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| Gerry just out of the puppy mill |
No story about Ralph would be complete without talking a
little bit about where he came from.
Ralph is the result of very bad puppy mill breeding. Puppy mills are operated by individuals who breed solely for profit without any regard
for the quality of the puppies being bred, the health and well-being of the
parents or the living conditions of the parents and the puppies. The dogs are kept in substandard conditions,
often in cages stacked one on top of the other.
(Gerry will be the subject of his own blog but here is a picture of him the day he was rescued from the mill; the millers were just going to shoot him.) They do not use the services of a veterinarian; if the dogs are sick,
they will take them out back and shoot them or the lucky ones may be turned
over to a rescue organization.
Unsuspecting buyers, who have not done their homework in choosing a
breeder, end up with these poor specimens of the breed and often they cannot
cope with the health or behaviour issues.
These dogs may end up at a shelter or surrendered to a rescue
organization. This is what happened in
Ralph’s case. The owner did contact
the breeder to inquire if she would take Ralph back. The breeder said sure but she would euthanize
him. The owner did not want this to
happen so she contacted us.
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| Like most other dogs, Ralph loves sticks |
Ralph is a prime example of this bad puppy mill
breeding. Although he is considered a
pure-bred Westie, he certainly does not meet the standard. His ears are too big, his muzzle is too long,
his back is too long and he has multiple health issues. Truth is, he should never have been bred. He has hemophilia. Hemophilia is a genetic disorder generally
passed on through the mother. How many litters did his mother have and how
many other Westies like Ralph are out there.
A responsible breeder would have spayed the bitch. A puppy mill breeder just keeps on breeding
until the bitch can breed no more.
For those of you who are wondering what hemophilia is, I
took this definition from Wikipedia. “Haemophilia lowers blood plasma clotting
factor levels of the coagulation factors needed for a normal clotting process.
Thus when a blood vessel is injured, a temporary scab does form, but the
missing coagulation factors prevent fibrin formation, which is necessary to
maintain the blood clot. A haemophiliac does not bleed more intensely than a
person without it, but can bleed for a much longer time. In severe
haemophiliacs even a minor injury can result in blood loss lasting days or
weeks, or even never healing completely. In areas such as the brain or inside
joints, this can be fatal or permanently debilitating. “
As you can see in the pictures, in spite of his health
issues, Ralph is a very happy Westie who does not let anything slow him down.
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| He eventually learns how to swim (without his wheels) |
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