How Much is That Doggie in the Window: One Family’s Story

Good intentions

As the holidays approached, an unsuspecting family in Northern Virginia decided the time was right for a puppy. The children were in school all day, leaving mom with ample time to dedicate to raising a new family member. The kids had proven to be responsible in caring for the family’s other pets. A Christmas puppy seemed like a perfect idea.

Although a puppy store was not the route mom intended to take, upon recommendations, she decided to check it out. Everything seemed to pass muster. The store was clean, the employees friendly and the puppies seemed healthy and playful. 

After selecting a breed, mom ended up placing a hold on two puppies, figuring they could keep each other company. The family was excited about what was to come.

So far so good

The puppies came home on a Saturday and settled in well. The kids were over the moon. The puppies got off to a good start in their new home. They had good nutrition, ample play time and enough down time as well, in order to minimize the stress that a new environment can bring. They were becoming part of the family and mom and dad were very pleased.

A turn for the worse

After a week in their new home, mom noticed something wasn’t quite right with one of the pups. She wasn’t acting like her normal self—she had some gastro-intestinal symptoms, and seemed a bit lethargic. Mom began to worry. The following day, the other puppy was clearly ill as well. A visit to the vet provided them with a diagnosis of Giardia, an intestinal parasite.

Due to the fact that Giardia is highly contagious and the puppies came from an environment where they were exposed to other dogs, the family contacted the pet store owner to inform her of the situation. Additionally, the sales contract provided by the puppy store stated that the puppies would be free of infectious disease.  The pet store owner refused to take the puppies back or offer other financial compensation, although it seemed the contract had been violated. Through that conversation, it was implied that in addition to contracting Giardia, the puppies had been previously diagnosed and treated for another intestinal disease – Coccidia. (The store owner later denied having made that statement)

The vet bills quickly piled up and that, in addition to the purchase price of the puppies, put the family at their financial limit. They faced quite a dilemma. They were in love with their new puppies, but funds for their medical care were depleted.

To the rescue

After weighing their options, the family decided to contact A Forever Home—a local animal rescue group that was recommended to them. Due to the significant veterinary bills and uncertainty regarding the puppy’s health in the future, the family made the difficult decision to surrender the puppies to the rescue. The puppies have since recovered and have been re-homed. It was the best possible outcome for them, given the situation. The family was heartbroken over it, but for the well-being of the puppies, felt they did the right thing by surrendering them to the rescue. It’s important to note that the outcome could have been very different, had the puppies been surrendered to a shelter. Some shelters may not have given these puppies a chance to be medically treated and to recover. Many shelters in our area are “kill” shelters, whereas a rescue does not euthanize animals due to lack of space or health.

Hindsight is 20/20

Looking back, the family could see that they were blinded by certain things and didn’t take the time to research the puppy store. The store did not seem shady and they had wanted to support a local retail business. They knew that puppy stores had gotten plenty of negative attention, but this place really seemed different than the typical puppy store you hear about. The family did not have any information about the puppies' parents and did not even know where the puppies originated from. That information was not initially provided by the store and the family didn’t realize it should be asked for. They did not realize that responsible breeders do not sell their puppies to pet stores. Most pet store puppies come from commercial breeders or puppy mills—not from a caring home environment where parent dogs receive good medical care and thorough health testing.

Spreading the word

As the family learned more about the sordid world of pet store puppies, they decided they wanted to prevent this situation from happening to other unaware families. Mom now advocates in favor of animal rescue and consumer education.  Looks can often be deceiving and much research needs to be done in order to uncover the truth about the puppies on display in the windows of pet stores. 

Although the number of such stores are decreasing, many still exist. It is up to advocates and consumers to do their research and most importantly—to not support the business. If the retail establishments do not have any demand, there will eventually be no supply. At the very least, find out all the necessary information on any potential puppy store purchase. Yes, the puppies in the window are undeniably cute, but sometimes walking away is the best thing you can do for them.