In unregulated market, buying a puppy can break heart

By Brian Chasnoff - Express-News

Web Posted: 06/27/2009 12:00 CDT

Rosa Garcia, 37, shows few freshly washed puppies as she talks about the dogs she sells from her home. Some individuals have complained her puppies are sick. BETH SPAIN/SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS

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Code for breeders

A responsible breeder will:

Require an application and personal references from a prospective buyer.
Keep their dogs in their homes and give them a good quality of life.
Not ship animals to buyers.

Source: Texas Humane Legislation Network

For most of the puppies, the seizures spelled the end.

They were the worst of the tiny creatures' woes — fits of foaming at the mouth, snapping jaws and painful convulsions.

Stricken with distemper, some of the puppies already were battling ailments such as pneumonia, scabies and parasites.

Their horrified owners were a diverse lot, a cross-section of people from Texas to New Hampshire who had one thing in common: In the course of a year, they'd all been mesmerized by the Web site of Mary Bianca Suwanasung, a San Antonio woman hawking the most adorable puppies they'd ever seen.

At least a dozen of Suwanasung's customers have found their expensive purchases, transacted swiftly in cyberspace and Texas parking lots, cost them even more in emotional and financial capital.

Claudia Brunal, a Katy resident, paid $700 for a Maltese-poodle mix that died of distemper one month after her young daughter saw the Web site.

“This was devastating,” Brunal said. “You can't imagine the tragedy we had at home.”

For each puppy's fate, a larger story looms of its journey from birth as a commodity in an unregulated market.

Populated by cash-hungry breeders and brokers, the puppy industry grinds on across Texas, unburdened by laws that would ensure the health of its stock.

A bill that would have cracked down on Texas breeders and dealers who fail to care humanely for their animals withered in the latest legislative session.

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55 comment(s) on "In unregulated market, buying a puppy can break heart"

Kim11:18 AM

Josie, Thanks for helping us put these people out of business, NOT and thanks for making us the bad people. Nothing you can say or post takes away from what happen to all of us and what Bianca and Sam Suwanasung has done. Yes, we made a mistake trusting them, agreed. So stop. Now back to the story. Do not buy any puppies from Bianca, Mary, Colleen, Michelle, Sam or any other name that follows with SUWANASUNG! Josie thanks for all the advice I am sure others will find it helpful.

Tanisha9:04 PM

I agree w/Josie. Anyway, I'm saddened that folks have lost their pets, but -- goodness. I'm no purist. However, a person who did their research wouldn't drop (close to) a GRAND on a 'Malti-Poo'!(laugh) Secondly, ppl who practice 'due diligence' understand the importance of seeing the pup's mama/father.Assessing the litter & their pup's temperament. Either find a REPUTABLE breeder or hit up the Animal Rescue. I don't know what ya'll consider 'reputable' but the 'reputable' breeders that *I* know won't sell to ppl across the country & sure as heck won't ship via air. THEY spay/neuter/paper-train the pups. THEY aren't producing litters every 2 weeks. THEY don't advertise an assortment of breeds 4 sale. THEY don't sell their pups at 4 & 5 weeks...and they DON'T make/sell 'designer pups'. Period. Also, I don't get the whole, 'anything-goes-in-Texas' notion. Don't blame Texas b/c you(or the ppl you defend) rec'vd a sickly dog. 1.) There are all SORTS of fools -- but, it takes a 'special type' of d*mn fool to pay $700-800+ for a *MUTT*! Most ppl I know rec'v their PUREBREDS for free (or HEAVILY discounted). And yet -- there are those among us who would break the bank to pay for a half-breed? 2.) This is a nationwide issue & the worst puppy-millers just so happen to be from up-north, i.e., Missouri and such. 3.) It takes another type of 'special fool' to trust Joe-Blow 'random internet seller'? Honestly, you'd probably be better off buying a pup from 'a friend of a friend'! Some of these online breeders steal pics, y'know? Why, on one site, I caught a seller trying to pass Silky Terriers off as Yorkies! Some were mixes & others were pure Silky. I just hope that site visitors had done their research to know what a Yorkie pup actually looks like. But, I'm sure there's been more than a few ppl running around trying to prove the legitimacy of their 12-lb 'Yorkie'.

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