Two of the five puppies taken in by the Rescue Me Animal Sanctuary just before Christmas have sadly died, the charity said.
The small animal charity on the outskirts of Liverpool have been taking in abandoned sick puppies which have been rejected by breeders.
In the run up to Christmas the dedicated animal hospice aptly named ‘Angel’s place’ took in 5 puppies named Taz, Sadie, Gus, Clyde and Herman.
For most of these puppies this will have been their first and last Christmas.
Since then Gus, a six-month old terrier who was ‘dumped’ with his mother and siblings has since passed away.
Gus had a heart murmur caused by a large hole in his heart.
Sanctuary Manager Dr Steph Taylor said: “It’s been a really disappointing update, Gus died from his ventricular septal defect in his heart.”
Another puppy Clyde, an 11-month old Australian Labradoodle who was born with a Cleft Palate, has also passed away.
Dr Taylor said: “Clyde died from renal failure as he had congenital dysplasia.”
Dr Taylor opened the sanctuary 11 years ago but recently has found the issue to be getting worse and worse in recent years.
She said: “Last year we began to realise that we needed extra facilities to care for elderly terminally ill abandoned dogs in our area, so we built Angel’s place, the only dedicated doggy hospice in the North West.”
She added: “However, we are shocked by the numbers of palliative young puppies that we have been asked to care for, this year especially those with life limiting conditions due to poor breeding.”
‘These dogs have been badly bred for profit without concern for their health or life expectancy’.
During the Christmas period the staff at the sanctuary have been working hard to give these puppies the best Christmas they’ll have and to nurse and comfort them until the end.
Sanctuary veterinary nurse Rebecca said: “Nursing palliative puppies at the end of their lives, when they haven’t had the opportunity to live a full life, is one of the most heart- breaking parts of my role.”
She continued: “It is about time proper legislation was enforced to protect these animals from indiscriminate breeders.”
Since Christmas the sanctuary has taken in five more puppies.
Dr Taylor said: “One is a Shar Pei who can’t see and is getting his eyes tacked today. It’s a risky op as he is only five weeks old but needed to try and save his sight.”
She added: “We are also getting two disabled pups in from the dog pound and a dog from the police who was slammed against a wall which dislocated their leg, they are having an op today too.”
There are also 18 other dogs and 60 cats in their care.
For more information or to donate go to: www.RescueMe.org.uk
