Chatuchak Market -sick Animals

[siddv]

I know that this topic has been reported in local newspapers but we took a chance anyways and sure enough our new two month old puppy (a Chihuahua ) died after only two weeks. I bought the little lad at JJ market for my girlfriend. The first night he seemed a bit sad and sleepy and we attributed it to the new environment. However after another day of not eating or drinking we took it to the vet and our puppy stayed there for the next 7 days receiving daily injections s for some sort of virus. We brought him home finally but that night at midnight were off again to the pet hospital fearing he was sick again. A few more nights for observation and injections for strength and he was home again but would not eat unless force feed. Finally he just gave up and died the other night. I feel we did all we could and we spent alot more than we paid (7000bht). save your money and buy a pet someplace else. I knew we we taking a chance buying a pet here so I guess I should have know better. I'm wiser ..now. .. We recently purchased a new pet ...and will never buy any living thing from JJ. They should all be put out of business.

[elfe]

such markets and shops should be prohibited, like it is in some countries in the west.

many people buy there out of feeling sorry for the animal and without thinking about what it takes to keep an animal and if they really are up for that. more misery follows for these animals then, ending up unwanted etc.

also the misery people go through, like yourself, finding out that their new beloved pal is sick and eventually even dies.

pets shouldn't be traded like other goods, there is a lot more to that and once viruses and diseases have come to these shops it's hard to eradicate them and any new arrivals will get infected, sadly.

there are exceptions where pets were bought and never a problem, but the dark number is much higher...

also the way these animals are bred and produced, the conditions of the parents etc, not really what you wish for pets?

[jdinasia]

Hmmmm

I think if you were talking about a death in a couple of days, or the presence of kennel cough or parvo virus (neither decribed by the OP) you might be able to blame the vendor.

I have bought 2 chihuahuas from JJ and we have been most happy with our dogs. One is now 3+years and the other will soon be 2 years old.

Elfe's comments are all well and good regarding the purchase of a pet, but unless you are buying from a breeder that you know there is always the chance that you are buying indirectly from a puppy mill where they overbreed the bitch continuously and do not always protect against inbreeding.

Sorry about your experience.

[Globeliner]

Bought my Labrador from there two years ago, he's well and happy

[xbusman]

Some friends bought a Cocker there a few weeks back and went through the same he11. My Thai is not good enough to completely understand but it was viral, the dog was very lethargic, then spending a week with the vet, coming home and dieing in a few days. The vet indicated that the virus was widespread at JJ market and he had seen other cases.

Bad stuff, it is not a good place to buy animals.

[Nienke]

Pet markets are a lucky strike.

Our first dogs came form such a pet market in Chiang Mai. Although, the two adult German Shepherds (one was 4 and the other 5 years old at the time of purchase) didn't had an infectious disease, both were very skinny and full of ticks. One had a serious behavior problem (she would attack and bite everybody except my ex and me) and the other had HD. From the pups we bought there two were fine and one had distemper, but after months of illness survived. Nonetheless, the virus had done havoc to her heart and she became only 6 years and 4 months.

I know of several people who bought their pup at the same or similar place and it ended up with distemper or parvo-virus. Most died, some survived.

Pet markets/shops are well-known for the risk of one of the infectious diseases, mainly distemper and parvo. These places are a concentration of pups, that are often taken away from their mother way to early and OR not vaccinated OR vaccinated at a too young age, resulting in the vaccine interfering with the maternal immunity and thus leaving the pup unprotected against the very diseases for what it was vaccinated for. OR worse, the vaccine triggers the disease. Vaccinated animals also shed the virus, making that unvaccinated pups or those where the maternal immunity is ruled out by the vaccine become over-exposed to the virus, resulting in illness.

Just recently I had two labrador pups in boarding and training. They came straight from the pet shop. BOTH showed symptoms of distemper (cough, digestive problem, fever, lethargy, appetite loss, distemper spots in the abdomen, eye and nasal discharge, bad thriving). I treated them with homeopathic medicines and put them on a species appropriate diet. Both recovered and are doing very fine now.

IME, when somebody buys a pup at one of these places and the pup remains healthy, it is just plain luck. It is NOT because these places and their animals are so well-kept.

Nienke

[Gary A]

Sick puppies can come from anywhere. A friend of mine bought a Golden Retriever puppy from a reputable pet shop. Two days later it got sick. My friend took it to the vet and was told it had distemper (parvo). It took the poor puppy three more days to die.

The pet shop owner insisted the puppy had been immunized. They did return my friend's money.

[jdinasia]

Sick puppies can come from anywhere. A friend of mine bought a Golden Retriever puppy from a reputable pet shop. Two days later it got sick. My friend took it to the vet and was told it had distemper (parvo). It took the poor puppy three more days to die.

The pet shop owner insisted the puppy had been immunized. They did return my friend's money.

My point exactly. Both dogs that I bought at JJ had paperwork from a licensed vet saying they had their shots. I didn't take that at face value and both times I too the puppy from JJ to my vet and had them checked out immediately.

The only approximation to safety in buying a pet is to buy directly from the breeder .. and even then it is only an approximation of safety.

[withnail]

I bought my Pug from JJ and he was fine although he was sick a couple of weeks after so I'm not sure whether there was a connection or not, he's now fine and we are considering buying a second dog as a companion for him.

I'm very sorry to here about your loss and can understand that having such a large number of dogs together in close proximity increases the already high chance of a puppy becoming sick. However, I think it is an unfair generalisation to suggest that all breeders that sell dogs at markets are unscrupulous and have no concern for the welfare of their animals.

[Nienke]

Very often owners or staff at places that sell pets, whether they are markets, (reputable) shops or even breeders, tell the new puppy owner that the pup is 8 weeks old, while it is much younger (usually big breeds are sold around 6 weeks of age and small breeds around 28 days).

The pup can even come with a real vaccination book with the sticker of the vaccines given, the date the vaccine is given and a signature. This does not mean that the pup has seen a vet or that the vaccination is really given. On top of this puppies of that age are too young for receiving a vaccination.

The two lab's from my example above came with such a vaccination book, and was bought at 'reputable' pet shop that looks quite professional. Whether they really had received the vaccine or not, i don't know, but I do know they had distemper.

Another pup I had in boarding was so young that I had it completely separted from the other dogs. He came from a pet shop. The first night he pooped out loads of huge round worms, and the next day he had bloody diarrhea. It turned out he had parvo-virus. The vet who treated him and saved him, told the owners that it had received vaccination at too young of age, plus that with such a worm infestation he should never had been vaccinated at that time (I like this vet!).

Last year I had three lab pups in, all three from different lab breeders. They were fully vaccinated and two of the three came down with distemper. It is not known if these pups already were fighting the virus at the time of vaccination and that the vaccine triggered the disease, or that the disease came from the vaccine itself.

My own boxer (RIP) I bought at one of the markets, she had distemper. That was years ago, and I didn't know what I know now. She survived and gave me another 6 years of great joy. My first dog I bought at one of the worst places in Chiang Mai. He has parvo-virus. Gawd, what was I ignorant at that time about the circumstances these pups live in.

The rottweiler pups and adult GSD's bought at the pet market did not show symptoms of one of these infectious diseases, but the rott male had an undershot (incorrect breeding), one GSD had behavioral problems, and the other had HD.

IME buying a pup here is just risky. Although, there are some real good breeders in Thailand, they are sure a minority. And there may also be some good petshops, I just don't know any. The one jdinasia bought the pups from may be one of the good ones. Plus, that they buy the pups from the breeders and they can't guarantee if these pups are without any (hereditary) illness as it just may not show yet.

Nienke

[jdinasia]

Nienke --- I agree buying a puppy here from ANY source can be risky. There is probably an increased risk at JJ and a few other places if the shops do not enforce the no touching rule and people wander from place to place.

I, however, would just not pass on the joy of raising a dog from puppy to adult.

[rober507]

We had the same with Soi Boukaow Maket in Pattaya. We had the puppy for a day and she then spent he next week at the Vets. She has fully recovered and is OK now.