Complaints lodged against Cedar, B.C. breeder after three puppies die

CHEK

Kristi Ross has had golden retrievers for more than 25 years and was so excited to welcome a new puppy into her family.

“We picked him up on a Tuesday, brought him home and it was love at first sight for the whole family,” Ross says.

Elliot was full of life when he appeared on Pet CHEK on CHEK News at the end of September.

A breeder in Cedar had surrendered him due to health issues so Ross knew there would be on-going medical needs.

But she never expected Elliot would die suddenly, just days after finding his forever home.

“It was devastating,” she says. “My kids, it hit them hard.”

It’s also been a big blow for the Victoria Humane Society, who spent thousands of dollars trying to figure out what was wrong with Elliot.

“It wasn’t until after he passed away that we finally got the test results back saying what was wrong with him and it was a genetic thing,” explains Penny Stone of the Victoria Humane Society. “So, unfortunately, he was never going to make it and that was really hard on us.”

Two other puppies from Elliott’s Cinnamon Kennels litter died the same weekend, devastating their new families.

“Our hearts are going out to other families who thought they’d adopted healthy puppies and have been going through this torture the last few months trying to figure out what’s wrong with them to only have them pass away,” Ross says.

The owner of Cinnamon kennels says it was “weird litter” and claims they’ve never had any problems before.

But CHEK News has learned at least two other puppies died a couple of years ago and this is the second medical case the Victoria Humane Society’s accepted from them.

“Unfortunately, we’re seeing a lot of purebred dogs with different genetic diseases and that should never happen,” says Stone. “People really need to do This shouldn’t be happening and it’s really sad for the families involved.”

The BC SPCA is now investigating the complaints against Cinnamon Kennels but can’t comment on a specific case.

“The genetic issue is a complicated situation and it would depend on if that genetic issue is causing the animal distress or not,” explains the BC SPCA’s Kaley Pugh, regional manager for cruelty investigations on Vancouver Island.

Cinnamon Kennels says it has a long waitlist and is continuing its breeding program, hoping to have a new litter by Christmas.

All complaints are being directed to the BC SPCA’s animal cruelty hotline 1-855-622-7722.

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