Reproductive nightmares and backyard breeders

Mama, aptly named for her oversized mammaries, had recently delivered herself of six ginormous pups. Together, the puppies weighed more than she did—and they were only five days old. Mama was seizuring due to an overwhelming depletion of calcium—one of her milk’s most abundant nutrients. These big pups had sucked the life out of her in less than a week—and her useless owner had no clue that this might be a problem for a little bitch with a big litter...

A widow-cum-breeder who assuaged her loss with the “love of dogs” was my next morning appointment. Her Havanese litters had been a continual thorn in my side for months...And now she’d brought in an overlooked pup out of an inexperienced bitch who’d been mauled by mom because “she was doing so well with them so I didn’t think she’d eat a second one.”

The pup was missing half a face and three out of four legs—yet it was still wriggling and squealing. It was easily the most impressive bit of nastiness I’d been subjected to in years. I euthanized it without hardly looking.[/b]

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