Four puppies have died after 13 were seized in Dublin Port last weekend, according to the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA).
The 13 puppies were in two litters, terrier-cross pups and German shepherd-cross pups, and were in crates stuffed between the front and back seats of a car being driven onto a ferry.
Five of the pups were German shepherds and four of them tested positive for the Parvo virus.
DSPCA spokeswoman Gillian Bird said staff at the charity’s premises in Rathfarnham immediately placed the four sick puppies on a drip to counter dehydration and cared for them round the clock over the following days.
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However, Parvo is a deathly virus causing vomiting and diarrhoea and intestinal bleeding. While there is a vaccine for the Parvo virus, the German Shepherd-cross pups had not been given it, and four of the five died. The fifth tested negative and was put in isolation.
Ms Bird told The Irish Times the puppies were most likely being taken to the UK for sale to unsuspecting families who would not be told of the pups’ true origin.
“Buyers would maybe invited into a home where there would be a look-alike ‘mum’ or the mum would be ‘out for a walk’ when the buyer calls,” she said.
“Buyers would be told the puppy was born by the fireside to a mum who was greatly loved.”
However the reality could be very different and buyers would not know the background, any illnesses or the animals’ genetic history. she said.
If a puppy comes from a puppy farm “for want of a better word”, Ms Bird said it is likely to be inbred and carrying any congenital problems of its siblings and parents, without the hybrid vigour that comes from of having unrelated parents.
The DSPCA has now appealed to families thinking of getting a dog over Easter, perhaps to keep children amused, not to buy through classified advertisements from unrecognised suppliers.
“If you are buying from that source you are probably buying a dog that has been bred for profit” Ms Bird said.
Dog rescue societies including the DSPCA will not generally hand over a pup on the first day that a prospective owner turns up. But a range of issues will be considered such as where the dog is going to live, and with who, and vaccinations as well as microchipping.
Such a process takes time and given that more people are now at home due to the lockdown, it is perhaps not surprising that some families spend about €1,500 for a pup sourced in classified adds that they can take home immediately, said Ms Bird.
