A heartbroken mum has been left angry after 13 pedigree puppies died following an operation on their mother at a vets surgery.
Alina O'Malley, 26, decided to breed puppies from her American XI Bully dog Arizona.
Arizona was a pedigree dog, so Ms O'Malley, who works as a hospitality manager, knew the puppies could be worth thousands of pounds and would be in high demand.
According to Ms O'Malley, who is from Derby, her dog didn't suffer any health complications and the labour appeared to be progressing as it should, with at least eight healthy pups showing on the scans.
There were concerns from Ms O'Malley that Arizona could become tired by delivering 13 puppies and so she explored the option of a Caesarean-section operation with Easipetcare in Derby.
She claims to have received little to no advice about the risks of a C-section, or the alternative options available, Derbyshire Live reports.
"My whole world has been shattered when I took my beautiful Arizona for a C-section on 27th April, at Easipetcare," she said.
"This disaster C-section resulted in 13 healthy puppies dying within two hours of the C-section.
“Firstly, I just want to stress that her labour was going smoothly, there was no discharge, no stuck puppy, nothing concerning.
"The only reason I took her to see the vet was because I was conscious it was a big litter, and she would get too tired to deliver them all naturally and I would have to take her for C-section half way through.
“I wanted to ensure the health of my dog and the puppies. There was no green discharge, no blood discharge, nothing abnormal about the labour to cause concern for the puppies inside. The puppies were still visibly moving in her stomach when we took her to the vets.
“She had not been straining or contracting, she was still in first stage of labour and had not gone past the recommended 24 hours. Everything was smooth, I was just concerned that she would get too tired mid way through Stage 2 of labour, so wanted to take her to the vets to see what they advise.”
Leaving her dog in the hands of the vet, Ms O’Malley left the vet surgery for the C-section to be carried out.
While away, she received a phone call from the reception asking to administer fluids to Arizona due to the large litter.
She was told that all 13 puppies and her dog were healthy and well, and she began to prepare to hand feed the puppies by buying special milk and researching online.
At around 8pm the same evening, just two hours after the initial phone call, a member of staff then called her to tell her that all 13 puppies had died.
She added: “The vet, to my absolute astonishment, said all 13 puppies had died. At this point he offered an explanation that there was liquid in the pups and that’s why they didn’t take their first breath, and that no pups took a breath.
“However upon arrival [at the vet surgery], this changed to many different reasons. He discussed that actually two puppies did take breaths so they concentrated on those two puppies but then they didn’t survive, changing from the earlier story.
“Then they discussed that the general anaesthetic may have made it difficult for them to take their first breath because they would have been drowsy. This was never mentioned as a risk or possibility.”
Ms O’Malley feels that there were several factors that led to the death of the puppies, and claims that the Easipetcare surgery is to blame for it.
She believes only two people were carrying out the procedure, which she claims is not enough to look after 13 puppies and her dog.
"I would have understood losing a couple of puppies, but a whole litter tells me something went drastically wrong, especially after that initial phone call that stated all puppies and mum were healthy and well," she added.
"It could even potentially be something as simple as they didn’t keep them warm enough; didn’t feed them in time, due to having the pups there for two hours, if they were alive and well at 6pm, but they did not get kept under heat lamp, did not get fed, they could have all deteriorated.
“What’s so frustrating to me, is that had the vet at any point told me he felt unable to perform the C-section, or that there was a risk of limited survival if he performed a C-section I would have chosen to go elsewhere or try a natural birth.
“There has been conversations with the vet since the labour, that also astonish me. For example, I asked the vet the risk of mastitis, due to Arizona not whelping puppies, her milk will be stored and could cause infection, the vet mentioned that I could massage her teats to get rid of the milk, after seeking advice elsewhere, this is in fact the completely wrong method to take and could cause mastitis."
She went on: "I questioned the vet on this point and he just shrugged his shoulders. I also discussed the risk of pre-eclampsia- he again had no answers on how to help or prevent this.
"All of the above questions and concerns I had, went unanswered after the operation and at the post op check up. I had to pay to go to a different vet, on the same day; to get her checked again, and ask all of these questions to someone who could give me answers.
“Baring in mind Arizona started bleeding, which I was not told would happen, and I was so concerned as I was not told this would be normal, so I rushed her to the vet, to be told this is normal and should’ve been advised to expect this.
"I understand some vets may not have all the answers, or know everything, and that’s fine, however that is when a vet should attempt to research and find the answers, ask other vets or simply refer the dog to someone who is more knowledgeable.”
Now, Ms O’Malley is desperate for answers as to what happened to her 13 puppies and how a C-section could have gone so badly wrong.
“I have no answers, no reasons as to why 13 beautiful souls were taken away," she continued.
"These 13 puppies, with this pedigree and colour are worth thousands, I have lost around £50k from this litter.
“But truly it isn’t about the money, it’s about 13 innocent lives, and my beautiful dog never being the same again. She has been a completely different dog since she got home, no wagging her tail, just constant pacing, crying and digging.
“She cannot stay still, she doesn’t know what to do with herself, all her hormones are telling her to nest and protect, but she has nothing to do that for. My dog will never be the same again. I definitely will never be the same again.”
Easipetcare told the Mirror: “It is not our policy to comment on individual patients. The welfare of the animals we treat is our top priority at Easipetcare, and we take any allegations of substandard delivery of care extremely seriously.
"On this occasion the client did not follow our clinical advice. We offer our condolences for their loss.”
