Hello all,

Before I start anything, please let me introduce myself
My girlfriend and I was a proud owner of a Yorkshire Terrier named Tiffie whom we bought from Irene Kang of Starhill Kennel

http://www.starhillkennel.webs.com/

The reason why I am writing this is to expose some of the problems we have with this breeder and to save potential heartache for potential owners
This will also be a long article..
But I suggest that potential or interested owners please do yourself a favour and read this
This is to save you from future unnecessary grief and to help give you pointers when searching for a good breeder
*not just for Yorkshire Terriers but also applies to other dogs

Tiffie was born on the 29th September 2009
From the day we got her, her fur was unmanaged and messy, and smelly
She was not given proper grooming prior to being sent to us from Penang
(**At this juncture -> Irresponsible breeder alert)

On top of that, she has many problems with her skin (i.e. skin diseases, rashes etc)
At first we thought nothing of it, thinking it was just puppy rashes
(even the Vet thought so)

However, she also frequently gets sick
(And we thought maybe it was the dirty environment she was in at home)
We did some spring cleaning and yet she still falls sick frequently

Our vet trips cost us a lot of money
From medication, to Vitamin E for skin, Sometimes her stool would have blood and we would get worried..

We have never contacted Irene Kang thinking maybe it was an inherent problem with only our Yorkshire Terrier
And we never complained because she was our love and joy
We took it all in our stride..


However a recent event caused us much heart ache and this prompted me to do some researching

Course of Events

10th of June 2011,
We found her abdomen bloating
And thus sent her to the vet.
The vet found out she might have heart problem
This was confirmed after doing an X-ray on her chest

11/6/2011
We were referred to a specialist at the Jalan Gasing Vet Hospital
There we did an ultrasound and it is confirmed (again) that there is a hole in her heart (VSD)
We were given medication to help improve her heart condition and to stabilise the pressure in the heart

23/06/2011
Things got worse because she's not eating anymore
Even with her favourite snacks
We brought her back to vet who then said that she has only a few more days left
She lost her ability to control her bowel & she can no longer walk straight

25/06/2011
We decided to put her to sleep because she was suffering very badly

*We did not put her to sleep earlier because we thought the medication would help
*We did not at any time know that her condition would deteriorate so fast
(only 15 days from the start of symptoms)
____________________________________________________________

What I would like to point out first and foremost is

Hole in the Heart
Congenital Heart Disease

I quote:
"If you hear your veterinarian use the word "congenital" when describing your dog's defect, that means that the defect has been in existence since the birth of your dog"

Why do I say these?

Apparently, there were other furry owners who experienced the same problem
When they contacted Irene Kang of Starhill, she blamed the owner and/or their vets
Can you imagine a grieving owner seeking out the problem with her and he gets blamed in return?

This was the story of a West Highland Terrier who bought a puppy from Irene Kang only to her horror to find her puppy dead 2 weeks later
Another owner did the research and found that out...

I quote her:

"One of her buyers from her 1st Westie litter contacted me. She shared that their puppy (Taco), died 2 weeks after collection because he was infected with Canine Distemper Virus. Did Irene Kang sell them a defected puppy at RM3,000? What did Irene Kang do? She hung up the phone on them. Washing her hands clean from any responsibilities!"

You can read more about Scubby the White Warrior Here
There are several parts to it
This lady has already did some research in which I will not dwell upon in this article

As you can see,
Irene Kang blamed every one else but not herself
A congenital heart disease is whereby the puppy was born with a defect
That defect could have came from anywhere up in the line of genetic tree as a result of breeding

Now please note this:

WHILE THERE ARE NO RULES/GUIDELINES/LAWS THAT DOGS WITH GENETIC DEFECTS SHOULD NOT BE BRED
ETHICAL BREEDERS SHOULD KNOW NOT TO BREED THEM!

This is because when breeding such dogs with genetic defects, the trait will be passed down
It may not appear in the next generation of litters, but it has a high chance of recurring in later generations
This is made worse with the process of INTERBREEDING
(Breeding between Brother Sister, Mother Son, Dad Daughter, Grandad Grandaughter etc etc.)

For more information on the process of interbreeding and what is its effects:

Pedigree Dogs Exposed, BBC Documentary 2008

And now before I end my article
I have a few things to say

1) To you breeders out there

You are breeding a new generation of LIFE
Life is not meant for playing
By breeding you are playing God
There is nothing wrong with breeding

BUT if you breed UNETHICALLY you create problems not only for the owners
You also create problems for the breed
All for the want of money

As breeders, you should be ethical
There is a strong bond between the pets and their owners

No pet owners deserves to go through what my girlfriend and I just went through today
Though we do not regret having our little puppy, she should not have to die this way

*Let me also make you aware of people/breeders/homebreeders selling TEACUP SIZED Puppies
This is happening even on LYN
THINK TWICE BEFORE BUYING THEM
There are NO such things called Teacup sized - Poodles/Yorkshire Terriers or whatever breed
Not especially for Yorkshire Terriers
Please read Here for more Info as to why
*This also is a guideline to all other breeds..
Beware when they say they are selling teacup sized (insert breed here)

There is a Smaller sized pup in every litter and thats the truth and its unavoidable
Responsible Breeders should NEVER exploit this fact and state that its a "teacup such and such"
The truth is you are selling weaker pups (The smallest of the litter is always known to be the weakest) at premium prices!
That is just not right..
Its not to say that you cannot sell..
You can but you should not come out saying it is a small sized pup and as such more expensive
THERE IS NO SUCH THING!
*However my stand is.. even if you bought the weaker one of the litter it still deserves your love and attention
*Sometime it is unavoidable that you just fall for the weaker/smaller ones of the litter... after all each pup speaks to each of us differently
*Just don't buy puppies because of their size!

2) To you owners/potential owners out there

Do the right thing,
Do your research and homework
Find out the lineage of the puppies before buying (to see if there were any diseases in the sire/dam or further up the lineage tree)
Check for any disease
Check feedback of the breeder from other buyers
DO NOT be lured in by the fact that the puppy/dog was of champion lineage..(Champion Lineage does NOT equal good health)
Champion lineage does not mean a thing when your pup is going to die in 1 year or 6 months or worse.. 2 weeks as stated above
Most of Irene Kang's dogs are all from champion lineage
(due to inbreeding)
My dog's dam was a champion herself and she still suffered badly due to VSD
Get a healthy dog.. not a champion!

By refusing to buy such dogs with defects, they will stop breeding genetically defected dogs and start breeding ethically to increase sales
Its not to say that you can't buy such dogs with defects...
I fully understand that sometimes its avoidable and maybe a 1 off case

If you do find out that your dog has some genetic defects there are a few things you can do:
a) find out more about the defect, is it congenital?
b) find out its lineage and warn the breeder (he may or may not have known about it... and you will help by doing your part to inform)
c) neuter or spay your pet
(Its cruel yes.. but by breeding them you are passing on genetic defects)
d) be responsible and love your pet even those with genetic defects or sickness
(I'm not going to lie.. its a heavy burden... its going to incur a lot of expenses.. but the dog is your family)


For more info on T-cup sized/big boned dogs etc etc



Breeders with bad reputation here:

Irene Kang of Starhill Kennel - http://www.starhillkennel.webs.com/ (Personal Experience also by benjac)
All About Pets Ipoh- All About Pets Ipoh (Forumers Experience)
My QQ Pets Cylos Quah -Cylos Quah Petfinder Thread (Forumers Experience)
TNT Pet Store Penang - TNT Pet Store Penang (Reported Here)
JimmyPiu from Muar - Jimmypiu Profile Petfinder (Reported Here and verified by the Mods in Petfinder.my)

Also beware of petshops as there is a high likelihood that their puppies comes from Puppy mills...
Info on Puppy Mills
*not saying all of them come from Puppy Mills but there are some
*home breeders sometimes have so many dogs that that too could be counted as a "watered down" version of the Puppy Mill

*I will add on to this when there are more people responding
*If you know of any other unethical breeders please post them here and I'll edit accordingly..
*Make sure you have proof... (i.e. there was a complaint, or your case isn't an isolated one)

Helpful guide

I have inserted the report on my Puppy Tiffie and her condition
If you like you can have a read
I'm making this as a personal mission to educate people about what is wrong with the pet industry today
The loss we have suffered is painful and incomparable
No one and no pet should go through this kind of pain

This post has been edited by KiyoshiJoz: Jun 27 2011, 03:15 AM


Attached File(s)
 scan0002.pdf ( 419.56k ) Number of downloads: 111

pity girl... why don't you ask Irene Kang to explain or responsible on it? i believe that some of the responsible breeder will given some guarantee on the pus health..

someone has already complained before..
my gf complained on her facebook page but did not get a reply..

there are too many complaints about her..
and as such i wrote this..

this doesnt just apply to her.. it applies to other breeders out there...

please do not breed out dogs out of existence!


also we do not want monetary compensation..
we have no regrets getting our puppy.. although she died in such a terrible way..
we just want breeders to be more ethical while breeding...
what I want is that breeders to be ethical and not to breed just merely for the sake of breeding..

if they want money from breeding, then least please breed ethically

This post has been edited by KiyoshiJoz: Jun 25 2011, 11:55 PM

same as this irresponsible breeder he ofen sell sick pups to ppls with low price..

Cylos Quah - My QQ Pets at Cheras Taman Connaught
http://www.myadpost.com/cylosquah/
http://forums.petfinder.my/showthread.php?t=4338

RIP Tiffie

for those in Ipoh, avoid the breeder from All About Pets
http://my.wowcity.com/ipoh/locbus2/1781249...-about-pets.htm

so sorry to hear of your loss

There are so many irresponsible breeders out there...not just this Irene Kang.
Usually, once I see the place they keep their dogs in the photos and also the condition of the pups, you can tell whether they are a good breeder or not.

The WORST thing however is that even the most responsible breeders you see out there can have something deep down that isn't right.
I know because I have experienced it.

Breeders should not breed pets for money. That should NOT be the reason they breed their dogs. They should breed them to improve the breed.

The breeder I got my dog from bred their dogs with lots of inbreeding fully aware of what they are doing. It turns out my dog has a lot of genetic issues. THis breeder in particular is quite respectable....they take good care of their dogs, but they breed for money. And in my opinion, that is the worst thing.

firstly, i'm sorry for your girl....

there are only a handful of us that are trying to educate people about researching BEFORE buying a pet, not AFTER buying, but many people refuse to listen and some even scold us back.... until they have received bad experience, they will still think that it is not neccesary to do homework.... it is good to know that there are more people joining the small group of people who are promoting responsible pet ownership.

actually both sides of the deal (buyer and breeder)play a part in these rampant growth of puppymills and unethical backyard breeders....

many buyers
1. jump into the buy-a-pet bandwagon because they percieve it as 'the latest trend'
2. walks into a petshop and finds that a puppy is cute and buy impulsely, later giving up on the dog once it outgrown its cuteness/they find no time to care for it
3. wants a particular breed at cheap prices/super small sizes (ie teacup/micro teacup )

so to feed the demands of these type of buyers, unethical breeder sees a market there and taps in on these weaknesses.... they manipulate terms which some people dont bother to research on, some put high price tags to pretend that they are selling quality puppies but in actual fact earning big bucks....
for truly responsible breeders, it is IMPOSSIBLE to make any money out of breeding, because they spend and invest so much on choosing the right stock for their breeding program, they study and research, they provide the best care.... thus breeding is their HOBBY, not job or source of income....

some terms people need to be aware of (and please do your homework on these terms)
Champion Lineage is NOT same as Champion Parents. besides, if you have gone to watch a dog show, you would know what is being accessed for a dog to be titled champion thus championship DOES NOT include free of health problems, they just conform to the breed standards physically and probably characteristics. BUT a responsible breeder will identify what is lacking in their breeding stock and find for 1 that can counter balance that flaw to improve the breed.

Teacup. as mentioned above, DO NOT EXIST, period. as much as people adore the small size, teacup is in fact a weak dog in it's litter, not getting enough nutrients thus having such a ridiculously small size. there is a reason why breed standards include their size and weight! some irresponsible breeders deliberately breed 2 weak dogs together (risking the mother in the process) just to get more profits out of selling beautifully covered FLAW called teacup puppies.

Homebred. many whom have heard of puppymills have decided to look for homebred puppies instead. BUT homebred does not equals to RESPONSIBLE breeder. there is a HUGE difference between responsible breeders and backyard breeders who normally claim that their puppies are homebred. if someone is CONSTANTLY having litters after litters by the SAME female, which means the female did not get any rest and is bred EVERY SINGLE cycle of heat, now tell me, is that responsible? a responsible breeder spends all of their free time researching and working with a particular breed, taking them for competitions, looking for good genes to add to their stock, so if someone who is producing more that 2 or 3 different breeds, i doubt they are VERY responsible imo.

Big Boned/Oversized. this term is always used for large breeds. looking at the term itself makes you wanna already. like i said earlier, every breed has their written standards. you dont need an oversized alsatian or rottweiler to guard your house, a normal healthy within standards size will do as well! sellers use this term to lure unsuspecting buyers to pay more! besides, if you need a dog for security purpose, you might as well hire a security guard or fix CCTV instead, a dog is you companion NOT guard.

This post has been edited by CyaNide27: Jun 26 2011, 12:29 AM

Hello all,
I am one of tiffie's owner.
she had been with me most of the times
and I'm still really upset for this great loss.

I really hope people out there
be it buyer or breeder,
PETS have life too.
They are not a doll for us to play around.
KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
ELSE YOU WILL BE PUNISHED !

Please be fair to Pets too because
They can't tell us when they are in pain
and they are so fragile .
sighhh,my poor lil tiffie =(

Omg.. im sorry for ur lost..

Dam , if i were a police/ spca inspector i will definately catch her and make her pay for what she has done

what cyanide say is true...

We did do our homework but alas we did not do a deep enough research
we are guilty for that..
so now hopefully we can help buy bringing this to light and doing something about it...


Watch that documentary by BBC..
people have been lobying even to the point of going to the House of Lords
(the upper parliament house in the UK)

cant really blame you guys.... if Irene Kang can survive till now (putting a responsible breeder front) and still surviving even with so many irresponsible incidence, i'm sure she must have had her way around these things.... i once thought she was good too since her dogs had champion parents etc, until i came across some complains about her in another forum.... so yea, i think pet ownership education should add another "research on breeder background" as well....

btw, if you wanna pin this thread up as education to potential owners, you might wanna pm the mod directly, i noticed that they are hardly around....

This post has been edited by CyaNide27: Jun 26 2011, 12:56 AM

it's not the money that matters
but it is really saddening to see pets in such indescribable pain.
it hurts me even till now .sigh

Pet owners,
Please do check properly before buying .
otherwise, you'll go through what i'm going through now!

---

Added on June 26, 2011, 12:59 amYes i totally AGREE with you .
there must be a forum to educate buyers.
don't be like me,blurred around.
but there is no regrets for having a cute baby like tiffie.
it's just that we don't want other dogs to suffer the same
thing she had been through & i'm sure she will support us.

This post has been edited by aiyoyoann: Jun 26 2011, 12:59 AM

yep ive already PM-ed the mods...
hopefully they will pin it up...

any other forums that you know of cyanide?

basically any places that has topics on pets would be a good platform to educate people....
http://homeapet.com/english/index.php
http://www.puppy.com.my/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi
http://cforum.cari.com.my/forumdisplay.php?fid=613 (this is a chinese language forum)

ofcourse when you love them, you wont care whatever flaws they have, wont regret for having them in your lives.... i also just lost my beloved maltese 2 weeks ago (due to other causes), i treated her literally as my own daughter, loved her more than myself, so i can understand how suffering it feels right now, even till today is still exactly same feeling as that day.... take care....

This post has been edited by CyaNide27: Jun 26 2011, 02:02 AM

.

This post has been edited by benjac: Jul 7 2011, 12:14 PM

)= yeah the truth is.. we bought from irene thinking its better to buy from her, a home breeder...
instead of going to shops (which has a higher chance of their puppies coming from puppy mills)

Whereas i was made to understand Benjac (owner of mellomouse blog (=) went up to Penang.. we didn't have the time to go up nor the vehicle to do so..

as such we didnt have a chance to inspect the location and see how was the condition of the pups before it was brought to us..

its hard to find a good breeder anymore

you could check out dog shows organised by MKA and look at the many show exhibitors there with their dogs.... most (i cant guarantee all) that bring their dogs to join these championship shows are usually responsible and breed in the purpose of improving the breed quality.... certain shows have more international breeders competing as well.... although you may not be looking for a show quality, the breeders themselves also cant guarantee that 100% of their puppies will become show quality so there is bound to be pet quality ones, but responsible breeders would ofcourse ensure that the sire and dam are healthy and etc....

I'm very sorry for your loss. There are many cases like this happening everywhere for years but not many ppl dare to do anything about it. I give you a very big thumbs up coming forth and posting about your experience.

I hv many friends that ask me about where to get puppies. There are the rare few that will actually listen and get their puppy from good respectable ethical breeders, but the sad truth is that most of them will opt for puppymill/backyard breeders due to their financial constrictions.

For example, a friend of mine called me n asked about getting a toy poodle. Even after explaining extensively about puppymill/backyard breeders, he still wanted to try his luck to find a cheap puppy that may be healthy. He found a breeder/dealer online n proceeded to purchase the puppy for RM600. This cute little puppy however, died in less than a week later of parvo. He n his family were extremely upset but wanted another puppy to replace that hole that opened up. Again, he decided to purchase a cheap mill puppy thru another dealer. He bought another puppy in the end for roughly the same price. I'm not sure how's the puppy doing now but I haven't heard from him since so I presume it's doing fine.

My friend ended up paying a hefty RM1200 + vet bills + grief + a dead puppy. I don't believe attacking/complaining directly to these dealers/breeders is much use cuz they know what they're doing. They know that they are making money from suffering animals n they're not gonna stop.

I think the best way is to educate ppl n raise awareness about the fact that by buying from mills they are contributing to suffering. However, there are shops that pose as if they are so ethical n awesome but get their puppies from the very same mills they preach not to buy from. If ppl learn to think n judge for themselves, I believe it will may possibly destroy the puppymills/backyard breeders.

Kudos to u n the few other ppl that come forward to address this issue.

---

Added on June 26, 2011, 1:49 amI agree, there are always bound to be a chance that there will be pet quality puppies/dogs available from breeders. Though I would suggest adopting over buying if possible.

This post has been edited by Reanne: Jun 26 2011, 01:49 AM

yeah and that is why we bought from irene kang..

and tbh her puppies aren't cheap.. im not gonna divulge how much but they're at premium price range due to their sire/dams being champs

Reanne could you notify the other 2 mods if they could consider sticky-ing this thread?

i've already Pm-ed them..
But i'm made to know that they are rarely around

thanks

Gilatikus isn't around much but u can try PMing Nairud.