N.S. woman warns against buying pets online after puppy dies from parvovirus

The Nova Scotia woman says she purchased a golden retriever puppy from a Kijiji ad. The dog was diagnosed with parvovirus shortly after and died.

Mother of eight, Liz Burton, and her family were ecstatic to add a new furry addition to their family.

Burton said she saw an ad posted on Kijiji selling golden retriever puppies and shortly afterward, she was on her way to Aylesford, N.S. to purchase a puppy.

She alleges that she purchased the dog from Trudy Steiner, who had told her the “puppies had just got into a whole bunch of cat food, so they may have upset tummies.”

“When we got home, the puppy was relatively normal but he slept a lot more than I thought but I just questioned transition and stuff like that. And because of what we were told,” Burton said.

She said her puppy, Tucker, was vomiting and had diarrhea on the way home. Over the next four days, the dog’s condition did not improve and was taken to a veterinary clinic to be assessed.

Burton said she ended up having to put Tucker down because the dog had parvovirus.

Parvovirus is a highly-contagious disease that commonly causes severe gastrointestinal illnesses in puppies.

According to Nova Scotia SPCA’s chief provincial inspector, Jo-Anne Landsburg, parvovirus vaccinations tend to be “very helpful in preventing the disease.”