A sick bull mastiff puppy is reported to have spent several weeks at Doggie World before being returned to the breeder, where it was euthanized because of kidney failure.

Leny and John Matherly hadn’t had a pet in a long time, but decided to make the big lifestyle change this year and get a puppy. They puppy-proofed their home and started looking for a small dog to buy.

They found Doggie World in Langley City and purchased a yorkie-pom cross on Dec. 31. By the time they got the tiny puppy home, it wouldn’t eat or drink and could barely lift its head.

“We took it to the vet the next morning,” Leny said.

All puppies sold at Doggie World are given six weeks of free health insurance which can be used at an animal hospital in Surrey the pet store works with.

“The vet didn’t even touch the dog. Just one look at it and said ‘your dog has parvo virus’,” said Leny.

Later that day it was vomiting blood, she said. The vet broke the bad news to the couple that their new addition wouldn’t live. The puppy died Jan. 5.

While at the animal hospital, Leny said she met with other people who had bought puppies at Doggie World and they too had dogs sick with parvo.

Parvo is a highly infectious, deadly disease which attacks dogs with underdeveloped immune systems, such as puppies or unvaccinated dogs.

Leny and John are devastated by the whole experience. They wouldn’t get another pet right away, but couldn’t even if they wanted to, because they would be subjecting their new animal to the highly infectious virus.

Breanne Erhardt bought her silky/yorkie-cross Sammy on Dec. 19 from Doggie World.

“Everyone tells you, and I know, you are not supposed to buy from pet stores, but I only went in there to look,” said Erhardt. “Those puppies tug on your heartstrings and you hold one and you’re hooked.”

She paid $1,200 and took her new puppy home to Vancouver. But Sammy didn’t have a solid bowel movement for days. She took her puppy to the vet whose services Doggie World offers for free. But Erhardt wasn’t satisfied, so she went to her own vet and had tests done. By then, Sammy had a cough.

Test results showed that Sammy had kennel cough and a parasite. She was put on medication and looks like she will survive, said Erhardt. She went to the store to talk about getting some of her money back for vet bills. When that was refused, she decided to protest outside the store.

“I met three different people who bought sick dogs from them within 45 minutes of standing in front of their store this past Saturday (Jan. 2). It was heartbreaking,” she said.

Rose Vanderende wanted to get a female lab retriever puppy for her family. She fell in love with Lexy, the only female lab Doggie World allegedly had left. At seven weeks, she was too young to go home with them but if they paid now, they could visit Lexy everyday, she was told.

They took her home on Dec. 28. Four days later she was sick. After a visit to the vet, the Vanderendes were told their puppy has parvo. She’s been at the vet ever since. She is not likely going to make it through the week, Vanderende said. The owners of Doggie World offered to refund them the money and pay for all the vet bills, she said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Doggie World was still selling puppies. But by Wednesday morning, a sign on the door read “Closed for renovations until Jan. 21.” SCPA constables attended the store that day.

“It’s a good thing they are closed down right now. They are doing the best [thing] they can do with this parvo outbreak,” said Eileen Drever, senior animal protection officer.

She personally checked 45 puppies on Wednesday. She had contacted the owners of Doggie World the night prior, giving them verbal orders to take all the sick puppies to the vet, she said.

“We did that based on complaints we had from several customers with sick dogs,” Drever said. “We further ordered three puppies to be brought to the vet to be looked at.”

Those puppies were brought back to the pet store Wednesday afternoon by an employee. He told The Times that the dogs had a clean bill of health. The parvo outbreak has hit pet stores in Surrey and Maple Ridge as well, he said. Doggie World has offered refunds to every customer who has a sick or dead puppy.

Doggie World operator Alicia Mills said she is devastated by this outbreak of parvo and has offered a full refund to everyone.

“I know how difficult this must be for everyone. I don’t fault them for being angry.

“We would have never intentionally sold them a puppy that was sick,” said Mills. The virus can often be contagious in a pup before symptoms show up, she said. She believes a customer carried parvo into her store.

“We are doing everything we can. That’s why we are closed for renovations earlier than planned.”

She admits that near Christmas time they were a bit ‘overloaded’ with pups and plan to scale down the number of animals for sale when they re-open.

Former employees of Doggie World have written letters and provided pictures to the SPCA, citing evidence of neglect of care for the puppies, including large breed dogs like bull mastiffs which spent all their time in pens or kennels.

Former employee Kat Akeroyd alleges she witnessed upwards of 50 puppies become sick and die during her short period of employment. She dealt with bloody and mucus-filled stool from many puppies, she alleges.

“Those puppies, even the Labradoodles and mastiffs, are stuck in the pens 24/7 unless they are getting their picture taken. They are dying for attention.

“I worked there because it really seemed like (the owners) cared about these pets, but everything wasn’t as it seems,” said Akeroyd.

Especially for one bull mastiff she called Skinny Boy (see photo, front page).

She feels guilty for how he turned to skin and bones while living in a large cage for weeks, she claims.

Pictures show an emaciated, sick puppy. She claims the dog did go to the vet but ended up back at the store with a kidney problem and was sent back to the breeder where he was euthanized.

“At any signs of illness we always send our dogs to our vet which is seven minutes away,” said Mills.

“The SPCA even came and saw that bull mastiff and looked at our vet reports before we sent him back to the breeder. We’ve never been given an order by the SPCA.”

Another former employee Lisa Poole, who was employed there more recently, said she witnessed many dogs confined to kennels during their entire existence there. Some were foaming at the mouth because they were so sick, she said.

Three former employees of the store have written formal letters of complaint to the SPCA about the treatment of the puppies there.

But the SPCA is so far not investigating the store for cruelty, confirmed Drever.

“We will certainly be following up but they seem to be proactive. When dealing with this kind of volume of puppies, they are so susceptible to illness,” Drever said.

She backed up the current employee’s statement that a bad strain of parvo has hit pet stores in other areas.

Akeroyd said the pens were cleaned and the puppies fed and given fresh water.

The operators were also very good about making sure employees and visitors used sanitation stations.

Akeroyd alleges that new pups would come into the store from the breeder looking filthy, and often their pads were worn. She is writing to politicians seeking stronger animal cruelty laws in Canada, which haven’t been looked at since the late 1800s. A group of people plan to protest outside the store when it re-opens.

The Doggie World website reads: “We have been selective in choosing our breeders and back our puppies with a one-year health guarantee covering congenital defects.

“All of our puppies come from carefully selected family style breeders. We do not work with puppy mills, brokers or huge kennel operations.” Mills said most of her dogs come from breeders in Alberta.

Marcie Moriarty, SPCA general manager of cruelty investigations, said it is very difficult to track puppy brokers. She also noted that the prevention of cruelty act doesn’t address sick puppies or puppy mills, only the care of animals.

“When people buy from a pet store, they are not doing any favours for the dogs of this world, especially the mothers who are being bred,” said Moriarty.

Also under the law, a dog seller is not required to disclose the breeder “so we can’t trace them.”

•No limits placed on dog sellers in City

Doggie World is the only store selling puppies in Langley. Sometimes, the store has had more than 130 puppies at a time on its premises, according to Langley animal control.

But under Langley City bylaws, there are no restrictions on pet stores selling puppies, nor on how many can puppies can be in a store at one time.

A store could sell 500 puppies at a time as long as they are being cared for, said Langley animal shelter manager Sean Baker.

The Township doesn’t allow the sale of puppies. However, animals, mostly cats and kittens, from shelters and non-profit rescue groups can be put up for adoption at pet food stores in the Township.

“They are classified as a retail store in our C1 zoning,” said City manager Francis Cheung.

Based on complaints to the City, an inspection of Doggie World was done before Christmas and remedial work was required, said Cheung. This includes plumbing code issues, an electrical permit, fire safety and storage of flammable and liquid items.

The City will follow up to make sure they have complied under the given time allotted, he said.

Both the Township and City allow two dogs per home.

The City’s bylaws state that “no person shall keep, harbour or possess any dog suffering from any infectious or communicable disease unless such dog is in isolation on the owner’s property and is undergoing treatment for the cure of such disease.”