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Newfoundland Breeders Despair After Deaths and Deformities

Many Blame Pet Food for their Breeding Problems

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 18, 2007

Newfie Breeders Despair A ConsumerAffairs.com Investigation By Lisa Wade McCormick • Mysterious Deaths, Deformities • Similar Problems Nationwide • Missing Evidence --- • More about Pet Food

Professional dog breeder Lisa M. is ensnarled in a frightening mystery.

The case centers on her beloved Newfoundlands and why these gentle giants have experienced so many baffling reproductive problems in the past year.

Lisa has searched tirelessly for clues about what’s caused her healthy dogs to suddenly stop getting pregnant or -- if they conceive -- to deliver deformed and dead puppies.

“These are dogs that have all delivered healthy puppies before,” says Lisa, owner of Lighthouse Newfoundlands in Grafton, Ohio. “I’ve been a full-time breeder since 1998 and I’ve never experienced as many problems as I have in the past year. It’s horrible.”

The first signs of trouble surfaced last November.

Lisa’s dog, Vella, had a litter of four puppies.

Two were healthy. But two were mummified fetuses.

“That’s like a miscarriage in the dog world,” Lisa says. “It looks like a mass of bone; the puppy is not alive. Breeders occasionally will have mummified fetuses. I’ve never had it happen, though.”

Twice in Two Months

But now it’s happened twice — in just two months.

In January, 2007, Lisa’s dog, Juliet, had nine puppies.

Five were healthy. Three were mummified fetuses. And one was deformed.

“That puppy had its elbow stuck to its side; it didn’t live,” Lisa says. “And having three mummified fetuses in one litter was unbelievably horrible.

“All this was just so unusual for me. It just wasn’t right. Like I said, it’s never happened to me -- or my dogs -- before.”

Her dogs never had trouble getting pregnant, either.

“I bred four of my dogs and a friend’s dog in February. None of mine got pregnant. I usually get two or three, but never zero for four.

“My friend’s dog had three puppies, but two died (two days after delivery). One of the puppies had a deformity — a cleft palate.”

Next: Similar Problems Nationwide

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