Puppy smuggling draws protests (smuggled in from Mexico; most die)

Sun-Sentinel ^ | 4/28/06

[Wolfstar]

Alarmed by cross-border sales of ill pets, animal groups push for law
By Vincent J. Schodolski
Tribune national correspondent

SAN DIEGO -- Sandra McConkey's cocker spaniel had just died. Halloween was approaching when she and her daughter Ashley, then 14, were walking through the parking lot of the Plaza Bonita mall here.

All of a sudden Ashley started shouting, McConkey recalled. "Mommy, look, puppies, let's buy one!"

There in a box were two cocker spaniel puppies. "They were adorable," McConkey said. "They looked just like our dog who had died."

McConkey said she bargained with the Mexican woman selling the puppies, and eventually she and her husband paid $300 for both after being assured they were purebreds and had received the initial inoculations from a veterinarian in Tijuana, just across the border.

Within hours, however, both dogs showed signs of illness, and not long after, both were dead.

"My girls had to watch all this," McConkey said, adding that Ashley and her older sister, Jennie, were terribly upset.

Thousands of puppies brought into the United States from Mexico every year suffer the same fate. According to veterinarians and animal-welfare workers, 75 percent or more of the animals from Mexican puppy farms die within days or weeks.

And now there is increasing traffic in puppies from Eastern Europe, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In response, the group is pushing federal legislation to curb dog smuggling.

[SNIP]

Beyond canine ailments such as parvovirus, distemper and scabies, "these dogs have diseases that can be transmitted to human beings," said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Los Angeles branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She mentioned ringworm and mange as examples.

[SNIP]

[Wolfstar]

We're accustomed to thinking in terms of drug smuggling and trafficking in human beings, but even the most innocent among us are smuggled across our borders. They are sold to soft-hearted Americans for several hundred dollars apiece only to die shortly afterwards.

[Wolfstar]

Hi "Hair." Calling this article about puppy smuggling to your attention in case you want to ping your Doggie list.

[BubbaBobTX]

Doing the jobs that American dogs won't do.

[kinoxi]

just killing the puppies Americans won't kill

[2banana]

McConkey said she bargained with the Mexican woman selling the puppies, and eventually she and her husband paid $300 for both after being assured they were purebreds and had received the initial inoculations from a veterinarian in Tijuana, just across the border.

Some Americans are pretty stupid...

[kinoxi]

sorry, you've got quicker fingers than me right now :)

[Wolfstar]

just killing the puppies Americans won't kill

Ironic, but a true statement. The innocents, very young children and, in this case, very young pups, are always the ones who suffer most when adults break the law or refuse to enforce it.

[x1stcav]

I don't buy Mexican puppies or Mexican produce. This is my counter-boycott...modest though it is.

[Wolfstar]

Some Americans are pretty stupid...

Some are soft-hearted, too.

[Owl_Eagle]

she bargained with the Mexican woman selling the puppies

inoculations from a veterinarian in Tijuana

Most of the greatest tragedies in my life have involved these two phrases.

I didn't have the courage to read further and determine the outcome.

[Wolfstar]

I didn't have the courage to read further and determine the outcome.

The outcome is that the Humane Society, ASPCA and other such organizations are trying to get legislation passed in Congress to ban important of puppies under one year.

The tragic and ironic thing is, such legislation probably won't have any effect given that we aren't controlling our borders.

I hate that this will become another illegal immigration thread, because, dog lover that I am, I do want to focus attention on this particular issue of puppy smuggling. But in this instance, the two issues are intertwined.

[Trust but Verify]

"Puppy snuggling? How can you protest puppy snuggling?"

"Uh, Miss Littela, that's protesting puppy smuggling, not snuggling!"

"Oh, well that's quite different. Nevermind."

[Wolfstar]

:)

[pollyannaish]

I have a question for you...and while I have to take off for a bit, I am very interested in your answer.

It seems to me, that the better the Mexican economy, the more likely the illegals are to stay home. Your beef would be with American producers that hire illegals.

So, your regarding your boycott—doesn't it make more sense to boycott American produce? However, that flies in the face of those who don't want outsourcing...so perhaps that's the issue.

In any case, I'm just trying to get a grasp of where you are coming from on this. (I understand the puppies. ; ) )

[vetvetdoug]

Why go to Mexico? West Tennessee and Northeast Mississippi have hundreds of puppy mills with sickly mange infested puppies to ship to unsuspecting fellow citizens. The USDA turns a blind eye to the mills in this area. There are flea markets in the area, First Mondays, as they are called where one can see scabies infested, sickly, and heartworm infested dogs for sale from all over the country. Ironically, there are research dog buyers to get the older dogs at these events and leave the puppies for the animal lovers.

[ClaireSolt]

After 9/11 I was struck for one Middle Easterner's praise of America where even the dogs are cared for.

[kinoxi]

'boycott American produce" ? please explain

[HairOfTheDog]

I guess living as far from Mexico as I do, I'm surprised the ~Mexican~ puppy issue is a ~bigger~ problem than the basic issue of people failing to get puppies shots, no matter where they are from. Puppies bought or rescued from cardboard boxes in parking lots often have Parvo no matter where they come from. And Parvo is a brutal way to watch a puppy die.

Please, everyone, don't expose puppies to the world without their shots. Parvo is everywhere, not just Mexico.

Ping!

Other articles with keyword "DOGGIEPING" since 12/29/04

[poobear]

Wolfstar, with much regret I ask that you remove me from your ping list. Regards, Poobear ( my Yorkie Poodle Terrier)

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

What kind of a nitwit buys "purebreds" from a woman in a parking lot?! Good grief!!

Poor dogs, though. If people weren't total idiots and kept buying these poor animals, this practice would cease.

[pollyannaish]

My remarks are aimed at those who are boycotting Mexican produce.

It seems to me that we want the Mexican economy to get better so that people who are coming here illegally will have more of an incentive to stay home. Jobs would be part of that, and the ability of the Mexican government to export their goods helps that.

Most here have a beef with American companies and individuals who hire illegals to work their fields, which creates a market for illegal workers.

Therefore, boycotting Mexican produce as a way to stage a protest against illegal immigration would be counter productive. Their beef is with American Companies and products.

On the other hand, if this is protesting imports/free trade, the boycott makes sense. It's just that in this case those are two competing issues.

[Grendel9]

$300 for two puppies she was
ASSURED were pedigree and had
innoculations...by a woman
selling them ON THE STREET?
Never asked for papers...for the
puppies OR the woman?

Ok...still one being born every minute,
Mr. Barnum!

[kinoxi]

interesting point, i don't see the solution in that statement though

[x1stcav]

I am sick and tired of the arrogance of the third-world dirtbag Mexican government and their occupying army here in the states. I am sick and tired of our politicians; the demonrats are an anti-American 5th column and the Repub's in the Senate are gutless wonders who could care less about those, like us here on FR, who got them to where they are.

You are still trying to find constructive and mature reactions responses and are hoping to find reasonable solutions to the problem, and I commend you in this. The Mexican government is so corrupt that no matter how much their economy improves, there will be little trickle down and the illegals will still keep trying to make it here.

I, on the other hand, am older and more cynical. I see no way out of the problem. Our politicians will betray us, the media will aid and abet this, and ultimately there will probably be something resembling a civil was in this country.

So, I'm just trying to throw a monkey wrench in wherever I can.

Besides, having spent a lot of my life in third-world countries, I can assure you that their ideas regarding hygiene are considerably different from ours. So it is partly out of health concerns that I will buy no produce grown in third-world countries.

[Joe 6-pack]

"$300 for two puppies she was ASSURED were pedigree and had innoculations...by a woman selling them ON THE STREET? Never asked for papers...for the puppies OR the woman?"

I might have offered to buy the pups provided she was willing to accept paperless money.

[bpjam]

Its not that they are soft-hearted. Its more that they think they are getting 'a deal' on a pure bred dog which might be $1000 or more here in the US at some pet store. I'm going to have to chalk this one up to Americans being stupid if they are going to Tijuana to buy things period.

[Wolfstar]

Wolfstar, with much regret I ask that you remove me from your ping list.

Poobear, with respect, which pinglist would that be? I don't keep any.

[shhrubbery!]

Puppies bought or rescued from cardboard boxes in parking lots often have Parvo no matter where they come from.

I'm a volunteer puppy trainer for a guide dog organization -- and out of fear of PARVO, we puppy raisers aren't allowed to put our puppies' paws on the ground anywhere (except inside our homes and on leash immediately outside), until two weeks after their THIRD parvo vaccination.

So we have carry the lil' critters around everywhere until they're 15 weeks. Gets pretty heavy!

[HairOfTheDog]

The risk is real..... good tips!

[Serb5150]

Is that a Leonard Cohen tagline?

[poobear]

I dunno, I get pinged with these Doggie pings daily. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[pollyannaish]

I don't have a solution, which is why I asked the question.

I am trying to get a handle on the motives/expected outcome of this particular approach.

Here's the thing. We often have knee jerk reactions to things that happen in the world, our country and our neighborhoods. (Ok, at least I know I do). We get frustrated and push back in one way or another.

It has taken me years to stop, look and listen so to speak. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The problem is, without filtering one's gut instinct through one's brain...we get killed by unintended consequences. In this rapidly connecting world, we have to be careful to look at thing within the context of the big picture—how will this affect all these other things. There isn't always a straight-line correlation between two problems.

For instance: When dealing with China at this juncture, we have two realistic choices. Cut them completely off and isolate ourselves from them. Or make them dependent on our dollars to survive, giving us some element of control over their decisions.

Obviously, neither is a perfect option given the bleakness of the regime. However, I can see why at least having some control over their financial decisions is a better choice than giving them no options and allowing them to control things like our oil acquisition.

I digress. But I think you can see my point. In this case, I was looking for an explanation of goals from x1stcav before I commented further. But too late! : )

[Wolfstar]

I'm going to have to chalk this one up to Americans being stupid if they are going to Tijuana to buy things period.

The woman in the article bought the pups in San Diego.

I'm not interested in the stupidity of people, just in the suffering of the pups. I posted the article to call attention to this problem.

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

Yeah, it is very sad.

[HairOfTheDog]

Poobear, I'm the one who pinged you to the doggieping list... do you want off that list?

[Wolfstar]

I dunno, I get pinged with these Doggie pings daily. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Oh, I get it. "Hair," apparently poobear is on your Doggie ping list and wants off. Thanks. :)

[brytlea]

Really sad stuff (especially for the puppies). However, how stupid do you have to be to pay $300 for puppies from someone out of a box in a parking lot? Why would you imagine anything they told you was true? The consumer gets what they deserve, I suppose, but the poor dogs do not.
susie

[HairOfTheDog]

I've removed you. :~D

[kinoxi]

ah, well that explains it. bug him some more 'till we get an answer then :)

[darkwing104]

Being the proud owner of a Cocker I have to say I am now more pissed off then ever...Build the wall now.

[RushCrush]

I'm new to the whole puppy vaccinations thing- what exactly is a parvo vaccination called? is it called Parvo or by some other name?

I don't remember my vet every mentioning that my pup needs this- is it something you have to ask for?

[Wolfstar]

Hi pollyannaish, your post #32 is remarkable for being so reasoned and reasonable. I agree with your point of view completely.

[brytlea]

If they ban the import of puppies under one year, then I cannot buy a purebred dog to improve my breeding program, from say Italy, right? (one of my breeds has a small American genepool and many people import puppies to add into their bloodlines).
susie

[darkwing104]

Good Advice...Thanks

[brytlea]

OOO cute! THank you
susie

[pollyannaish]

So, basically you are sick and tired. ; ). I know that feeling.

Thanks for your answer. I think that trying to throw a Monkey Wrench in things, not to mention the hygiene aspects, seem fair enough and despite the murky nature of the expected outcome, you will certainly feel much better! Sometimes that is the most important thing—you just have to stick it to the man. (Ok, at least I do.)

You are absolutely correct about the Mexican government of course. Unfortunately, I am too young to give up yet. And, for that matter I'm a bit, uh, pollyannaish. So I'll keep trying.

Thanks again for your response. I really do need to get going, but that refresh button just keeps calling me back. LOL.

Have a great afternoon.

[Wolfstar]

The consumer gets what they deserve, I suppose, but the poor dogs do not.

Yep, the innocents do not. I posted the article to call attention to the fact that puppy smuggling is a problem and there is legislation pending in Congress. That the woman used by the author of the article for a human interest angle was stupid and/or too soft-hearted to use her head, is not aspect of the story I care about.

[HairOfTheDog]

Has your pup had 'shots' of any kind? Any vaccination combo recommended for puppies would contain at least rabies, parvovirus and distemper. Parvovirus is the number one killer of puppies, far more common than rabies or distemper.

[Tinman93]

I've heard they also have cat juggling down there too!!!

[RushCrush]

Yes she has had everything the vet says she needs to this point (6 months old). Cost me about $300 all together. I have a list at home of what the shots are. I just don't remember ever hearing the word Parvo.

I'll check tonight. Thank God for FR!