Backyard breeders - continue to con pet buyers

Lily is a typical backyard breeders dog, she is a popular breed and her puppies would easily sell in local classified papers or online.  After having litter after litter of puppies Lily was then abandoned when her owner moved out of his rental property leaving her behind.  Lily was alone for a number of days without food or water before a caring neighbour took her to a council pound.

Bred and abandoned, Lily's story is common to many backyard breeding dogs, but to make the situation worse, Lily is completely blind.

Lily was taken from the pound by 'Trish'  founder of Pets Haven a Victorian animal rescue organisation. " I knew about Lily for six days prior to rescuing her, these six days were full of emotion. I was so nervous to meet her as I knew she was blind and I wanted Lily to understand I would  protect and care for her, but how would or could Lily know who I was or what my intentions were?  Instead of taking Lily to our shelter I took her straight home and introduced her to my two children, to whom she immediately gave many kisses. Lily manoeuvred around my house as though she had lived there all her life, she was and is quite amazing."

Although Lily is blind, it was hoped she may see again, however, an eye specialist confirmed she had Glaucoma. 'Her eyes were very badly damaged and she would never be able to see again'.  The Vet also explained that something needed to be done as Lily was experiencing discomfort due to pressure behind the eyes - 'similar to if you or I had a constant headache'.

Lily needed to have a enucleation or total eye removal and it was decided that it would be performed during her de-sexing surgery. The surgery was initially  to take around an hour, but  during the operation the vet discovered yet another health issue common in breeding dogs. Lily had advanced breast cancer.

"After six-and-a-half hours of surgery and the loss of litres of blood, Lily made it through. After the surgery she was remarkably lively, walking around the room (although slowly) and wagging her tail. The first night was the scariest and when we got the call to say she’d made it through, tears of joy were shed by everyone involved"

'We believe Lily shows how important early age de-sexing is. Lily is the poster girl for early age de-sexing. It is widely known that leaving a female dog (bitch) un-desexed greatly increases their risk of mammary or breast cancer (as well as testicular cancer in male dogs). This has nearly cost Lily her life and has put her through enormous suffering and pain'. 

People naively believe that answering an ad in the paper is still a good way to buy a family pet.  They just don't realise that, at best, people trying to make money by breeding their pet are completely irresponsible and at worst, they are supporting a cottage industry that leads to hundreds of dogs just like Lily. 

If you are looking for a pet, first go to a rescue. All pets come desexed and health checked.

Reference: Read Lily's full story

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