Kiya's Story...
CH. Ziemabora's Dress To Impress Sheair
Kiya left Michigan to live in California in a show home in September 1999. She lived a good life there until the owner decided to sell her in December of 2002. In the sales agreement with the owner, it stated that the owner was to notify me of whom they intended to sell Kiya to, obviously so that I would have the opportunity to buy her back before she went anywhere else if I so desired. I never knew that Kiya had been placed for sale on the website of the person whom I sold her to until the owner contacted me to inform me that she had sold Kiya to Laura Pope (Willow Creek). By the time I was notified, Kiya was already in Kentucky and the sale was a done deal. About the same time, various friends notified me of where Kiya was and what kind of place she was living. I contacted the person who sold Kiya and told her of the things I had been told, but she assured me that Kiya was being well-cared for. Over the next year, I continued to hear more things about Laura Pope which caused me a great deal of concern.
Anyway, after learning about more information about what type of conditions Laura Pope keeps her dogs, I began a very determined drive to get Kiya out of there. Without giving all the gory details, it is sufficient to say that after BEGGING Laura to let me have Kiya back on more then one occasion, my persistence paid off. After having two litters with her and as soon as her last litter of 6 was weaned, she had to foster another litter of 5 puppies that were not even Siberian Huskies. Of course after a back-to-back breeding, any bitch would need a good rest, but instead she had to immediately step in to raise yet another litter, therefore stressing her body to the limit.
Laura paid $2,500 for Kiya in 2002 when she bought her. At that time, Kiya was 4 years old and had whelped only 2 small litters with the former owner. Since Laura acquired Kiya, she bred her two times with a total of 9 puppies between both litters of which she sold. Laura knew how badly I wanted Kiya and decided to take advantage of the situation. Kiya was one month shy of 6 years old and had now whelped a total of 4 litters. The only way Laura told me she would sell Kiya to me was if I paid her the $2,500.00 she had paid for her! Of course, that was way above the market value for a 6 year old bitch who had been bred 4 times, but knowing this would probably be the only way I would ever get Kiya out of there, I went and took out a bank loan to buy Kiya. I was determined to see to it that Kiya no longer had to suffer and would be able to come home with me and live the kind of life any dog rightfully deserves full of love and the best care any dog could ask for.
What happened next is really almost unbelievable. One would think that if they pay $2,500 for a dog, the dog would be in excellent health and well-maintained and should not require any trips to the veterinarian other then for routine maintenance. Oh, how wrong that assumption was! Thinking ahead and knowing that I may need witnesses, I actually brought my vet with me to Louisville so that he could document anything that might be wrong with Kiya upon me getting her. Upon initial observation, Kiya had an oozing wound behind her right ear and obvious periodontal disease due to neglect. She also had sores on her feet, but they were hard to see through the extreme overgrowth of hair between the pads that had not been kept maintained in a manner that promotes proper foot health/hygiene. Her feet were also stained in an unhealthy way. She was quite thin, and had obvious muscle-wasting (probably from the over-strain and demand on her body to produce milk for 2 litters without any rest and recovery time in between and less than adequate nutrition to sustain her through this very physically demanding time).
Upon a closer in-clinic exam by the Chief of Staff and head veterinarian of the clinic, many wounds were found on her head and neck. The wounds had already started to granulate over, so it is obvious that they have been there for at least 1-2 weeks. They were not immediately visible because they were covered with hair, but were easily felt under the fur upon examination. The wounds had to be clipped and cleaned and the scabs removed for closer inspection of the wounds and to allow the infection to drain out of them. Blood work and a urinalysis was done to assess the health of Kiya and the results of that were that she had an extremely high Eosinafil count which is consistent with a heavy worm-burden and she also had a urinary-tract infection which would require immediate treatment. A Parvovirus test and fecal parasite test were run to try to find the cause of the bloody diarrhea Kiya had from the time she was taken from Laura's custody. The parvo test was negative, but the fecal test revealed an infestation of Whipworms! This was strange because according to Laura, Kiya had just been checked for worms a couple days before when she took Kiya to the vet for a health certificate and was okay! But what was even stranger is that when my vet clinic called hers, her vet clinic had no record of ever seeing Kiya previous to the visit that she got the health certificate done at. When asked for the record where the vet documented a fecal exam and the findings of the physical examination to be faxed to them, there was nothing written in the file at all about the exam of Kiya and no record of a fecal exam. Hmmmmmmm....
Kiya's periodontal disease required immediate attention due to the severity and required her to have an extensive dental cleaning done. The vet bill for this $2,500 dog came to over $550 between services rendered and medication and dewormer. Knowing that Kiya may be bringing some kind of sickness with her, she had been quarantined and kept away from any other dogs to avoid unnecessary risk to them. It's a good thing because if she had been allowed to be around the rest of my dogs at all, I would be spending a lot more money for dewormer for the rest of the kennel!
The vet bill was sent to Laura and she was asked to pay the bill as $2,500 should buy a healthy dog. And since she had just received $2,500 (in cash, and might I add, which she insisted on that I bring with me), she should not have any problem paying that bill while on the other hand, I already had taken a loan to buy Kiya and so really couldn't afford an immediate $550 expense. As of this date, she has not responded to my request.
I understand that Laura is now saying that Kiya sustained the wounds at my house after I brought her home. Of course this is not true because first of all, Kiya had been isolated far from any other dogs and secondly, it is all documented by my vet who drove to Kentucky with me to pick Kiya up that she was in a poor way when I got her. I brought him and also another friend along because I knew that anything that may be wrong with Kiya would be somehow blamed on me, so that's why I brought witnesses. All of the things I have written here have veterinary documentation to prove it along with photos. I have the indisputable truth on my side, what does Laura have on hers? Lies, lies, and more lies.
Please scroll down to see the photos.
This is Kiya before going to live at Laura Pope's kennel.
Notice the lack of tone or muscling and almost non-existent fat layer While under anesthetic, you can easily see the outline of the ribcage
and near absence of any muscling that is normal for a Siberian.
Here you can see the wound behind the right ear immediately after Kiya's arrival to Michigan- notice the yellow pus. The second photo is the wound shows that the wound is more extensive then what was initially seen when purchasing Kiya. The wound is beginning to scab over at 3 days after acquiring Kiya but still oozes.
These were the wounds that are granulating over which indicates they are 1-2 weeks old. The scabs were removed to examine the depth of the wounds, age of wounds, and to allow the infection to drain out. The wound at the farthest lower left patch has an area just above and to the right that is raised and whiter- this is a hard scar from previous injury at one time. There are several of these scars on the neck in various places.
This is Kiya's foot to show an example of the sores on her feet and between the pads caused by constantly being in wet and dirty conditions.
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Kiya's teeth- notice the horrendous tarter build up and gum disease. Below are before and after pictures of her teeth to demonstrate what benign (or not so benign) neglect will do. This kind of oral condition leads to bacterial shed that affects every major organ system of the body and causes damage to the heart, liver and kidneys. It is especially harmful to the kidneys as the kidneys must do the most work to filter the toxins caused by the bacterial shed from the bloodstream. Oral disease is accelerated in dogs that are fed dog foods that are high in corn products (a filler used in lesser-quality dog foods), which turn into sugar when starting to break down. The first point of digestion starts in the mouth!
No dog should ever have to live like this. For photos of
Laura's kennels, please visit http://www.geocities.com/siberianwatch2/wcreek
Kiya is one of the lucky ones. She is home and happy and will recover
within a few months given a lot of love, good nutrition, proper veterinary care and all the attention
she deserves. There are other dogs there from well-known kennels. The
breeders whom placed their dogs in this place should be ashamed of themselves
for turning a blind eye to the plight of these dogs once they have been
presented with the proof of how they are living and especially after seeing
Kiya. Does the responsibility of every life we choose to bring into this
world end once we have money in hand? Not for a responsible breeder.
Everyone can be fooled, deceived, and taken. Mistakes can be made as some
people are good con artists and talk a good game to convince you to sell them
one of your dogs. But it is inexcusable to not try to make the "wrong"
right again, especially for those innocent souls who cannot speak for themselves
and who ultimately have to suffer for our mistakes.
Seeing is believing. Who are the real victims here? Not me, certainly not Laura.
It's "man's best friend"; Kiya and the others like her.
Here's the letters from the veterinarian that was with me when Kiya was picked up, and then the letter from my other veterinarian stating what he found when he examined her.
EXHIBIT I
Exhibit II
