Rachel bought her dog Fynn, after seeing a well-written advert, with photos, online. When she visited the puppies, alarm bells began to ring when the seller told her that her son was the breeder and the puppies were all freshly bathed, but Rachel had fallen in love with Fynn and felt ‘sucked in by the puppy dog eyes’. Devastatingly, Fynn was poorly from the moment she collected him, suffering from parasites and viruses common in puppy farmed dogs, and nearly died.
“It was heart-breaking to stand outside the vets and see the vet peel back the blanket Fynn was wrapped in and hear them say Fynn could die, just three days after bringing him home,” said Rachel. “The cost was financial, but also costly in time emotion and worry.
“It was obvious to me and my vet that these poor puppies had been bred in a warehouse and sold from a neutral location, hiding the reality.”
Whilst Fynn survived, due to extensive care and love from Rachel and multiple vet visits, others in his litter weren’t so lucky.
“While Fynn is now happy and well, and has no lasting effects from his horrendous start in life, it took many months of vet visits, medication and building him up with good food to replace what he hadn't received as a puppy. My vet did have more puppies come to him which were obviously from the same ‘breeder’, because they had exactly the same problems, but sadly they didn't make it.
“I felt dreadful when Fynn became ill, I felt stupid, I should have known better. I have owned dogs for over 20 years, and I ask myself how I become 'sucked in' even though I had a gut feeling right from the beginning that something didn't quite 'add up'.”