What Happened To Cooper? Puppy's Owners Have Some Answers, But More Questions

BRICK, NJ — After four days of phone calls and wrangling, Anne and Brittany Reeves finally have some answers as to where Brittany's puppy Cooper has been.

But even with the heartbreak of knowing for certain the puppy Brittany purchased at Breeders Association of America has died come more questions about the family's dealings with the kennel that sells puppies on Route 70 in Brick.

Brittany Reeves, 20, purchased Cooper, a pomsky, on March 23 after stopping at the store with her mother, Anne. From there, Anne said in interviews Sunday and Monday, began a whirlwind of dealing with an animal that was ill enough that a veterinarian at Banfield Veterinary Hospital in Brick declared Cooper was unfit for sale. A trip to Breeders Association of America, where Anne Reeves said the manager, Jen, said she would have the puppy treated and returned to the family, ended with Cooper missing and, Anne Reeves said, no information on his whereabouts.

>> READ MORE: Puppy's Owners Want To Know: What Happened To Cooper?

After multiple phone calls and trips to the store and to Ramtown Animal Hospital in Howell, where Reeves said the veterinarian, Dr. Joseph Fenton, first told her Cooper had died, then later told her they did not have any record of treating the puppy, Reeves was frustrated.

"We just want our puppy back," Reeves said Sunday.

About 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, however, she received a phone call from Fenton, telling her they had paperwork on Cooper and that she could come pick it up.

Ramtown is listed as the veterinarian utilized by Breeders Association on its contract to sell Cooper to Brittany; Fenton is one of two doctors listed and is the one Anne Reeves said she spoke with on several occasions.

Reeves said she and Brittany went to the vet's office immediately, expecting to pick up the paperwork but got more than they bargained for.

"I asked if he had his remains," Reeves said of the conversation with Fenton. She said the doctor hesitated, then brought Cooper to her in a box.

"I couldn't believe it," she said.

Fenton, in a telephone conversation Tuesday night, confirmed that he had indeed told Anne Reeves on Saturday that Cooper had died.

"I didn't have him for very long," Fenton said, and when they received the puppy from the store, "we were told it belonged to them (the store)."

Fenton said that when Anne and Brittany Reeves came to the office on Saturday and told him Cooper was theirs, he was surprised and released information because he saw how upset Brittany was. He said he refused to provide further information to them on Sunday because he thought the store owned the puppy.

"I was told he belonged to the store," Fenton said. But after discovering that Anne and Brittany Reeves were the rightful owners and that the information he had been given was wrong, he turned over the paperwork and Cooper's body.

Fenton also explained that he wanted to test Cooper for parvo, but at the time he saw him, the puppy was not producing any fecal matter, just mucus.

"I would have had to do a blood test," Fenton said. His primary focus was on trying to care for the puppy. "I was trying to save the dog's life," he said.

The paperwork Fenton gave to the Reeveses details the information he learned from examining the puppy when Cooper arrived at the office on March 30, along with details of treatment, including intravenous fluids and antibiotics. The second page gives a list of times that Cooper was checked, with notations about what was observed at each time, from 2 p.m. on March 30 to 8:40 a.m. on March 31, where the record says the puppy was being examined and found to be in cardiac arrest, and attempts at CPR failed.

It also includes the note, "Staff informed BAA," meaning one of his staffers called the pet store to tell them the puppy had died. Fenton said that notification could have been at any time between 8:40 a.m. and 11 a.m., when the store opens for business.

Anne Reeves said during Sunday's telephone interview that Jen, the manager at Breeders Association of America, had called her about 11 a.m. on March 31 offering Brittany a refund or a new puppy, and Anne Reeves said they were told Brittany would never see Cooper again. (Jen did not give her last name to a reporter.)

And Reeves said Jen refused to tell them whether Cooper was alive all weekend.

On Monday, when Jen was asked by a reporter about Cooper's whereabouts, and whether he was indeed dead, she called the question "outlandish."

"I don't have to listen to these outlandish comments," she said, adding. "I have nothing else further to discuss with you," and hung up the phone.

"I don't understand why she was trying to get us to take another dog," Anne Reeves said.

It's a question that remains unanswered.

What's also unclear is how many other puppies may have been exposed to parvovirus and later sold while Cooper and Brody, the Rottweiler mix that Valerie Macaluso bought March 9 that got sick and died of similar symptoms on March 18, were at Breeders Association of America. Fenton said he tried to test Brody for parvo but the mucus available did not produce a positive result.

"I believe the Rottweiler had parvo, too," he said, he just lacked a test result to confirm it.

Dr. Adam Christman of Brick Town Veterinary Clinic examined Cooper's body after Anne and Brittany Reeves picked it up and conducted what's called a SNAP test for parvovirus. The test, which Christman said can be performed on fecal matter, takes 10 minutes to produce a result.

"It's very specific for parvo," Christman said Tuesday evening. The test also can differentiate between a parvovirus response from vaccine and one due to parvo exposure, he said.

"If it's positive for parvo, it's positive," he said. And despite the fact that Cooper's body had been kept in a freezer, the parvo test on Cooper was positive.

Christman said Cooper was covered in diarrhea, which provided the fecal material to test. Fenton said that diarrhea occurred after Cooper had already died.

Parvovirus can survive for months, in both cold and hot temperatures, Christman said, which is why disinfecting facilities where a parvovirus outbreak has occurred is critical.

Christman said the fact that Brody, who was purchased March 9, and Cooper, who was purchased March 23, both had it means there is a good probability that other puppies at the store during that time were exposed to parvo as well. The virus incubates for three to seven days before the puppy or dog shows symptoms, and once it does, it continues to be contagious for several days.

Bleach is the only disinfectant that can truly eradicate parvovirus in a home or a facility, according to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

The diarrhea and vomiting caused by parvo can lead to dehydration if left untreated and cause other complications that lead to death.

"Dogs can bounce back, but you have to be aggressive with the treatment," Christman said.

"I'm an animal lover," Fenton said. "I'm getting caught in the middle of this whole thing; I'm not a shill for the pet store."

"I knew there was a stigma about working with them," he said, adding that he checked with the state's veterinary board before agreeing to work with the store. His main concern and main reason for doing so, he said, is "even those animals need care."

"I don't euthanize," Fenton said. "I do it (work with the pet store) because I can help animals. This is my niche where I can make a difference."

Main photo courtesy of Anne Reeves