Hi-a parent from school spoke to me yesterday regarding a rescue puppy she got last week & is desperate for advice re the following.
I won't name the "rescue", it was from a womans house? no kennels etc, said the dog had been handed to her the night before had no history for the dog(6 mths old)apart from the fact it had'nt been vaccinated, she asked for £50 for the dog(no cheques cash only)& was given a neutering voucher.
Rescue woman stated the dog had only come in the night before & had'nt eaten which she put down to new surroundings/settling in.
This is the first dog the parent has had & is'nt very knowledgable on dogs, however once home dog v.quiet sleeping alot, would'nt eat starting having diarrhoea, next day legs trembling sick/diarrhoea, she took the dog to the vets who where he has been kept in ever since.
The dog apparently has been v.close to death, loosing blood yesterday, vets bill is now over £400.
Vets are  still unsure what is wrong with the puppy & want to do more blood tests.
Parent has spoken to the "rescue" who have basically said its down to you, you saw the dog & took the dog as it was.
Parent is distraught as are her children, I have said I will ask for advice on here firstly with the symptons above does anyone know what could be wrong with the dog.
Secondly where does the parent stand, the dog was'nt insured.
Its an awful situation for her, any advice appreciated.

The only experience ive had with these symptoms was that we (vet nurse and vet) initially thought- Parvovirus, we operated and nursed him for 5days- he finally came round after being on a drip and intensley nursed. He may have just had a serious case of wind! or an infection...never really found out, he is a healthy dane now though-

hopefully this pup will recover x

what the parent needs to do is contact pdsa for financial help, ring around- the vet may need to speak to the charities to explain the condition of animal- the usually dont provide funds until AFTER treatment- once you have a total sum.

she could ring rspca and explain the history of pup- informing them of the 'rescue' involved, they could help in some way too-

goodluck, hope pup pulls through xxx

I would of thought the rescue would be responsible for the pup as it was only 24hrs since rehoming the pup was ill ?

My small local rescue helped out with a vet bill  about 3 yrs after I had a dog but I think that was because the dog was older when I had her & was overlooked by other people because of her age ?

I think it is awfull that this rescue is not taking any further intrest in this poor pup

Just a question...why would you operate on a pup with Parvo?? Thanks, Dawn X

oh because we x-rayed her and noticed something strange in his intestines-, turned out when we operated that it was ablockage and wind, due to us rumaging around it unblocked him.
we really hit a brick wall and so did an exploratory op.
hope ive cleared it up ;)

I'm confused an official rescue would certainly not abandon the pup, would have insurance and would pay for the costs with it being so soon after re-homing, the pup had symptoms of not being well when it was collected? An offical rescue would have held onto it to check it was ok. When you say it was from a woman's house, is this an unoffical rescue lady who does this as a hobby?  It is the only explaination I can come up with. In which case of course she would wash her hands of any expense, another reason not to buy pups from unofficial places. She would probably offer the £50 back if the pup did not pull through, though that does not help your friend.

The RSPCA may help, or more likely the ladies vet may take installments, but all expenses will probably fall into the lap of the poor lady.

I think (though correct me if I am wrong) that the PDSA only help those with low incomes. So your friend may not get help there either.

What a shame, I hope that the pup pulls through. I shall have my fingers crossed for him. :-)

I would not for one minute think this 'lady' is operating a rescue.  Sound like she just wanted to sell the pup on and make some money.  She really should be investigated before she puts some other poor creature through this. 

Thanks for your replies everyone-yes it does appear to be an unofficial rescue, I saw the parent yesterday to see if there was any news on the pup-still in a bad way, the vets have stopped charging her now.
She has been in touch with the pdsa who said they are unable to help with the cost as she should have contacted them first.
As I said before she is devasted so far paying £440 for an ill pup & vets bills, she wishes she had got a dog from a proper breeder who had done all the relevant health checks, but she thought she was doing the right thing by getting a rescue dog.
She has also contacted the rspca who are going to investigate the rescue woman.

was it a mobile number out of the paper ??

Some small rescue places have foster homes when they are full to the brim (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)
saying that she doesnt sound ligit ..

It sounds like the puppy has parvo or guardia which cans sometimes present itself as parvo as this occured in a puppy a friend of mine had from a rep breeder ..where the whole litter were affected.
Luckily they all survived with v expensive treatment .

I hope that your friends pup pulls through ...

Roni

Just looked online not sure if I can mention paper the rescue is advertised in (comes out a few times a week & is coloured).
Ad read as follows - - dog rescue can help you rehome your dog/litter of puppies, ped/mongrels, pls don't throw out, ring me this is a free service followed by mobile tel no.

This is NOT a rescue, more like an 'AGENT' tsk!! That takes other peoples unwanted pups and sells them!!! Maybe I'm wrong...ut I see a few adverts like these around and they are def NOT bona fide rescue societies! All the best, hope the pup is ok, love Dawn X

Sad update on puppy-pts yesterday-vet confirmed parvo virus RIP little puppy.

That is very sad :( and what a terrible experience for your friend.
As regards the vets bills I think I would speak to the Trading Standards people as, although they may call themselves a "rescue", they do seem to be be simply traders and should, therefore, be subject to the laws covering "fit for purpose".  In fact if they really were a "rescue" I think this would apply.

Thanks for the above Isabel I will pass the details on.

Thats awful, i hope he didnt realise what was happening when we went :(
Definitely something should be done- what if all those dogs at that ladies house get parvo too?!

Thanks for coming on to tell us the sad news anyway,
x