Last summer our vet clinic had the pleasure of taking care of two dogs brought in by (as we found out later on the news) a criminal. Actually, the criminal part isn't the problem. It's his criminal stupidity that confounds us. You see, this gentleman bred two female dogs to his male dog because he heard he could sell the puppies on the internet for $1500 apiece. He was also experienced at dog breeding, he told us, having done it for 20 years. However, his male dog had died a couple of weeks prior from some ill-defined gastrointestinal illness. Now his two pregnant bitches were exhibiting the same signs - profuse vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. One look at them and anyone in the vet business could tell it was probably parvo.
Parvo is short for parvovirus, an extremely contagious virus that causes the above signs, with the added bonus of suppressing the immune system so that the victim has an even harder time fighting the infection. It mainly affects puppies, because their immune system is not well developed to begin with, but it can affect any dogs that has not been vaccinated against it. Yes, there is very effective vaccine against parvo. It is given to your dog every time it receives the "distemper" combination.
This owner/criminal was adamant that it wasn't parvo. Were these dogs vaccinated? I asked. Well, no, he replied. But I have been breeding dogs for 20 years and I have never had a case of Parvo. Right. Eventually he let me test for it and sure enough, they were positive. The treatment can range from intensive care hospitalization to outpatient fluids and antibiotics, depending on how sick the dog is and how much money the owner is willing to spend. These dogs were both quite sick (and also quite pregnant), but their owner didn't have a ton of money. Until he was able to sell the puppies, that is. So we ended up dispensing large quantities of injectable fluids, antibiotics, and anti-nausea medication. This guy called or came in almost every day for 2 weeks. Lucky for me, I was on vacation for much of that. I also warned the owner that since the unborn puppies were exposed to Parvo, they were at risk for developing potentially fatal heart defects.
The poor sick bitches both delivered about a week after the diagnosis. I think they had 13 puppies total. What a mess! Between the diarrhea from the sick adults and the poop and pee from all of the puppies, this guy had his hands quite full. I almost felt sorry for him. He brought them in with their moms once and my colleague tried to get him to surrender the puppies to a rescue organization because the owner really wasn't able to take care of them all. He was adamant that he was going to make money selling the puppies, and wasn't about to just donate them to a rescue.
A few months later, the owner called to tell us that he still had all of the puppies - he hadn't been able to sell any of them yet.
Fast forward to last week (a full 9 months later). He called to tell us that he still had five of the puppies. In addition, one of the puppies he sold had died suddenly in its new home (can you say heart defect?). But the real reason he called is that one of the puppies (now almost an adult) he still had was now showing signs of parvo. Had he vaccinated it like he was supposed to? Hell yes he did! He bought some vaccines from a guy at a Fleet Farm in Wisconsin that, get this, had expired in 2008. Really! And they didn't work?
I could be mad at this guy, but honestly, he tried. I know he had some arson and drug indictments under his belt, but I only knew him as a pet owner. OK, a breeder. Who was terrible at it. He just wasn't very bright and got in way over his head. But too bad his get-rich-quick scheme had to involve lives. Maybe he should have stuck to illegal ways of making money. At least then nobody got hurt. Just buildings and stuff.
Morals of the story (oh, there are so many):
Vaccinate your pet! And your kids too, for that matter! But have a licensed professional do it, please.
Don't expect to make a lot of money being a dog breeder.
If you do breed dogs, do it for the love of the breed, not because you see dollar signs. It's not fair to the animals otherwise.
Unless they stiff you out of money or are mean/rude to you or the staff, treat each client with respect, no matter how much you may disagree with their decisions. Refusing to treat a patient or reprimanding a client for their choices may only result in the pet not getting any veterinary care.
Be flexible. If a client declines or cannot afford plan A, there are probably plans B, C, and even D available.
Accept that not everyone is as brilliant as you are. And that we all make some dumb choices and may get in over our heads because of them.
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