Puppies bought from pet shop 'found with disease that can be passed to humans'
A concerned Adelaide vet has penned an open letter to a local pet shop after he treated four puppies with a disease that can be passed to humans.
Dr Andrew Spanner from Walkerville Vet in Adelaide said the latests incident was of a pup which had just been bought from a pet store, and was taken to an emergency vet due to passing blood.
Upon examination, Dr Spanner concluded the puppy had Giardia, a bowel infection caused by a tiny parasite, and said this was the third puppy he had recently seen with the disease which was purchased from the pet store, Boutique Paws.
However Giardia can be easily treated and controlled with good hygiene, according to Dr Spanner.
“If puppies with Giardia are not identified via specific testing, they will carry and pass on the parasite for life. Who knows how many are affected,” Dr Spanner said in the letter.
Dr Spanner said there were two reasons why dogs from this particular pet shop were infected. Either the dogs were sent out by the breeders with the infection, or puppies were being infected while in the shop.
“Either way this is unacceptable,” he said. “If on one hand you are purchasing puppies from such disreputable sources, you need to re-examine why you are in the business in the first place.”
Boutique Paws store publicly responded to Dr Spanner’s open letter in a Facebook post.
“We have spent a long time caring for every single dog that has come through our doors over the few years that we have now been opened,” owner Matt said in the lengthy post.
“I am personally upset that Dr Spanner has made accusations about the way that we treat our puppies but, as he says we cannot be in denial about this.”
“It is up to us, to me, to find the source of this whether it is from one of our breeders or if it is unfortunately, from within the store.”
The owner went on to assure Dr Spanner and customers the store’s vet has been made aware of the situation.
Dr Spanner said he published the letter and called out Boutique Paws due to a “lack of adequate response” to his previous offerings to help and said he offered Matt right of reply.
However, the offer has since been withdrawn after an onslaught of Facebook comments from people who have had problems from the store.
Many people commenting said their dogs exhibited the symptoms of Giardia, or other problems their dogs have had since buying from the store.
Humans can contract Giardia, if food, water or other objects are contaminated, although it won’t result in death, symptoms to look out for include cramps, fever and fatigue.
A spokesperson from the South Australia RSPCA confirmed to Yahoo News Australia a report was received on Monday and they are now investigating.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, download the Yahoo News app from iTunes or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo’s daily newsletter. Sign up here.
