£425 FOR NEAR-BLIND DOG WITH BAD TEETH

This poor little shih-tzu named Sidney has no end of ailments – not that this was made clear in the Facebook advertisement which mentioned only some eye and dental “issues”. Hoping to give Sidney a better home, animal lover Lee Elms bought him for £425 from Catwalk Pets & Rescue in Ilford, East London. What vets found is shocking. “Some dental issues” turned out to be serious dental disease that required all but 10 of his teeth being taken out. He had fleas, lice, a yeast infection, ears full of dirt and mites, a deformity in both forelegs and he was seriously underweight. As for “some eye issues”, Sidney is blind in one eye and has a cataract, stye and blurred vision in the other. His microchip has not been registered and the re-homing form gave no details of the previous owners or veterinary notes. And his age is seven or eight, not the three years as sold. Catwalk Pets & Rescue is a trading name of Catwalk Pets & Aquatics Limited, which has a pet licence from Redbridge Council. Directors Shazia Dar and Iqbal Azhar have not got back to me explaining why they sold an animal in such a poor state and why it uses the word “rescue” in its name but charges commercial prices. The London re-homing charity Mayhew has an adoption fee for dogs of £145, at Battersea Dogs Home it’s £155, and this includes microchipping, neutering, initial vaccination and flea and worming treatments as a minimum. Sidney, now re-named Ickles, has been passed to re-homing group Futures For Dogs, which described his condition as “heart-breaking”. Lee, a taxi driver from Deal in Kent, has set up a fund-raising page for £1,000 for his treatment. “As an animal lover you do whatever you can, and with Futures For Dogs we will give Ickles the life he deserves,” he said. Redbridge Council said it inspected Catwalk Pets last week, resulting in a formal investigation being launched. “We will be recommending an immediate adjustment concerning their star rating, reducing it to one star,” said a spokesman. “Following the outcome of the formal investigation we will look into taking further measures.”

SICKLY Sidney had a long list of physical ailments