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Quote:
The Texas Department of State Health Services and local officials are trying to locate a potentially rabid puppy that was given to an unknown man April 14 in the parking lot of Joe’s Food Market on Highway 21 West in Bryan.
*sigh*
Last edited by kansas sky; 04-22-2010 at 10:18 AM..
The parking lot is irrelevant. The only way you can prevent this type of complication is if you only adopt dogs from people who keep records. And not many people keep records when they are trying to adopt out a litter of unexpected puppies. The real problem with this story isn't that someone adopted a dog that might might have rabies. That could happen regardless of where/how you adopt a dog. The problem is that there is no way to track down the litter of puppies. Even if you knew and could locate the seller, there is no guarantee that the seller would have any records of people who adopted puppies. Actually, it sounds like the seller has been in contact with the authorities because they've already tested the rabid puppy and the littermates. The REAL problem is that the buyer can't be located---and that can hapen with any sale of a litter from a private home, not just a parking lot.
People shouldn't be buying puppies or kittens from parking lots, flea markets, cars, backyards, OR pet stores anyway because it's only perpetuating backyard breeding and puppymills. Sad and scary stories like this one should be a GIANT clue to people that they should be getting their animals from either shelters or reputable breeders! This is just one more example of an ignorant dog owner who has no knowledge of how to breed safely contributing to an already escalated problem.
The same risk goes with buying from a reputable breeder.
I'm trying to understand where you're coming from here. It's not that easy to contract rabies. If the puppies are kept indoors and decently supervised, other than perhaps a bat getting in the house I have a hard time seeing how there is any appreciable risk of a reputable breeder selling rabid puppies.
Reputable Breeders would never have the slightest chance of having a Rabies positive born litter. BYOB yes.
This happened here in Texas out in the sticks....the first story that came out was this dog was given to a homeless man that expressed interest in the puppies. The reason why the gentleman has not been found as of yet. Far from a reputable breeder as the owner of the dog suspected Rabies in the female and gave away the pups anyway.
I'm not sure how it finally was decided that some/all of the litter was infected.
A dog adopted from a shelter could very well end up having rabies.
The dogs are not in the shelters long enough for the incubation period to transpire.
The same risk goes with buying from a reputable breeder. .
Where did you come up with this information? Some dogs are stuck in shelters for a very long time. And no, reputable breeders vaccinate for things like rabies, and would never risk allowing a dog suspected to have this disease (or any other serious health issues, for that matter!) to breed in the first place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes
TBH, I'd rather buy a mut puppy from a private owner whose dog unexpectedly became pregnant than buy a purebred from a reputable breeder.
There's a better chance of getting a rabid puppy this way than either of the scenarios you listed above. An owner who is irresponsible enough to let their dog get pregnant "unexpectedly" is obviously not paying close enough attention to what that dog is up to, so how can you be sure she wasn't knocked-up by a rabid male who jumped the fence to get to her, or was bitten by a rabid raccoon, etc.?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes
Reputable breeders are an equal part of the over population problem.
Reputable breeders do not vaccinate the puppies against rabies. Most allow the dogs to go home anywhere from 8-12 weeks, which is way too early for a rabies vaccines. Ours highly recommended waiting until he's 1, which is what we did. I know shelters are more likely to vaccinate, spay, neuter, etc. very early since they can't exactly trust people to do so later on.
And reputable breeders have waiting lists. vs breeders with accidental litters that will sell to anyone that is willing to pay. There should be no such thing as an accidental litter. Females are in heat during a specific time and it's the owners responsibility to plan accordingly. Common sense implies that you shouldn't allow your in heat female to wander the streets alone.
I wholeheartedly agree with luvmycat!!! I didn't have this experience in Maryland (where I'm from) but since I moved to Texas and started working for a vet there have been SO MANY cases of parvo and distemper when people come in with puppies from a shelter or byb. It's terrible because of course the vet wants to encourage adopting from shelters, but apparently it's really hard to find a healthy puppy there. There is no way that your chances of getting a sick puppy are the same with a shelter/byb or reputable breeder. It's just logical that a reputable breeder would be your best bet. Or getting an adult dog instead of a puppy.
On a lighter note, Shelbygirl1 did you mean to say BYOB? while I like where your head's at, I think you may have meant BYB!!
I wholeheartedly agree with luvmycat!!! I didn't have this experience in Maryland (where I'm from) but since I moved to Texas and started working for a vet there have been SO MANY cases of parvo and distemper when people come in with puppies from a shelter or byb. It's terrible because of course the vet wants to encourage adopting from shelters, but apparently it's really hard to find a healthy puppy there. There is no way that your chances of getting a sick puppy are the same with a shelter/byb or reputable breeder. It's just logical that a reputable breeder would be your best bet. Or getting an adult dog instead of a puppy.
On a lighter note, Shelbygirl1 did you mean to say BYOB? while I like where your head's at, I think you may have meant BYB!!
LOL....yes I meant BYB! But they could BYOB!
Mak....your correct...no pup should be vac. against Rabies until they are at least 5-6 mos minimum( which is most state requirements). But a Reputable Breeder would not have a ***** or Sire who was ever even near a cause of Rabies.
*sigh....CD won't let me type the name for a female.
Last edited by ShelbyGirl1; 04-22-2010 at 07:29 PM..
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There is no way that your chances of getting a sick puppy are the same with a shelter/byb or reputable breeder. It's just logical that a reputable breeder would be your best bet. Or getting an adult dog instead of a puppy. 
