RSPCA urges caution over buying puppies online after spate of deaths

Complaints over illegal puppy farms have increased dramatically over the past decade says charity, after concerns raised over Brighton breederPuppy Maggie had been with the family for less than 24 hours when she began to show signs of sickness. Grace Piper from Worthing, West Sussex, had picked up the eight-week-old from a breeder in Brighton that advertised its puppies on pets4homes.co.uk for ?750 each in cash."She started being sick, she had diarrhoea, was lethargic, dehydrated and withdrawn," Piper told the Guardian. "We called the vets [and] were told to feed her chicken and rice and hope for an improvement. All the time we were encouraging her to drink or eat something but all she wanted to do was sleep. We were increasingly worried." Continue reading...