[MaddieBoo]

Originally Posted by LilMissy

Here is a post that I made on YT awhile ago telling my experience with owning our petstore pug. I know that I sound like a broken record, going on and on about this, but it is upsetting to me that some people still think it's ok to buy a pet from a petstore here in Canada. I have also found that alot of people think "that only happens in the states". I figure the more we talk about this and educate people, the better.

Seven years ago, my husband and I were wandering through the mall and browsing the puppies in a pet store with no intent to buy. We saw the cutest little pug dog, she was $1400. We weren't looking for a pet, so we carried on. A month later, we were wandering through the same mall, and saw that she was still there. Noone was buying her! We went over to the cage to talk to her. She listened intently and responded by tilting her head back and forth. We felt sooooooo sorry for her. She was so small that her little feet fell through the grates in the bottom of the cage, so she couldn't move around. The pet store owner had her in the bottom row of cages, she was shivering like mad. Even I could feel how cold it was in there. No toy...no blanket. I approached the manager and pointed out that she was cold. He said, "Oh they all do that, she's fine". It broke our hearts, so we bought her. She's always been timid and afraid of everything, which was my first hint that she came from an unkind place.

Soon after getting her, we discovered she has a partially collapsed trachea. We have learned to live with that and help her the best we can.

She also started to develop Hip Dysplasia just after her first year of life. It was mild enough that she was still able to go for short walks of 15 mins at a time.

Last year, at 6 yrs of age, Tang had to have 12 teeth extracted despite my efforts of brushing her teeth 2-3 times per week, and using an Oral Cleansing Gel recommended by my vet. The vet said her teeth were bad due to poor genetics. She has always been fed dry dog food.

Fast forward to today, my poor little pug dog has a genetic disorder called Spondylosis. It is to the point now where she can hardly move. Her back legs have almost no mobility, she can't run or jump or play. When she stands her back is sloped like a slide, soon I am afraid she will just be dragging her back end along. She has developed incontinence and literally does not feel when she has to pee or poop. It just falls out. She is on medication for pain and inflammation, in hopes that it will help. It isn't doing anything. I worry that she won't even make it to Christmas.

THIS my friends, is why you don't buy from a pet store. Yes, I'm happy we bought her. We gave her 7 wonderful years of life, but this is SO unfair to her. She has lived half of her life expectancy. She is a wonderful, well behaved, loving pet...and she deserved so much more.

I am so sad and angry.

I wish that I knew then, what I know now. I will NEVER spend $ in a pet store that sells puppies again. I won't even step foot in one.

Thank you for listening. I just had to share with other dog lovers like me. People, that I know will understand how I feel.

That is so heartbreaking. And it is true, people here don't seem to know what's going on in their own "backyard". It's so easy to say "Well that just happens in the States". Now I feel even more confident with the information I have to tell people just how horrific puppy mills are, and that they're closer to home than we think.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. How is your little pug now?