Dog Health.
Scabies and ringworm
in a breeding kennel
Written
by: Dr Sing Kong Yuen
Date: March 23, 2006
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"Every
day and night, the landlord phoned me to get my breeding stock
treated," the breeder said. "No letting up. Phoning me day and
night. He really harassed me!"
"You cannot blame him," I told the breeder. "His farm licence would be
revoked by the government because you did not provide good care of
your breeding stock and puppies. He had invested considerably in
building the kennels and a revocation of licence meant no rental
income for him.
I continued, "In fact, he could be hauled up in
court on charges of animal cruelty, together with you. The regulatory vet was so
angry with him for having such a 'irresponsible' tenant. He told me
he was asked to evict you immediately."
The breeder was silent.
I said, "You are fortunate. You
did not get prosecuted for animal cruelty. The tabloids would have a
fantastic sale. Sensational news sell thousands of newspapers.
Sensational animal stories sell even more papers."
 My heart beated faster
as my brain could not accept that this breeder could present me 15
puppies with shiny coats. I had gone to her kennels to vaccinate 15
puppies expecting rings of fungus on the head or body.
Ringworm is common in Singapore kennels and all breeders do get
puppy ringworm. So, it was not only this breeder who had this
problem.
But not one case of ringworm in 2 litters of 15 puppies? I
must have a closed mind. I need to have open minds and not have
preconceived ideas.
I just could not believe this breeder could produce 15
puppies with healthy coat. Not a spot of ringworm. No scabies crust
in these 6-week-olds.
Bright shiny coats. Good-sized. Active. Wriggly puppies. No skin
lesions under the brightest of the fading evening sunlight. It was
just not her style. She beamed like a mother who showed off her
handsome progeny.
After vaccinating these 6-week-old puppies, the breeder showed me
four 2-week-olds. No skin disease too. The dam had been treated for
scabies infestation. Whole body scabies. Now the hair had grown. She
had not aborted. Her puppies were plump and active. I just could not
believe what I saw since I had been bitterly disappointed in the
past years.
For the past 3 years, I knew she had poor number of puppies
produced. Many had skin diseases. She had acquired a bad reputation.
Now, she was in the league of champions.
Just hard to believe that she could achieve so much.
"Thank you for your help," she said.
 "Actually, you should thank the
regulatory veterinarian," I said.
"Because of his zealous efforts to get you to be kind to dogs, you
are now as good as the champion puppy breeder in Singapore. Without his threats to shut down
your business and bring you to court for animal cruelty, you would
not be having 15 puppies at 6 weeks of age. 100% of them with no
skin problems."
I just could not believe my eyes as she took me into the waiting
room to show me another litter. "Four 2-week-old
with no scabies or ringworm !" I sounded impressed. The breeder
was all smiles. "This dam had some fits after your ivomec
injection to treat her scabies. However, she did not abort."
"It is always a risk to treat pregnant dams," I replied. "If the dam
is not treated, the puppies would suffer from scabies or be very
weak since the dam was stressed by scratching all the time."
If you see 15 healthy puppies at that time, you would have thought
being a dog breeder was the easiest job in the world. But looking
after over 100 dogs is the hardest work in the world.
 So,
what was the cause of this breeder's success? Was there a magic bullet? A magic skin wash?
No.
It was a
combination of surveillance and monitoring for skin problem, washing
and keeping the puppies dry daily and good management.
Sometimes, it takes a crisis to get the house in order. Or a
breeding kennel in order. And puppies receiving the best of care.
I whipped out my digital camera from my plastic carrier bag. The
last few minutes of the golden rays of the setting sun would be gone
if I was a slow tortoise. I needed the sunlight to capture the
beautiful images to document this happy ending. Miracles do
happen.
 As
the sun sank below the hills, I asked the breeder to keep the
puppies. I kept my camera with a happy feeling. I said a quiet word of "thanks" to the
veterinary enforcer of animal welfare rules and regulations.
Without his persistent efforts, this story would not have a happy
ending. And the puppies would never have had been showered with love
and care.
FOLLOW UP TO CASE:
Shape up or ship out?
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