The record has received numerous complaints about Pet Superstore in Westgate Shopping Centre after publishing the heartbreaking story of Neville Bekker and his problems with the store.
Just last month, Natalie Pretorius and her family thought they had bought their two year old her first puppy named Elsa. The eight week old puppy was taken to the vet immediately for a check up.
The pet shop indicated they would provide the necessary documentation proving the puppy was disease free a few days later because the breeder lived in Rustenburg. It was a happy few days for the family as the two year old and Elsa bonded but that did not last. The puppy was diagnosed with early stages of the Canine parvovirus.
After four days, the puppy died.
The parvovirus is a highly contagious viral disease that can produce a life-threatening illness. The virus attacks rapidly dividing cells in a dog’s body, most severely affecting the intestinal tract. Parvovirus also attacks the white blood cells, and when young animals are infected, the virus can damage the heart muscle and cause lifelong cardiac problem.
“We understand that this pet shop only sells the puppies on behalf of the breeders but they proved to be dishonest by telling us that Elsa’s breeder had papers for her and that the reason they couldn’t provide these last week was because the breeder was based in Rustenburg. The breeder is based in Discovery. We also know that the pet shop and breeder do not care about their puppies or their clients because we informed both parties that our puppy had Parvovirus but yet both still returned the rest of the litter to the shop floor,” said Natalie.
Roodepoort SPCA inspector Mike Allen said he had been working with the pet shop after being inundated with complaints about pets diagnosed with a virus or dying a few days after being purchased.
“I have been working with the shop for the past few months. It sells pets on behalf of their breeders, they do not own them. Those who purchase pets from the shop should take them to a vet immediately and not wait a few days. We have advised the shop to have more stringent regulations when it comes to accepting pets from breeders and have them produce a vet certificate. There are incidents when a breeder will claim the pet is inoculated which may not be the case and when a pet dies, this tarnishes the shops name. There is nothing the SPCA can do at this point besides trying to advise the shop,” said Allen.
In October last year, Linda Perreira went through a similar ordeal. When she purchased a dog, the shop indicated that the puppy had not been for his most recent injections. They were advised to take it to a vet within a week and signed the document releasing the store of any liability after 24 hours. The puppy got ill after a week and at first the vet’s test was negative for the Parvovirus. The next day, the puppy’s condition worsened and after another visit to the vet, tested positive for the Parvovirus.
“Any person who has lost a pet to this disease will tell you it is the most cruel illness an animal can ever get. They are in pain, they constantly mess themselves, they develop this terrible odour and you watch them shrink each day as the life is pulled out of them, they refer to this as being the canine version of ebola,” said Perreira.
