ashley and her older sister, Jennie, were terribly upset.

Thousands of puppies brought into the United States from Mexico every year suffer the same fate. According to veterinarians and animal-welfare workers, 75 percent or more of the animals from Mexican puppy farms die within days or weeks.

And now there is increasing traffic in puppies from Eastern Europe, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In response, the group is pushing federal legislation to curb dog smuggling.

[SNIP]

Beyond canine ailments such as parvovirus, distemper and scabies, "these dogs have diseases that can be transmitted to human beings," said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Los Angeles branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She mentioned ringworm and mange as examples.

[SNIP]

[brytlea]

Thank you for your efforts on behalf of defeating PAWS! I'm afraid most of the public doesn't know what it's really about and it's easy to make this stuff sound like it's all for the good of our 4 legged friends.
susie

[brytlea]

Oh gosh, cuttest shoudl be cutist...or...cuteist...or....MOST CUTE! Sheesh...
susie

[kenth]

As crazy as this country is anymore, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see enforcement of the borders finally come at the behest of the animal rights groups whining to have their law enforced.

[Wolfstar]

As crazy as this country is anymore, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see enforcement of the borders finally come at the behest of the animal rights groups whining to have their law enforced.

Hey...as long as we get to tighter border/immigration control and enforcement, who cares how we get there! ;-)

[djreece]

Thank you for posting this important, eye-opening article. But I have to differ about "soft-hearted Americans." In my view, they are either fools or greedy jerks. What kind of person spends that kind of money buying a dog in a parking lot and expects it to be purebred and healthy? Rescue a dog from the shelter or a rescue group or buy from a reputable breeder.

[Trust but Verify]

I'm not a dog person myself, so I enjoy the dogs of others. Here is a picture of my babies, Cooper and Sawyer!

[poobear]

Thanks Hair! I've got a house full of kids and dogs lately and don't have time for all the pings. Take care!

[brytlea]

I appreciate cats, but my husband (and 2 of my kids) are very allergic, so I only can enjoy them from a distance. Those are beautiful! We had a cat when I was growing up, she was a hoot!
Are those both siamese?
susie

[RushCrush]

Awwww, they're so cute!!!!

Here's my cutie, Gracie.

[Wolfstar]

Thank you for posting this important, eye-opening article.

You're welcome. Sometimes by including a human interest angle in a story, a reporter winds up losing or obscuring the real point of his or her own article. Fair enough to comment on the featured woman's stupidity, and I do think the point someone made that if people like her didn't supply a market for the pups, the smuggling might stop.

As for me, I'm interested in learning more about the proposed legislation.

[vetvetdoug]

I slept in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn. Parvo is a single stranded 32 nanometer DNA icosahedral virus that infects fast growing cells. Puppies are susceptible because their cells are fast replicating and the viral DNA can incorporate into the cells easily. The vaccine is 80% effective and some dogs get Parvo no matter what due to their genetic makeup (Rottweilers/Dobermans)and cell receptors. The bloody diarrhea and vomiting is due to the senescence of the cells being infected with the virus. Treatment includes antibiotics, colloidal suspensions (hetastarch/plasma), and fluid and electrolyte replacement. Most clinics have a fairly good success rate in treatment if instituted early. If one waits till the pup is comatose, shocky and septicemic, the success rate is not too good. Vaccinating puppies beginning one week post weaning and every 17-21 days until 4 months of age will provide adequate immunity in most cases. Stress and concurrent disease in the puppy will sometimes compromise the vaccine protection and the pup will come down with the disease. Dogs over the age of a year get parvo rarely because the cellular replication process is no longer rapid and the virus cannot replicate easily. Parvo, Norwalk agents, Norviruses are all in the same viral family. Mutation is rare but does occur with the Canine Parvovirus every thirty or some odd years into other species. Aleutian Mink Disease 1930 Feline panleukopenia 1978 Canine Parvovirus..all three of these are closely related and resultant of mutations from one species into another.

[Trust but Verify]

They are both burmese. Cooper is the light colored one (platinum). Sawyer is the brown (sable) one. They are "Brothers from Different Mothers!" one was born on the 6th of August, the other the 23rd.

[Trust but Verify]

She is a BABY! What breed is she? OMG she's cute as a button!

[vetvetdoug]

I deal with this everyday. A trip to this area and a visit to any First Monday will easily validate what I observe. Any reporting to the ASPCA or the HS of the US is met with stonewalling and a blind eye. Nobody cares about this area...not enough news and publicity to cover it. APHIS also ignores the region...the central location and inspecting authorities are 5 hours drive from here.

I see more dog poisonings in one month than most veterinarians see in a lifetime. There just isn't any enforcement. There have been MSM articles about what goes on here but they go off the radar easily. I have been in practice over 24 years here and I know of what I speak.

[Wolfstar]

The main reason I posted this article was to inform other FR dog lovers of the problem and of the proposed legislation. I know nothing about the PAWS legislation, but have little faith in Congress. So I want to read the bill and understand it. If necessary, I will work against it too. However, I do think puppy mills and puppy smuggling need to be stopped or at least curtailed to the fullest extent possible. So I'll be looking to support any legislation that really will do something constructive.

BTW, I used to show German Wirehaired Pointers and train them for field work. I bred three small litters over the years. Kept a male and female from my last litter born in 1989. The male died in February 2004 and his sister died in April of last year. (As I sit here typing this, their photos surround me.) So I understand the issues as they pertain to breeders of all types.

[RushCrush]

Thanks :)

She's half pomeranian and half pekingese. She's the best!

[brytlea]

We had a huge flea market near where I used to live (East TX) that had a first Monday. Lots of people I knew bought sick puppies from there. I always shook my head and asked them what they were thinking, and they always said something like, "But it was so cute and it looked healthy, and I felt sorry for it, and it was a good deal..."
susie

[brytlea]

GWP! I used to have (and will again) Spinone, which used to always be accused of being BAD GWP! :)
Anyway, check out this link, it may shed some light for you:
http://www.pet-law.com/

The biggest problem with legislation in these areas is the law of unintended consequences. I too would love to shut down puppy mills and pet shops that sell puppies (except for those who adopt out pets from the local shelter). However, it's tough to draft a law that shuts them down, but doesn't harm the small hobby breeder.
I have to run, show this weekend, but nice chatting.
susie

[HairOfTheDog]

I slept in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn.

And thank you for the information. I had not known before ~why~ the disease was most common in puppies.