Kijiji should not be used as a pet store
Cautionary tale for people looking to purchase new pets
RICK HOWE (HOWE NOW) Halifax News Net
Once again, one Nova Scotia family's very negative experience highlights the risks involved with purchasing a pet on the open market, and reinforces the advice given time and time again - buyer beware.
CTV Atlantic told us the story of Ross Calvin who went to the Internet to buy his family a pet. He found a German Shepherd to his liking on the popular website Kijiji.
Within a day the animal, suffering from Parvo, a deadly virus for most dogs, had to be euthanized.
Calvin said it was a harsh lesson to learn. The next time, he told the television reporter, he will get a dog from a shelter like the SPCA.
Annette Armitage of the Animal Rescue League says Calvin's experience is one many Nova Scotians have gone through, and unfortunately, it will happen to many more. She's been lobbying Kijiji for several years now to follow the lead of its parent company, E-Bay, and ban the sale of live animals on its website. She told me the company promised to look into the matter and get back to her. That was in 2006. She's heard nothing since.
Armitage urges anyone looking for a pet to avoid Internet sites like Kijiji because there are too many unknowns. "You don't know where the dog came from and most never come with any health certificate."
A quick check on Kijiji's Halifax link shows 1,302 dogs and puppies for sale, from Rottweilers to Saint Bernards. Armitage would not buy any of them. "Personally, I would say avoid it. There are so many legitimate others."
She says legitimate breeders - Canadian Kennel Club approved breeders - have their own websites.
"If people are looking for a certain breed, they can find a CKC breeder to get it. If you want a mutt, go to Rescue, or the SPCA.
"After this most recent incident went public on the supper hour news, Armitage posted her own notice on Kijiji looking for people who've had similar bad experiences. She's received several replies back including one dog with neurological problems and another with Parvo.
Gail Benoit's name is one that regularly pops up over the years on the Rescue League's radar screen. The Digby area woman has since promised to reimburse Ross Calvin for his loss. Earlier this summer, several dogs she sold from the back of a van in various parking lots died within days of their purchase. Benoit will be in court later this month facing animal cruelty charges after 125 dogs were seized in Cape Breton from a supposed rescue centre. "She's well known to the rescue community," Armitage told me.
There are no government regulations preventing Benoit, or anyone, from selling dogs from their homes, via the Internet or from the back of a van. "Anybody can hang out a shingle and be a rescuer or a breeder. These are operations that should be checked on regularly, but are not," Armitage said.
Thus far however, the Department of Agriculture, "Brooke Taylor and his crew," Annette said, has left it up to the SPCA, an organization that has had its own share of troubles recently.
She says until the government tightens up the rules, puppy mill breeders will continue to operate at will. She urges people to look instead to reputable dealers or shelters. But if you decide otherwise, it is buyer beware.
rickhowe@halifaxnewsnet.ca
Rick Howe is a self-described army brat who has lived across Canada and Germany. He has worked 38 years in radio, 30 of those in Halifax as a radio reporter, newscaster, news director and talk show host. He's married with three grown sons, and is forever sad the Montreal Expos are no more.
If only a purebred will do, Buyer Beware has information on how to find a reputable breeder.
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record ... in a compassionate and civilized society, laws are the only effective way to protect the innocent. I'm not going to reiterate all the things that I've discussed in previous posts:
- On the hunt for a better solution
- Use the tools at hand
- Learning another language
- Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
- Strange bedfellows indeed ( although in fairness to CFHS, any reference to their partnership with Kijiji has recently disappeared from the archives of their website
What time is it? Its always time to remember that the only thing that will inspire our politicians to pass better laws for the animals is strong voter feedback.
The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. Albert Einstein
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