Snookums is in the news again

There was a story this week on CBC Television about Snookums Pets over in PEI - one of the Maritime's most notorious puppy mill brokers. They've been in the news several times in the last few years because they sell so many puppies that for some reason DIE right after the people who purchase them bring them home. I don't know why that would happen if the pet store is selling such a high quality product. I've talked about Snookums in several places before on this blog - at


http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2004/07/my-letter-to-chronicle-herald-about.html
and
http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2004/07/my-letter-to-editor-is-in-todays.html
and
http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2004/07/snookums-in-pei-is-just-like-any-other.html
and
http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2004/08/thoughts-on-puppy-mills-and-factory.html

Supposedly this time though - Snookums says they're closing down for good - their website even says they're having a "close out sale" - and the puppies that are there are going for very low prices and the store is only staying open as long as they can sell as many puppies as possible and then the rest of the puppies will go back to the breeder for credit. I wonder when that will be? And I feel very sorry for any of those puppies that go back to the breeders - because they are going to be subjected to a life of hell and subservience if they're used as breeding stock - treated worse than any cow or pig is before they're sent for slaughter. Any dog that is used for breeding stock at a puppy mill WISHES that they could be sent for slaughter so that their horrible existence could end.

But I digress. The CBC news article is also in print on the CBC's website - here - "Pet Shop Puppies die soon after purchase"


The owners of puppies that died within days of their purchase from a Charlottetown pet shop are calling for stricter regulations covering the sale of pets.

Stacey Edgar doesn't believe anything she did led to the death of her puppy.

It is the second case this fall of animals purchased from Charlottetown pet stores dying shortly after being taken home. In November two kittens purchased at Critters Pet Shop died days after they were purchased.

Mike Boies and Stacey Edgar had a similar experience with a puppy they bought from Snookums in October. Just days after they brought home their dog, which they called Bailey, he got very sick.

"Things went downhill that night, with diarrhea and the vomiting, which was every 15 minutes," Edgar told CBC News.

Their vet said Bailey had parvovirus, an intestinal infection that affects puppies. The medicine they gave Bailey didn't work and he died the next morning. Edgar said they have heard from others who had a similar experience.

"This isn't just a fluke. It didn't just happen to one family," said Edgar.

"It happened to four since Oct. 2 that we know of."

All four puppies were purchased from Snookums. One died the same day as Bailey, another a week later and the fourth in late October. Post mortems on all four conducted at the Atlantic Veterinary College concluded they died from parvovirus.

Violet Hunter purchased the last dog that died, two weeks after the illness killed Bailey. Getting the dog was the fulfilment of a promise she made to her husband Ross, just before he died.

"My husband said, 'Well, you must promise me, when I'm no longer here, you will go out and get my Labrador and you must call it Heather. Every time you look at Heather remember I'll be watching too,'" said Hunter.

Hunter believes once Snookums got the first complaint, well before she got her dog, the store should have checked the other puppies for parvovirus and warned potential buyers about the illness.

CBC News contacted Snookums owner Bud Wheatley, but he said he wasn't available for an interview. He did say all the puppies he sells are healthy when they leave the store, adding that if they develop problems it's because the owners don't care for them properly.

None of the four pet owners involved is convinced of that. They want the province to adopt tougher legislation covering pet stores. One family has filed a small claims suit against Snookums for their expenses.