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  Millie Vanillie of Kansas - Page 2  

Born on a Monday (the most common day of the week for puppymill pups - source) on April 6, 2009 in Wakarusa, Kansas, Millie was shipped to a local petshop here in Simi Valley who received her on June 8th, 2009.  At barely 8 weeks old, Millie already weighed 2.8 pounds (45 ounces) and as you can see from this Chi puppy growth chart here, even the biggest Chi puppy at this age should have weighed no more than 33 ounces.

Millie sat in the petshop for weeks until she was purchased by a local family, impressed by the fact she came with AKC registration papers and was a 'purebred' --- despite being discounted in price as she grew large when she didn't sell quickly enough.  At the time of purchase, the original owners were not aware Millie was a puppymill puppy despite having many of the traits.  Shortly thereafter, they began questioning things about Millie that just didn't 'seem right' for a puppy of her age and supposedly high standard of breeding. 

They felt it was a lack of training or they weren't able to spend enough time with her, but we assured them that puppymill puppies are hard to rehabilitate for a variety of reasons.   Born in a puppymill and raised by a puppymill mom (who is probably also a product of the mills), these puppies seldom stay with their moms long enough to learn all of the canine social skills and behaviors they need to adjust to a family's home and lifestyle.  The moms - not learning these things from their moms either - cannot teach their pups what they themselves do not know.

Initially at the beginning of fostering Millie, she could not relate to ANY of the other dogs.  For the first couple of days, she hid out in corner of the foster mom's home. 

When she did venture out, Millie immediately showed her teeth and growled at the other dogs.  Eventually the foster mom started winning over Millie's trust through her stomach - great smelling and nutritional food is a GREAT rehabilitation tool!  Millie was not spayed at the time, so the foster mom had to catch Millie and restart the trusting process all over again as she recuperated from being spayed.

• Millie's Story
• Millie's Blog

• Canis Major: What does AKC registration really mean?
• AKC: Registration
• Your Purebred Puppy: Are AKC papers important?
• AKC standard: Chihuahua
• How much is that puppy in the window - really? (trivia)
• The process: The Trip
• What is life like for moms breeding in USDA regulated breeding facilities?
• Rehabilitation of a Puppy Mill Dog

Investigation of Millie's paperwork given to us by the owners proved to be quite an interesting journey, to say the very least!  It all looked VERY official, and if you were a typical consumer, you probably would be impressed.  However, as soon as we saw the Hunte Corporation in the paperwork, we knew we definitely had a puppymill puppy - Hunte Corporation is the largest puppymill broker in the United States.

• Millie's health record issued by the Hunte Corporation - There were quite a few interesting points in this document. Hunte's note indicates the breeder met their requirements of dewormer at 4 & 6 weeks, vaccinated at 6 weeks of age and kennel cough at 4 weeks. 

  • Note that Millie was NOT vaccinated at 5 weeks for Parvo, nor at 6 weeks as recommended for a combo vaccine, nor did she receive her vaccinations until she was 8 weeks and a day prior to being sold by the breeder to Hunte Corporaton.

  • Fenbendazle is a dewormer, given at 8 weeks old

  • Nutrient Gel

  • Sulfadiazine is an antibiotic

  • Vanguard Plus 5 is a vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and their recommendations state the first shot should be done at 6 weeks, followed by the second at 9 weeks - pretty hard to do when Millie wasn't vaccinated at all until the day before she was shipped off at 8 weeks old to Hunte!

  • Note the expiration date of the Vanguard Plus 5 - the vaccine used on June 3rd for Millie was set to expire the following month.  Having order vaccines frequently, we can tell you that generally there is at least 9 months to a year before the vaccine is due to expire when you purchase them (i.e. Foster & Smith is selling this vaccine with a September 2010 expiration on November 19, 2009).  And they must be kept refrigerated to be effective.

• Millie's "Certificate of Pedigree" document proved just as interesting.  It looks pretty official, doesn't it?  Clear down to the gold seal paw print!  It CLEARLY says AKC 5774/29 for the dad (Casey of H & H) and AKC 5774/28 for the mom (Our April of H & H). And then your eyes drift down to the bottom to see the footer of the document:

 

 

 

 

When combined with the official AKC Dog Registration Application (complete with the barcode for TR86649303), you as a member of the general public would believe you have indeed purchased a purebred AKC, right?  You paid at least twice the price for this pup and you've gotten what you've paid for right?

As simply a fluke, we requested a free puppy report from PetShopPuppies (report).  As you can see from the current USDA inspection reports of Millie's breeder in Kansas, there was a wealth of things that needed to be corrected, not withstanding shoddy paperwork practices.  This was not 'new' news for back in 2004 when this breeder had 242 adult dogs and 21 puppies, the USDA inspection report listed the same structural defects.

We called the breeder directly in Kansas and she confirmed that neither the mother nor the father were registered with the AKC - that she registers all of her puppies through CKC (Continental Kennel Club).  Note the rules as listed at CKC's website:

Dogs over 6 months of age which have no previous Registration history may be registered by providing 2 witness signatures attesting to the purebred status of the dog along with 3 photos (front, left and right) of the dog to confirm it is ‘of proper breed type’ as defined.

Intrigued?  Continue on... >>>

• Undercover at the Hunte Corporation (videos)
• Tulsa World: Puppy Showcase (Hunte Corporation)
• Puppy Profits: Purebred pedigrees can boost profits
• Puppy Profits: An investigation into Oklahoma's dog breeding industry