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My Bad Luck with Puppies in China
Written by Robert Vance on April 16, 2008 – 12:10 amMy dog is at the vet today. It’s happening again; just like the last time. You see, I purchased a dog off the street two days ago from a middle aged man with a cage of puppies near the entrance to a narrow alley close to my apartment. As soon as I saw the chihuahua with the brown spots I knew that she was the one for me. Of course, she was not a purebred. Not for 200 RMB. Actually, the original price was 320 but after some fierce ‘bargaining’ and throwing the money in the man’s face I took her home for a good discount. I was happy; perhaps this puppy would survive.
The next day she was throwing up all over my apartment. Her feces were half brown and half red. When she tried to stand up she would fall over. Her eyes looked glazed over. My heart sank as I realized that I had another sick dog on my hands. Just like last time. I should have known better.
An hour later, we arrived at the nearby veterninarian hospital. The tests were expensive; about 160 RMB. But they were conclusive and sombering. My new dog tested positive for the dreaded parvo virus. The doctor confirmed for me what I had read on the internet. My puppy had a 50/50 chance of surviving this virus. They would have to keep her under constant watch and give her a series of treatments. Or we could put her to sleep. I decided to give her a chance.
The last puppy that I tried to raise also came down with the parvo virus but she did not display the symptoms until a few days later. By that time it was too late. The veterinarian sent her home with me and told me she had about 10% chance of surviving. Truer words were never spoken. She died in her little house a few days later.
Before you jump on me and accuse me of being a bad dog owner, I would like to have the chance to defend myself. My Chinese friends tell me that most dogs that are sold on the street are already sick. Their living conditions prior to being given a home are crowded and unsanitary. My only mistake was not taking a closer look at the dog and observing its movements and reflexes. With all the money that I have and will spend on trying to save this dog’s life, I probably could have bought a dog from a pet market and saved myself a lot of trouble. But I am not complaining. If my little puppy survives, I will be very happy.
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This is a hard lesson to learn and I don’t need to tell you again. I have heard similar horror stories of the bad treatment of puppies in China, especially vendors off the streets.
My wife and I were on summer holiday in Beijing and saw six puppies on leashes lying on the hot pavement as the vendor sat in the shade next to them. I literally poured my bottle of cold water on the puppies. We had a student with us who started screaming at the vendor.
Do yourself a favor do some research before giving your heart away to some cute puppy while in China.
Peace.
Laoshir
[...] has had some bad luck with puppies in the past and even wrote about it in an article aptly named My Bad Luck with Puppies in China. You might want to check out that article for more details about the pitfalls of buying puppies on [...]