Published: Friday, 5th September, 2008 12:00
Couple's warning to new pet buyers
By Lauren Everitt
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Concerned: Tony Jennings with puppy Timmy.
AN ELDERLY couple called in the RSPCA after having to rush their new puppy to the vet only 24 hours after bringing him home.
Tony and Marion Jennings feared their Jack Russell puppy, Timmy, was from an illegal puppy farm.
The couple, who found him through a magazine advert, were told that Timmy was seven weeks old when they bought him on Friday from a family at a caravan site in Twyford for £150.
However, after rushing him to Kynoch and Partners Veterinary Practice in Easthampstead, they discovered that he was only four weeks old, was covered in fleas, anaemic, had an infection and weighed less than a kilo.
Timmy was kept at the vets for treatment for three days and has cost the couple from Great Hollands, Bracknell, over £300 so far. She said: “When I went to have a look at the puppies the kennels looked clean and they had plenty of room to run around. I didn’t have any concerns or suspicions about them.” The vet also informed Mrs Jennings that his tail had been docked which is against the law unless the breeder has a certificate to say that the dog is a working dog.
Mr Jennings said: “Timmy has cost us a lot of money but we couldn’t let him suffer and we asked the vet to do all we could.
“We just want to make people aware of what can happen and make sure that it doesn’t happen to them.”
Inspector Dawn Ward from the RSPCA, said: “We have just finished our investigations with this case and unfortunately it has come to a dead end due to the fact that the people at the caravan park bought the bitch and puppies off the back of a lorry at Langley Horse Fair. And unfortunately the other puppies were sold over the weekend.”
She added: “We try to encourage people to see the puppies and check their certificates before buying them, as the consequences are far greater when the animals are brought home.”
The RSPCA is also currently investigating the possibility that dogs could be being bred and
distributed to the area from Ireland.
Insp Ward said that at the moment these are only suspicions and the RSPCA does not have any conclusive evidence.
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