For many people active in animal rescue and advocacy, there is a dog or a cat or incident in their life that spurred them to action. For Bryan Phillips, it’s Dakota. His little puppy is fighting to recover after being diagnosed with distemper after Phillips and his girlfriend purchased her from Happiness is Pets (HIP) right before Christmas.
In the time since, Dakota has become the pivotal case for the Humane Society of the United States to launch an investigation thanks to Phillip’s diligence. Phillips started researching once he found out the dog had distemper and he hasn’t turned back. He’s provided details to the HSUS and worked with the Illinois Department of Agriculture to open an investigation into the case. There have now been four confirmed cases, three suspected cases and a confirmed report that six puppies with the illness were euthanized at a vet after being diagnosed. (See story)
“What upsets me most is that this horrible disease is preventable if a dog is properly vaccinated. We have vet records from the pet store claiming she’s been vaccinated,” says Phillips. In the meantime he has many questions. “Are Dakota’s and the other puppies’ vaccination records accurate? Was the vaccine given at the right time? Was the vaccine stored properly? Was it expired? Was it given at all? Since no third party validates the accuracy of the records no one will ever know. Illinois has made some strides with laws recently passed for companion animals, but this is not enough.”
The fight for justice
Phillips is now a man on a mission. He’s writing local and state officials asking for change, focusing on laws already written in Maine that protect consumers from fraud such as this. He is also turning to local officials as well since HIP has a local business license.
“We went to a pet store because we just wanted a healthy puppy without issues,” says Phillips. “As the veterinary bills add up and I do more research, I realized that wasn’t the place to go. I’ve learned that the whole pet store industry - the breeders, conditions, how a pet is treated more like a product than a living being – needs to be better regulated. I also missed some warnings along the way. This puppy was mellow and shivering in the pet shop and we just thought she was cold because it was cool in there and she was on the tile floor. She was shaking because she was struggling to breathe with pneumonia and distemper.”
Phillips was told by Happiness is Pets in Naperville that the dog came from one if it’s best breeders and was offered a health guarantee - if they utilized one of the stores veterinarians. When the dog seemed to be sick, Phillips girlfriend took Dakota to the Naperville Animal Hospital where they were told her condition is normal and gave her an antibiotic not normally prescribed to puppies – doxycycline. Phillips researched the medication and watched the dog get sicker and finally took her to the vet the rest of his family utilizes - Addison Animal Hospital - where Dakota was diagnosed with pneumonia and distemper.
Dakota’s recovery
“She has good and bad days. Sometimes she is running around doing normal puppy things and other times she sleeps most of the day,” says Phillips. “Sometimes she’ll eat all of her food and sometimes hardly eats anything at all. Her pneumonia has cleared up, but she continues to have a dry eye issue. She’s on her 5th eye med for this (4 prescription drugs and 1 over the counter artificial tears). My vet warns this may be a permanent condition. She also gags multiple times throughout the day. My heart wants to believe she'll be one of the exceptionally rare puppies to overcome this disease. Even is she does, it will be months before we know.”
Because of all these issues, Dakota is rarely left alone for long. Either Phillips’ girlfriend cares for her during the day and administers the medications as needed or Dakota goes along with Phillips to his office. Because the disease is contagious and deadly to the unvaccinated, they are keeping Dakota isolated in their home, away from other dogs and any socialization that is important to puppies at this stage of their lives.
Exposure to distemper
“You wonder how many dogs have been exposed because people have brought their own dogs into the pet store to meet a potential new family member,” adds Phillips. “Even if their dog didn’t come in with them, people have handled potentially sick puppies and walked out of the store after handling them and could infect other dogs they come into contact with. We have a dog a few doors down and we need to be very careful when we are out with Dakota that there is no contact.”
Vet bills mounting
In the meantime, he says he’s been angry and distraught over this. He points out that Dakota is just too young and cute to be going through this. After the diagnosis, Phillips girlfriend contacted the store and did get a refund for the price of the dog, but the veterinary bills continue to mount. The store suggested using one of their other vets since they had a bad experience with the Naperville vet.
“To us, this didn’t seem appropriate. With their recommended vet first shrugging of Dakota as normal we will not trust one of their recommended vets,” he adds. “This opens up many questions: What is the relationship between HIP and the recommended vets? Is the level of care different between the free visit by HIP and a paying customer? Are medical issues being covered up by these HIP recommended vets?”
In the meantime, the HSUS is continuing to investigate and asking for more people who purchased dogs that have become ill to come forward. Complaint forms are available online. You may also fill out a complaint form on the website for the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS).
Do you volunteer or work for a shelter or rescue that has programs you'd like to promote? Do you work in a pet-releated business that has an interesting story to tell? If so, contact me at kathypetexam@gmail.com. Enjoy this article? Receive email alerts when new articles become available. Just click on the subscribe button above. You may also follow me on Twitter, Facebook or read my blog.
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