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Home: Dog and Puppies Talk: Dog's Rights and Protection:
VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference







noeliz
Novice

Jan 17, 2008, 2:41 AM

Post #1 of 9 (24384 views)
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VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference Can't Post

Hi there, I understand that you are thinking about purchasing a shih tzu or lhasa apso
puppy from a petstore or a breeder. I’m writing to try to persuade you not to do that
- I'm going to tell you my story.

My name is Cherie. At least that’s been my name since January 17, 2001. Before that,
I guess my name was ST31 - that’s what is tattooed inside my ear, so I guess that’s
sort of a name – ST31.


I used to live in a very classic puppymill. There were over 150 dogs living in what was called a
“kennel” way out in Klang. The people that owned this “kennel” lived in a little
green house that didn’t have any electricity or running water. There was trash piled up in huge heaps
in front of and behind the house. It smelled of rotten garbage.

They had a lot of land out there – over 5 acres – it was way down a dirt road and very secluded.
Although the property was surrounded by beautiful big trees and should have been an idyllic setting,
there was nothing beautiful about what was happening there. The area cleared of trees was a muddy,
filthy mess - mud that was a foot deep in places. The acreage was divided up into pens - each about
12' by 12' and surrounded by a chain link fence. Inside each pen was a little wire cage like a rabbit
hutch – each about 4’ by 4’ square. The cage stood about four feet off the ground and had a tin roof
and a wire floor. The big dogs, like labs, german shepherds and chows lived in the big muddy pens.
The small dogs, like me, lived in the wire cages in “breeding groups” of 2-3 females with a male.
There was a big aluminum pail with food and another full of water in each cage. About once a week,
the people came by and filled up the two buckets. The food was full of mites and dirt, the water was
very slimy and filthy. In the winter, the water froze and we had to lick the ice - in the summer,
green algae grew in it. When I say we lived in the cage, I mean just that – we lived in that cage 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. We never got out to walk on grass or even the dirt.
We stood our entire lives on those wire floors. There wasn’t enough food for all of us and we often
got into fights with each other over the food.

I did fine for about five years. The people gave me hormones so that I would come into heat more
often so I had about two or three litters of puppies each year. Each time the puppies were born, I
got out of the cage for about four weeks. The people took me away from the other dogs so they
wouldn’t eat the puppies. When my babies were about four weeks old, they were taken away from me
and shipped off in a huge truck with all the other puppies. I was very sad when that happened. At
least for a few weeks, there were three or four little babies that loved me - it was a nice feeling.
Do you know how it feels to be loved? And I loved my babies, too. But, when they left, I was put
back into the cage to start all over again. Gradually over the years, my body started wearing down
from having so many puppies – the litters got smaller and smaller and the babies were increasingly
more often born dead. I also contracted a tick disease called ehrlichia that began to deplete my red
blood cells so finally I just stopped coming into heat. And I started losing weight. At that point, I
was pretty much worthless to the people so they put me up for sale. That day was the luckiest of my
life.

I began my life that day - I was rescued by a very nice lady that volunteered for the rescue group.
She took me and three others from that horrible place. We rode in the back of her car all the way
to KL. It was a long, long drive. She had to drive with the windows down – she said we all
smelled TERRIBLE.

When I got to KL, the director of the rescue took us to the veterinarian. When he saw us, he
said we were the WORST looking dogs he had ever seen – especially me. On that day, I weighed 6.6
pounds and was severely anemic. I was in such bad shape, the vet refused to do any procedures
except the bare minimum. That was lucky - I soon became so anemic, I almost died – my red blood
cells were so depleted by the tick disease that I had to have an emergency blood transfusion just to
stay alive long enough for the antibiotics to work.

Today, I’m healthy – I weigh about 11 pounds and my mom keeps my hair long – she says I’m a spoiled,
beautiful, regal princess. I don’t know about the regal princess stuff, but I do have lots of toys and
plenty of food to eat.

I’m telling all of this because I think it’s important that everyone knows the conditions in which I
was forced to live in just to produce puppies. We really don’t live a life, we don’t have love or
freedom or even enough food. We really just exist to have puppy after puppy after puppy. Like a
little puppy factory.

Although it would be highly unlikely you’ll ever buy one of my decendents, I can tell you that
99.999% of all puppies sold in pet shops came from places like I did. They are not nice places and
the people that run them have no humanity or conscience or just common decency in them at all. They
don’t care that we are sick or in severe pain. They don't care that our eyes have amonia burns from
the dogs above us showering us with urine each day. They don't care that we have open, gaping sores,
crawling with maggots, from the places where our matted fur is too close to the skin. They just care
that someone like you will possibly pay $700 for one of my babies.

If you buy a puppy from a pet shop or even most breeders, you are rewarding those people for
treating me like that. You are paying them to continue to keep us all in pain and isolated from love.
The only reason they breed puppies is for the money - stop them from doing this to the others like
me. DO NOT give them money. Look at my face - If you are a true dog lover, you will get past your
desire for a fluffy puppy - the ONLY way to stop the type of physical and emotional abuse they've
inflicted on me and thousands of others is to take a stand and STOP paying them to do it to us

Thank you for reading my story,


noeliz
Novice

Jan 17, 2008, 2:42 AM

Post #2 of 9 (24381 views)
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Re: [noeliz] VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference [In reply to] Can't Post

Now that you've read our stories, we thought we'd give you some hints on how to find good
breeders - those that don't torture and abuse their "breeding stock." Hopefully, if you go through
this exercise, you'll be able to feel confident that the parents of the puppy you ultimately choose
have actually been taken care of.

Here are a few very important things to look for in a good breeder.

1. A good breeder DOES NOT breed mixes. Poo mixes are so popular today - but they are really
nothing but mixed breed dogs. No reputable breeder would purposefully breed a shih tzu or lhasa
apso with a poodle. Nor would any reputable breeder mix shih tzu and lhasas. The only reason they
do this is because a "poo" is a popular concept right now and they think they can make money doing
it. Many, many of the little dogs in the pounds today are poo mixes. If you want a "poo," go to the
shelters.

2. A good breeder does not breed "imperial" or "miniature" or "tiny" or "teacup" shih tzu. Again,
this is just a marketing concept to sell genetically-inferior dogs. Shih tzu and Lhasas have a
minimum breed standard - around 8-9 pounds. Anything smaller is genetically inferior and, for
health reasons, should not be bred. Irresponsible breeders often breed these tiny, sickly dogs
because the public likes TINY dogs. Look at the AKC website for breed standards. The breeders
who call genetically-flawed tiny dogs imperials, miniatures, tea cups, pocket puppies, or anything of
that nature, are just playing on the public's love of tiny things. And if you decide to buy one, you
better have a lot of money ready for your veterinarian. Not only are they over priced, as
breeders know they can sell them for much more by calling them these cute names, the puppies
are prone to health problems, including suppressed immune systems (meaning they get sick easily
and are prone to severe allergy symptoms), brittle bones, hydrocephalus (water on the brain), open
fontanel (soft spot), subluxation of the patella (slipping kneecaps), heart murmurs, cleft palate,
hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), low tolerance of anesthesia, & appetite loss, that can lead to more
serious illnesses. This is because most dogs this size are a result of bad breeding, inbreeding, or
illness or injury prior to maturity.

3. They DO NOT advertise their puppies for sale in the newspaper or on the internet. Good
breeders don't have to - they are well known with the breed clubs for quality puppies - even their
pet-quality puppies are tested for all of the genetic faults that show dogs are tested for. People
that have to advertise in the newspaper or on the internet obviously have something wrong with
their puppies.

4. A good breeder will put you through the same careful, comprehensive "adoption" process as a
good rescue does. They'll ask for a vet reference and personal references - they care about their
puppies and want to ensure that they go to good homes.

5. A good breeder will give you a comprehensive, written health guarantee.

6. A good breeder will spay or neuter your puppy BEFORE you get it. Why? Because they are
selling a pet quality puppy - not a show quality puppy - this means that it doesn't have the correct
traits and characteristics of the breed standard. A good breeder is concerned about the
offspring on which their name appears - they don't want an inferior dog being bred.

7. A good breeder will allow you to come inspect their facility. You should see a nice clean location
- where the dogs are kept as pets.

8. A good breeder WILL NOT meet you on the side of a road to deliver the puppy to you for cash,
only.

9. A good breeder WILL take the puppy back if, for any reason whatsoever, you cannot keep the
puppy.


acsyen
Ultra ALPHA


Jan 17, 2008, 4:06 AM

Post #3 of 9 (24373 views)
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Re: [noeliz] VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference [In reply to] Can't Post

thank you noeliz for sharing this with us. Truly appreciate what you have done. Hope this will open the eyes of those people who so love to buy a dog but am on a budget and always say 'i do not believe in spending a bomb to get a puppy' but still they want to get a free dog but not willing to give home to mix breeds/mongrels. I have learnt a lot from your article today.

one day if i have the money and power i will make sure that i track down these people and make them pay a hefty price for what they have done. Who knows I might not go to the authorities but get some dogs to attack them Just joking but for all these to stop people really have to change their mentality. Am sure many would agree with me but still there are people who think I am crazy because i screen my adopters. I still stand by my craziness and will never give a dog to one dat doesn't appreciate them and do not take the effort in finding out and providing what's best for them.

~Nature's Way: Raw Food for Health ~

~ Pet ID Tags: A MUST For Every Pet! ~



chrisong
Doggyman

Jan 17, 2008, 5:31 AM

Post #4 of 9 (24371 views)
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Re: [all] VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference [In reply to] Can't Post

Read this story sometimes ago. Its not from Malaysia.

Here is the original story link www.shihtzu-rescue.com/CheriesStory.html


(This post was edited by chrisong on Jan 17, 2008, 5:33 AM)


acsyen
Ultra ALPHA


Jan 17, 2008, 6:37 AM

Post #5 of 9 (24357 views)
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Re: [chrisong] VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference [In reply to] Can't Post

I realise that ,nevertherless it is a good story to bring up and educate people.

~Nature's Way: Raw Food for Health ~

~ Pet ID Tags: A MUST For Every Pet! ~



supermutts
K9 Senior

Jan 17, 2008, 7:34 AM

Post #6 of 9 (24355 views)
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Re: [all] VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference [In reply to] Can't Post

whoa,,, klang got winter de mer?? hehe.. not d klang in selangor it seems.... Sly

nevertheless - good for posting this, but its still not going to change the mentality of ppl....



No Buying! No Selling! No Breeding!

Don't Lost your dogs!!
Please make sure they are safe at home!



mitosblog
Novice

Mar 16, 2008, 4:15 AM

Post #7 of 9 (20106 views)
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Re: [supermutts] VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference [In reply to] Can't Post

Mentality of people will change one day, hopefully


chrislimyy
K9 Kaki


Mar 16, 2008, 9:07 PM

Post #8 of 9 (19885 views)
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Re: [mitosblog] VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference [In reply to] Can't Post

well at least we are trying to make a differenceWink


Sevenor
Novice

Aug 22, 2010, 11:28 PM

Post #9 of 9 (12267 views)
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Re: VERY important !! HELP!! read and make a difference [In reply to] Can't Post

Can we help curb dogmills by posting their locations and the dog breeds they specialise in here (without posting their names or full addresses that is)?

In the course of my puppy buying via newspaper classified previously, I personally came across a few dogmills in Klang Valley. Really pity those dogs there.

 
 




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