Remain on your guard
Warning to avoid illegal puppy dealers
A West Lothian woman who became the victim of an unscrupulous puppy farmer is warning others to be on their guard.
The woman paid £1600 for a sickly puppy that would die just days after it was brought home.
Sadly her story is not uncommon and West Lothian animal lovers who want to buy a puppy are being urged to avoid illegal dealers following a surge in demand for pets during the coronavirus pandemic.
The campaign – #LookBeyondCute – comes after the Scottish SPCA launched 78 investigations into reports of puppy farming last month and staff highlighted fears Christmas will further fuel demand.
The pandemic has led to a huge increase in demand for puppies as more people in West Lothian and beyond work from home or look for a companion in these challenging times. As responsible breeders scale back due to the ongoing restrictions, prices have soared and unscrupulous dealers are cashing in.
The SSPCA said the story of Louise and tragic puppy Charlie – their real names have been changed to protect their identities – is becoming more common.
Louise searched online for a new puppy for her and her family and contacted the phone number advertised and felt confident that the breeder was legitimate.
The seller visited Louise at her home and brought the puppy’s ‘mum’ to see if she was suitable.
Louise said: “They came around with the ‘mum’ and looked at our house and agreed as a family we could have the puppy – Charlie.
“We were delighted and fell in love with Charlie straight away, and we were given him straight away. We then paid half the money – £800 in cash and the other £800 by bank transfer.”
Charlie stayed with Louise and her family on the Monday and all seemed okay until the Thursday night of that week, when he became a little lethargic.
Louise had a vet appointment already booked on the Friday to register Charlie, so when she took him, she mentioned to the vet that she thought Charlie was sluggish.
The vet said he seemed dehydrated, very small and they would keep him for the day to give him some fluids.
When Louise picked him up that afternoon, they told her to keep his fluids up and bring him back the following morning.
Louise said: “When we took Charlie to the vet for a check-up, the vet said that the puppy was indeed small and appeared dehydrated, so that night myself and my husband stayed up all night with him but he died in my arms at 8am the following morning.”
When the health of little Charlie began deteriorating so quickly, Louise phoned the seller who denied the puppy was sick. However, he said he would pay for any vet bills and that he would come round to see her and chat to her but he never appeared.
Louise managed to contact someone else who bought a puppy from the same person and they gave her a different phone number. She called and spoke to him calmly, but the seller denied it all saying the puppy was never sick, demanding she prove it and hung up on her.
Charlie’s death has left the whole family devastated. Louise is urging people to do their research before buying a puppy and understand that if things don’t feel right, walk away and report your concerns to the Scottish SPCA.
“My advice to people looking to buy a puppy now would be for them to properly do their research. Many illegal breeders are using the coronavirus restrictions as an excuse for you not to come to the place the puppy was bred and see it with its mum.
“They may also say they will bring the puppy to you, which happened with us, but you should wait until you can travel safely outside
your Covid protection level if you’re not buying a puppy within your local area.
“Please be aware of the dangers of buying online and even if you are all really keen to have a new puppy as part of your family right now, if you don’t have paperwork or have seen the puppy with its mum in its own environment, don’t do it and report the seller to the Scottish SPCA.”
Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “It has never been more important to buy a puppy safely. Public demand for puppies has greatly increased over coronavirus restrictions and lockdown.
“This has seen a rise in not only the extortionate prices of puppies but also the number of puppies becoming sick or dying because they have been badly bred.
“Calls to our helpline regarding puppy farms and unwell pups almost doubled from September to October this year. We are concerned this will continue to rise due to people being sold unwell pups to satisfy public demand. These poor animals are being exploited purely for profit and scant regard is given to their welfare.”
To report a suspected puppy farmer to the Scottish SPCA call 03000 999999.
West Lothian Council has explained the delays after receiving a raft of complaints about gritters not being out last week.
Amgry residents in places like Bathgate, West Calder, Fauldhouse and Whitburn said that gritters had not been out clearing roads in their area.
But the council say that in heavy snowfall, some delays are unavoidable and getting to each and every road in the county is impossible.
They worked hard throughout Thursday and Friday to make sure the roads were in as safe a condition as possible, they insisted.
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said:“Our dedicated teams have been working hard to cover the priority road and footpath network throughout the period including the severe weather warning.
“Our gritters covered the West Lothian’s priority roads up to eight times between 9.15pm on Tuesday, December 1 and 2pm on Thursday, December 4, spreading approximately 380 tonnes of grit, working through the night when required.
“Unfortunately, heavy snowfall in the west and higher ground in the south of West Lothian led to some unavoidable delays on road networks.
“Neighbouring councils had similar issues on their roads due to the snowfall, as did Bear Scotland, who maintain the trunk roads such as the M8, M9 and Queensferry Crossing, which was closed due to the weather conditions.”
The spokesperson continued:
“In times of severe weather, it’s not possible to treat all of West Lothian’s 1,000km of roads and 1,300 km of paths at the same time.
“Immediately after significant snowfall, there are always likely to be delays on roads until we are able to get resources to clear them.
“If snow continues to fall, we have to keep treating and re-treating roads.
“We are only able to tackle secondary roads when the priority routes are clear. Residential areas will only be treated once priority and secondary routes are clear, which is likely to be some time after conditions have improved.
“We would encourage residents to visit www. westlothian. gov.uk/ winter to help them understand how we work in winter weather.
“This includes maps of the priority roads and paths, and links to an online gritter tracker to see where we are working at any given time.”