Caveat
Emptor - Buyer Beware
There
are many "Natalie van der Merwes" in South Africa
- and probably a few elsewhere in the world as well.
One of these Natalies is well known in the South African
doggy scene - an active exhibitor and registered breeder
of Snowdrift Siberian Huskies. The Natalie most of us
know is a passionate champion for ethical breeding practices
and goes to great lengths to ensure the proper welfare
of the pups she sells.
Readers
of Monday morning's newspaper, Daily Dispatch, were greeted
by a horrific story. The tale told of countless puppy
buyers in the East London area whose experiences of unethical
puppy brokerage resulted in countless cases of heartbreak.
The article exposed a racket which, it has been discovered,
has been organised, unchecked, since 1997 by another "Natalie
van der Merwe".
THIS
IS NOT NATALIE VAN DER MERWE OF SNOWDRIFT SIBERIAN HUSKIES.
Here
follows the original story, with grateful acknowledgement
to the Daily Dispatch:
|
Frail
pups enrage animal lovers
Heartbreak
as "pedigree" dogs die
By
ALISON STENT
A
HORROR story for animal lovers unfolded late last
week as Daily Dispatch readers came forward with
tales of being taken in by a woman advertising
pedigree dogs in the paper's smalls column over
the festive season. The
dogs - bought for up to R2000 between November
and last Friday from a woman known as Natalie
van der Merwe - were sent by freight on flights
from Johannesburg or Bloemfontein.
Several
East London vets told of clients whose pets died
within days of their arrival or pulled through
by a "miracle". Van
der Merwe's modus operandi is to send a photograph
of a dog - seldom if ever the dog that arrives
- via cellphone, and to demand full payment up
front including flight costs. She
gives an Absa savings account number of 9127499179
at the bank's Oakfield branch.
The
Dispatch on Friday refused to accept any more
advertisements from Van der Merwe after talking
to 11 readers - six of whose dogs died in December
or January.
Here
are some of their stories:
•
Gonubie resident Ernest Venter paid R1500 for
a dog he was told was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
"She arrived with a broken tail, and you
could see she wasn't well," said Venter.
"Dr Nolan Weyer tried everything to save
her, but she died of Parvo."
•
SPCA head, Marie Eekhout, said her friend, Kathy
Harker, brought her a dog sold to her as a Chihuahua.
"It was no more a Chihuahua than I am. It
was dead five days later." Harker paid R1000
for the puppy. She was sent a free replacement,
which has already cost R1000 in vet's bills. "It's
still on antibiotics."
•
Nick and Mandy de Jong, of Cove Rock, have contacted
a lawyer after the R2000 puppy they were told
was a purebred Basset Hound died of Parvo days
later. "It
definitely wasn't a Basset Hound. We've asked
the vet to keep the body for us in case it's needed
for evidence."
•
Mike Braun, of Baysville, took a R1500 female
Pomeranian for breeding purposes. "The woman
said the dog's parents were registered, but she
still hasn't sent the papers. The pup couldn't
stop scratching with fleas and looked more like
a Maltese. She vomited in the car on the way home.
We took her straight to the vet but she wouldn't
eat or drink. After a week of trips to the vet
she was at death's door. Only after several days
on a drip did she turn the corner. When I phoned
Van der Merwe to suggest she share the R1500 vet's
bill she laughed - she said she had already won
all four court cases against her."
•
Bev Hoole, of Cambridge, paid R1500 for a pocket-sized
Chihuahua that died within a week after having
seizures. Van der Merwe told me I had to pay an
extra R300 for the registration papers. I never
got the papers - and when I demanded a refund
of the R300 after the puppy died I never heard
from her again. My vet said it wasn't a Chihuahua,
it was a Miniature Pinscher."
•
Romy Murphy paid R1300 for a Pomeranian, a Christmas
present for her 11-year-old daughter. The tiny
creature died within five days and Romy, desperate
to stop her child's heart from breaking, decided
to take a second dog from the woman - but was
charged R600 for it. This was one of the dogs
that arrived on Friday.
•
Peter Cotterrell paid R1700 for what he was told
was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. "She had
vomiting and diarrhoea from the start. She never
ate properly. Cotterrell
said he eventually made the difficult decision
to euthanase the dog after his vet told him how
many other dogs from Van der Merwe had died.
•
Robert and Kim Simon, of Berea, paid R1200 for
a miniature Yorkshire Terrier who arrived listless
and with severe eczema, and whose condition has
been deteriorating ever since. The vet says he
doesn't know what else to do - he said only a
miracle can save her now."
Attempts
to get a comment out of Van der Merwe drew a blank
yesterday.
|
Response
to the article was phenomenal and, today (Wednesday 11
January), the following article appeared in the Daily
Dispatch:
Unethical puppy brokers typically advertise and operate
in an area until the heat is turned up, then they lay
low for a while and fester in another area later. There's
obviously a market or puppy brokers would not continue
to thrive on the profits of their business. The market
is the ordinary, unsuspecting family, not necessarily
familiar with optimum routes to find the breeds of their
choice, and not necessarily experienced in doggy malpractices
to recognise a scam before it's too late.
Are
readers of this website likely to be duped by puppy broker
scams? Probably not, if they appear in local newspapers
and unorthodox advertising sources. Does that mean that
if you're a knowledgable, responsible dog owner and/or
breeder, you are immune to falling victim to a scam? No,
of course not. There are some very sophisticated puppy
brokers scattered around the world whose modus operandi
is subtle and quite immune to initial profile checks.
These people woo and coax breeders to a level of confidence
to permit the purchase of at least one, if not multiple
puppies. South Africa is a favourite "hit country"
because of the attractive exchange rate. Puppies are bought
at favourable prices and resold for huge profits. Are
all puppy brokers (aka puppy wholesalers) unethical and
despicable with regard to the puppies' welfare? No, not
necessarily. In countries such as the United States, puppy
brokers must be registered with the USDA. However, registration
is an aspect that deludes many, and when the business
has its main focus on profit, to the detriment of the
welfare of the dogs, when kennelling and transport methods
are deplorable, when the dogs' health and welfare is sacrificed
in the name of profit, it is the rest of society that
must clean up the mess.
South
Africa has no governing body for commercial puppy production
and retail. Does that mean that it doesn't exist? Of course
not! Puppy farms (aka puppy mills) and puppy brokers operate
right under our noses - what are we doing about it?
Hobby
breeder: A breed fancier who usually has only
one breed but may have two; follows a breeding
plan in the effort to preserve and protect the
breed; produces from none to five litters per
year; breeds only when a litter will enhance the
breed and the breeding programme; raises the puppies
with plenty of environmental and human contact;
has a contract that protects breeder, dog, and
buyer; runs a small, clean kennel; screens breeding
stock to eliminate hereditary defects from the
breed; works with a breed club or kennel club
to promote and protect the breed; and cares that
each and every puppy is placed in the best home
possible.
Commercial
breeder: One who usually has several breeds
of dogs with profit as the primary motive for
existence. The dogs may be healthy or not and
the kennel may be clean or not. The dogs are probably
not screened for genetic diseases, and the breeding
stock is probably not selected for resemblance
to the breed standard or for good temperament.
Most commercial breeders sell their puppies to
pet stores or to brokers who sell to pet stores.
Broker:
One who buys puppies from commercial kennels
and sells to retail outlets. Brokers ship puppies
by the crate-load on airlines or by truckload
throughout the country.
Buncher:
One who collects dogs of unknown origin for
sale to laboratories or other bunchers or brokers.
Bunchers are considered lower on the evolutionary
scale than puppy mill operators, for there is
much suspicion that they buy stolen pets, collect
pets advertised as "Free to a good home",
and adopt unwanted pets from animal shelters for
research at veterinary colleges or industrial
research laboratories.
Backyard
breeder: A dog owner whose pet either gets
bred by accident or who breeds on purpose for
a variety of reasons. This breeder is usually
ignorant of the breed standard, genetics, behaviour,
and good health practices. A backyard breeder
can very easily become a commercial breeder or
a puppy mill.
Puppy
farmer (mill): A breeder who produces puppies
hand over fist with no breeding programme, little
attention to puppy placement, and poor health
and socialization practices. A puppy mill may
or may not be dirty but it is usually overcrowded
and the dogs may be neglected or abused because
the breeder can't properly handle as many dogs
as he has. Puppy mill operators often denigrate
hobby breeders and their dogs in attempts to make
a sale.
|
We
all know they exist. What are we doing about it? Are we
educating the ordinary public sufficiently about the dangers
of responding to suspect ads? Are we helping people to
know how to recognise a scam? Or are we simply waiting
for the authorities to create legislation that will quietly
take care of this irritating little problem?
Please
note: This is not a forum, but appropriate and unbiased
comments may be considered for publication.
Thanks
for highlighting this sort of practice, I only wish that
this could reach a broader spectrum of the public. Puppy
farmers also sell pups through pet shops and often these
pups are ill and undernourished and are sick within days
of being bought by the unsuspecting public. I work as
a receptionist at a veterinary clinic and see many pups
brought in for treatment by the new owners. Many were
bought as pure bred and do not even resemble the breed
they are supposed to be. Unwise people often buy pets
on impulse from pet shops and the new owner seldom knows
anything of the breed's temprament or its requirements.
It makes me particularly sick to see my breed sold indiscriminately
in pet shops as they often end up as rescue dogs when
the new owner dicovers all the difficult breed traits
that go along with owning one of these dogs.
Liz Norval
I
too wish that we could educate the public better on the
downfalls of these "puppy mills".
My family purchased a puppy 3 years ago believing it to
be registered and well bred. We got the puppy at 7 weeks
according to the breeder but, on taking him to the vet,
he turned out to be only 5 weeks! This poor pup had missed
out on the most crucial part of his bonding! He is one
of the lucky ones though, he is health and happy, but
he has temperament and behaviour problems. We have learned
to deal with this through T-Touch and Clicker taining,
but how many other people would have done this? Many people
in our situation would have given up on this behaviour
problem and maybe even have dumped the dog!
Simone Burmeister
