Pet shop puppy had potential fatal virus

A man who bought a chihuahua puppy for his daughter from a pet shop was shocked when he found out that the little creature had a potentially fatal virus that could be passed on to his two other dogs. The puppy, which he called Crazy, had canine parvovirus that leads to death in 50 per cent of cases and is very contagious among dogs, although it is harmless to humans. Bernard Zarb reported the case to the Animal Welfare Department and, this week, welfare officers inspected the Swieqi pet shop from where he bought the dog. Officers are working on tracking down the breeder from whom the nine-week-old puppy had origin-ally been bought. Mr Zarb said he had bought the chihuahua for his five-year-old daughter last week and paid €170 for it. A few days after he took the dog home it stopped eating and he noticed worms in its faeces. The dog’s health started deter-iorating and he took it to the St Francis animal hospital, where it was diagnosed as suffering from parvovirus. Mr Zarb panicked because he was worried about the health of his daughter and his two other dogs. He was informed that the virus did not affect people but it was very contagious among dogs and potentially deadly. He...