Pet owner furious after new puppy, two others test positive for parvovirus

“She smelled like stale, old urine and she had feces caked to her butt,” said Karleen. “It was disgusting.”

It was when Savannah got the first chance at picking Mia up, she noticed how thin her new dog was.

“Very skinny, almost like emaciated, I could feel her ribs when I picked her up,” said Savannah.

Karleen paid $50 to pick up Mia, with the experienced pet owner saying she just wanted to get her out of the home she was raised in.

Mia began to perk up a bit after she was brought home by the Shuttleworths, however her condition quickly took a turn for the worse.

After a few days of tiredness, vomiting and diarrhea, Mia was rushed to Animal Medical Centre South in Dunmore on Sunday where she was diagnosed with the highly contagious parvovirus.

“It attacks lymph nodes, it can attack even at the heart muscle,” said Ritchie. “So, there’s really an indication that there’s quite dire consequences to getting parvo.”

Although they had their suspicions, the Shuttleworth family was crushed by the news.

“I was on my way home from Brooks when that happened and it was kind of upsetting, very hard to cry and drive at the same time,” said Savannah.

Extremely resilient, parvovirus is especially dangerous for young puppies and adult dogs who have not been vaccinated.

According to Ritchie, they hadn’t seen a case of parvovirus before this past week in over a year and a new strain travelling across Alberta could be transferable to cats as well as dogs.

Parvovirus only has a 30 percent survival rate and usually requires a lengthy vet stay, a stay that’s expected to cost the Shuttleworth family roughly $1,500.

“My husband and I have cancelled our vacation that we were to go on for our anniversary,” said Karleen. “We’ve cancelled it because the dog is more important.”

To help alleviate the costs for her and the other dog owners, Karleen is considering launching a lawsuit against the people who sold the puppies.

Three of the nine puppies from the litter have tested positive for parvovirus, though a handful of others have been experiencing parvovirus-like symptoms.

For the first few days after being admitted it was unknown if Mia would survive the week, however she made a breakthrough on Tuesday morning.

“She has started to actually begin vocalizing for us and being happy when we enter the room,” said Ritchie. “So, that brings her prognosis up a level.”

On Tuesday evening, it was announced that Mia’s condition had improved enough that she could go home with the Shuttleworths again.

Medicine Hat municipal enforcement has dealt with the property in question before, mostly for complaints of barking animals and too many dogs at the premise.

However, they did investigate reports of puppies being confined to a trailer on July 25 but were unable to substantiate those claims.

“We weren’t able to confirm that,” said Trail. “The dogs may have been there at one time, but when we went there the puppies were not inside there. So, they were being moved around somewhat.”

Bylaw also looked into the living conditions on the property, however they weren’t able to gather enough evidence that the dogs were in immediate danger to legally seize the puppies or issue fines.

“We need to have a better grasp of what’s really going on there before we have the authority to do any type of seizing,” said Trail. “And, we probably would have had the Alberta SPCA get involved if we were going to seize puppies at that point.”

Both the Shuttleworths and bylaw have called and texted the sellers of the dogs, however they have heard no responses.

Although it’s not the most common disease to afflict dogs, this outbreak of parvovirus is especially concerning for Ritchie due to how easily it can spread.

“We have had a number of these pets come in contact with unvaccinated adult or older dogs,” she said. “This transmission could all be avoided if these puppies would have been vaccinated at six weeks of age.”

The community has turned out to help the affected families, with donations of money being accepted at Animal World and hundreds of comments of support being typed on social media.

Finally getting to take Mia home, Karleen said it’s been a harrowing experience for her family that isn’t over yet.

She has zero regrets however adding Mia to her family though, ready to give her puppy a new lease on life.

“Backyard breeders and puppy mills are something that you will never take away because they just move and start up again,” said Karleen. “But, if you can save one puppy, that’s one life that isn’t going to pass on.”

by Scott Roblin

Pet owner furious after new puppy, two others test positive for parvovirus

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