THE Scottish SPCA and Fife Council are investigating concerns over what could be a “puppy farm” in Saline.
Cavapoo Simba’s life has hung in the balance over recent weeks and his owners have spent around £5,000 trying to keep the wee pup alive.
Paul Gilmour bought the dog at 10-weeks-old from Anne Greig, in West Saline, in late August but after just two days of being at home with his family, Simba had to be rushed to the vet hospital.
He spent more than a week at the hospital so vets could carry out a range of tests while trying to stabilise his glucose levels.
Paul claims they told him that Simba was anorexic and should never have been sold in that condition.
The Gilmours are now having to force-feed the puppy every three to four hours and Simba had to be taken to hospital for a number of days for a second time just last week.
Paul, who lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two children, told the Press: “We were sold the puppy on Gumtree a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, we were isolating so our friends, who have dogs of their own, went to collect so they undertook all the usual checks.
“He seemed quite docile but a couple of days later, the poor wee soul was flat out and we had to take him to the vets.
“He was at Braid Vets for a few days but they had to transfer him to specialists because his glucose levels just kept dropping.
“Simba is the runt of the litter but they said he was quite clearly anorexic when we got him and there was a pattern of intolerance to eating.
“That’s why we’re having to force-feed him every few hours.
“They could not see any clinical reason as to why he would be this poorly either.”
Paul claims he has messaged Anne Greig several times trying to find out information to help vets treat Simba but he has had no reply.
“The fact that Miss Greig has ignored all of our messages regarding the puppy’s health with not even a word about the welfare of the puppy raises a red flag in terms of a puppy farm,” Paul said.
“She also told us that she was in the process of applying for a breeder’s licence but Fife Council have told us that they don’t have any record of that and the only contact number that was given was through her friend.
“These are not the actions of a proper breeder.
“We knew he was on the small side but we did not expect anorexia.
“If we had not taken him to the vets, he would have died in a matter of hours.
“He is not 100 per cent out of the woods yet but he is getting better and we’re trying to get him to eat voluntarily.”
By law, breeders need to have a licence if they breed five or more litters in Scotland.
They also need one if they are advertising a business breeding and selling dogs and selling puppies under the age of 12 weeks.
Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “We can confirm that we have received a report about this incident.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment any further at this time.”
Fife Council also confirmed that they are aware of the issue and will be meeting with the SSPCA to discuss it.
The Press has tried to contact Anne Greig but she has not responded. When we visited her property in Saline we did find evidence of different breeds of dogs at her home, all appearing to be in good condition.
The Gilmours bought Simba through a Gumtree advert where only a contact number for an acquaintance called ‘Chloe’ was used.
The Press has also tried contacting Anne Greig through this number but there has been no reply.
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