and then there were 3
 

My best friend and I went to a boutique pet shop a couple of weeks ago to check out all things PINK for her two 4 lb female yorkies. This store also boasted that it sold only locally bred puppies so, of course, we just had to look at them.

One of the puppies was much smaller than the rest and was being knocked around like a stuffed toy by another puppy. My friend picked her up and we discovered that she was just a skeleton beneath her thin fur and she had dificulty breathing. We brought this to the attention of the sales girl, but she told us that the vet had just visited the previous day and said this puppy was fine. There was liquid running from the poor creature's nose and since we are completely without common sense, my friend and I purchased the puppy and took her immediately to our vet.

My vet was angry after the exam and told us to take the puppy back. She said that this furbaby would not live the weekend (this was on a Friday) and needed emergency care...so, of course, we took her home. (along with a bottle of antibiotics)

Well, she did not die, she is 2 lbs of fighter. She has gained 6 1/2 oz in the last three weeks and her horrible cough has subsided. We have named her Pixie because she is tiny and full of fun. We believe she is a Morkie and her papers show that she came from MO, more than likely a puppy mill...but we couldn't just leave her to die in that store.

Here she is with my friend's two 4lb yorkies.

Congrats on saving her life. I don't think in this situation you supported a puppy mill, although I assume others would disagree.

She definitely looks like a Morkie. That's exactly what my Cooper looked like, but with floppy ears. Pixie is very adorable.

Your Cooper is a cutie!! I hope she grows up to be just as adorable.

That's sweet, thanks. Best of luck with her. I hope she will continue to be in good health.

I understand. my first yorkie was from a pet store. just could not leave her there, So bless you for saving her. ;)
I really thing we need to stop the puppy mills from the source. :mad:
Good luck :)

What a trio of cuties!! What a selfless thing you did saving this baby's life. I don't believe that you supported a puppy mill by buying this girl, since she might have died and they would have simply replaced her either way. Morkie, yorkie, whatever she is, she is very sweet...and lucky;)! Enjoy!!

I think that you did a great thing saving the little puppy. I couldn't have left it there either. Pixie is super cute too :D and I love her name.

I would have to disagree with you "saving her". Although she is adorable any purchase from a pet store with the knowledge that you obviously have is only perpetuating the suffering of all of the breeding machines left at the mills.

I'm sure that on any given day that I could walk into a pet shop and purchase a sick puppy and call it rescue/saving and for that reason I do not and will not step into those type of businesses. Even by purchasing a dog treat from a place that sells puppies is supporting puppy mill. :(

My suggestion would be to take a look at this thread and better arm yourself with knowledge.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ml#post3292415

Do you realize that in Missouri alone there are 200,000 breeders locked in cages pumping out puppies?!!!? To me that is just shocking that in just one state there is almost a quarter MILLION dogs. That alone is enough to stop anyone in their tracks.

I do not mean to take the happiness of a new puppy away from you but felt that I should have a voice of all those that do not. :(

Im so glad our pet stores dont sell puppies where I live, I too would find it VERY hard to leave them in those places.
You followed your heart and you saved this baby, congratulations.

I agree with you 100%. I never would have gone into that Pet Boutiqe if I had known the horror that I would see. There were other pups there who were coughing and I left angry and upset. My neighbors and friends have joined me in calling the owners of the store to complain and let them know that we are now aware of their lies concerning the "locally bred" pets they sell in high end neighborhoods to uneducated , unsupecting people.

As I said at the beginning of my post we were looking for PINK sweaters and other cold weather stuff in small sizes for two spoiled yorkies. But if we had left without the puppy we would not have slept that night and would have been there to get her the very next day. it was too much for any caring human being to ignor.

I didn't mean to offend anyone or stir up a lot of anger. Just wanted to tell my tale and let the YT people know that we have a tiny new member.

Do you have a local news station? The store LIED about selling only locally bred puppies when the papers showed she came from MO. I would ask the news people to do an expose... Call the local ASPCA on them... Picket outside their store... I don't know what else. But if you could persuade these people to stop selling puppies, that would be a rescue.

I think you DID rescue that one baby by following your heart. Think how many more you could rescue if they stopped selling.

Why is it that so many of these puppy mills are in MO?

I say thank god one was saved! I don't think I could have left her either. I hope you call and report the animal cruelty to the authorities. We do not have pet stores that sell dogs or cats here, and I am thankful. Our pet stores do however host adoption days to help the local animal shelters and rescues:)

Sign up here and get all the great deals that they have weekly. Then you can stay away from that horrible place. :(

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...5-jammies.html

Thank you for having a huge heart and saving this baby xo By the way they are all adorable

:thumbup: that's a good idea. It's a tough situation, but what's done is done. I assume the OP will not be shopping in many more pet stores. I agree that you supported the pet store just by shopping there, but on the other hand I do feel you saved the pup's life.

Now this is what we all should be striving for. To get each of our States to no longer allow the sale of dogs in Pet Stores. It won't totally solve the puppy mill problem, but it's a HUGE start. Along with continued public announcements within each of our respective communities.

Can you take the information you have about the puppy being local and that a vet had just checked her out but your vet didn't think she would make it through the weekend and report it to a local organization? I am happy for HER that she survived because I do not want to see any puppy suffer but think of her sweet little momma who is still suffering! :cry:

If you really want to make things right for your newest baby, I would challenge you to BE HER VOICE AND SHOUT LOUD to whomever will listen until you can shut that store down! Picket in front of there and ensure potential store clients know what happened and how uncaring the owner is. Anything... but make "The Story of Pixie" known!

Just my humble opinion...

Peggy, Monkey & Maddie :daisy:

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: very well said!

EXCELLENT! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

It's a tricky situation, but at the end of the day you saved a life. However, now you have the means to get word out about this store! I would contact local writers for the newspaper and local TV stations. That place sounds horrible and I totally echo what someone else said about getting word out to your town about this wretched place. Good luck! :)

Just wanted to say that our little one is adorable and I hope that she continues to thrive in your loving care.

Does Florida have puppy lemon laws ? If so , you may be able to get a refund and vet bills paid for and still keep her. Also you really should call animal control and report the situation so maybe they would shut down the place.

All three of the babies are adorable. Congratulations on your new addition :) It's just too bad it was under those circumstances.

I'm glad you were able to save her life. She more than likely would have died there and just been replaced. I hate going to petstores that have puppies... it's really depressing to have to walk away from all those poor babies in glass cages...

You could use the purchase of her against the store that sold her by making her the spokesdog, as someone else suggested. Use her to let the media expose the fraud that is going on, that would turn the purchase into a positive..

Florida does have very good laws, if you can force the petstore to pay the vet bills and/or refund her price..you will have hurt the profiteers twice. That would be very cool. Save a life and hurt their wallet all in one fell swoop.

Thank goodness you rescued this baby!!!! What a wonderful thing. She will be fine now in a warm and loving home!!

While I congratulate you on your new puppy I feel that you knew what you were doing and can't condone that.

Buying anything from a store that sells puppies is supporting puppy mills - period!

Three's Company!
 

I think you did a selfless thing! You must have had to pay and arm and leg also in a pet store, but she's safe now and on her way to a wonderful life! She's adorable by the way along with her other two little friends!

I got RU our first furbaby at a breeders that was actually a "pet store" and he was sick with pnemonia for six weeks after that! He's been the love of my life! But I did write a lot of reviews about the place and later they were actually in the news for buying from Puppy Mills and RU did come from MO.

I agree you should try doing something about the rest of the poor little animals at the store, call the local paper or newsstation, go on the web site for the store and write a review. I can understand why some people see it as support for puppy mills but you saved a life! You're a very special person!

I entered "Palm Beach Puppies" into the google search and now I see that everyone, including the news media is aware that there is a problem at this store (Wellington) and the sister store in Boca Raton. I was unaware and went there with a friend who was searching for small size sweaters for her two yorkies. We had already been to every Petsmart, PetCo, PetSupermarket and several other Pet stores in the area, and we were both unaware of the controversy surrounding this store. You are right, I did end up purchasing a puppy that I didn't really plan on getting, for too much of my hard earned money. I live in a condo with a one dog limit and I am already over that limit with Patrick and my rescued silkie terrier, Niko. But I have more sensitivity than sense when it comes to any animal in distress. Why is this store still open? I am baffled.

She's a cutie:love: Unfortunately, she may have a life full of health issues, as many of these little ones from mills do:(

The store is still open because they know how to skirt the laws, AND they know how to play on the shoppers\' sympathies. They KNOW that a sick little puppy is going to tug at people\'s heartstrings. My Luna is from a pet store. I knew better, and didn\'t even want to go into the store, but my husband insisted. We had just lost our first Yorkie, Starr, and were in no condition to be even looking at puppies, but there we were:rolleyes: She was so tiny and sickly looking, my hubby just had to "save" her. We did save her life, she ended up almost dying on us but we pulled her through. I had to fight like crazy, but the pet store DID end up reimbursing us for the emergency vet bill of over $700:eek: I had to practically harrass the woman, but she finally cut me a check, which we went and cashed right away in fear that she\'d stop payment on it:laugh:

Anyway, the problem with "saving" one of those precious babies is that there are more waiting to take their place:cry: Use Pixie\'s story to educate as many as you can, and to get the word out about that awful place. Any GOOD breeder of puppies would NEVER ever sell their puppies to a pet store, so I think it\'s super shady of them to claim that their pups come from local breeders:rolleyes: Good breeders have waiting lists and are very picky about where their pups end up.

Good luck with her, she sure is adorable:love:!