Straight back from Tunisia we got busy in the garden, we had just over a week to put a fence up, making the garden more secure for the arrival of Buddy and Ollie, the pups we were getting from Bulgaria. It was really cold in Scotland at times we were scraping ice off the wood so we could treat it with wood preservative. We were out working with our bobble hats and gloves on but we got it done in time and were excitedly waiting to get the call to say the pups had arrived. They were getting dropped off at a kennel in England where they had to stay for 48 hours, it was from there we were going to pick them up.
Buddy and Ollie are pups of Stella, who belongs to our daughter in Bulgaria. Stella was actually rescued from the streets of Egypt by our daughter when she lived there and has been at her side ever
since. Stella had 6 pups, one stayed in Bulgaria, three were going to a sanctuary in Holland where they were going to be rehomed, the last two were coming to Scotland, one for me and the other for my son.
When we got the phone call to collect the pups it was very last minute,even though we had asked for some warning, as we had to travel so far. This meant we had to leave at three in the morning but we were glad to get down there, as we were not overly impressed with the kennels when we got there and were happy to get them out of there and back home.
We then had to start the long journey back, thankfully the dogs were so tired and well behaved that they soon settled down in the car. Seeing as they hardly knew us, having only met me and David for one week at Christmas the dogs were incredible which made the journey back so much easier.
Our son was also in the car and both dogs soon cuddled in and fell asleep by him.
We were so pleased to eventually have the pups as we had waited so long, we had bought new pet beds, toys, collars, bowls and couldn't wait to take them to the beach close to our house as they had never seen the sea before.
Then it all went wrong.
As we travelled through Edinburgh we got a phone call from our daughter in Bulgaria telling us that one of her other pups, who had gone to Holland was seriously ill and we should keep a careful eye on our pups and take to the vet if needed.
The three pups that were going to Holland left our daughter a month before our pups and were supposed to go straight to Holland. When they didn't arrive in Holland the person there told our daughter who in turn contacted the transport company to find out what was going on. Apparently they didn't have the right size of crates for the pups so they couldn't be transported until they got them. Our daughter offered to pick up the pups as she didn't want to them be stressed but was told that due to their age the pups would stay in the transporters house and would leave as soon as the crates arrived. This did not happen, the pups were kept for a month and in fact met up with my two pups, their litter mates, on their journey.
This could have been quite nice with the pups getting a chance to see each other again, sadly though during this month the three Holland pups had become infected, testing positive for both parvovirus and distemper.
As soon as the pups were dropped off in Holland the person there knew they were ill and took them to the vet, who put one straight on a drip. Sadly very quickly all three were put down over the next few days.
Buddy (above) was ill on the first day we had him so we made an emergency appointment for him at our vet and he was put on antibiotics straight away, as was Ollie as a precaution. Although the pups had a few perky moments which saw them enjoying their new home, they quickly became more ill particularly Buddy who after a few days was admitted to the vet to be put on a drip. Sadly this did not work and two days later he also was put down.
Buddy and Ollie enjoyed the window seat, nice, warm, comfy and also let them be nosey.
Buddy was put down a week after we got him on St Valentines Day, February the 14th. Ollie meanwhile had also been getting treated with antibiotics and steroids but he rapidly went downhill and a week later also had to be put down.
Ironically, our daughter had transported the pups to Holland and Britain as she thought they would have happier, healthier lives and yet the only pup who survives is still in Bulgaria. Stella, the mum is also fit and well. The pups had been vaccinated against both parvovirus and distemper but for some reason this did not work.
We did contact the transport company about this, mainly to warn them that not only somewhere and somehow the dogs had become infected in their care but also to ensure they cleaned the crates,bowls and transport they had used.
The company never got back to us even though we emailed them at two addresses and sent them a message on Facebook. The only response we have seen is that their Facebook page went mysteriously down for a short while, it then came back with different wording which was not as impressive as when my daughter had booked it. They also still had photos on their page showing our pups and another successful journey!
This has been a very sad and distressing time for us but hopefully others can learn from our experience.
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