Jackson's Story
Jackson is an adorable,
happy, bouncy golden retriever puppy. His favorite things are toys, and playing
with the people and dogs in his foster home.
And one day, sooner than any of us would
want.....Jackson will die.
Jackson was born in November 2002, and is a victim of a puppy mill. He came to
us in January 2003 with a heart murmur; he wasn't "saleable" anymore.
Jackson went to visit the cardiac doctors at MSU in February, and was diagnosed
with a severe case of aortic stenosis.
SAS is a genetic defect
of the heart. He's expected to live to be 6 months to one year old, at best.
Surgery isn't an option; the surgery available isn't very effective, and can't
be performed until 6 months of age. By that time, the damage to his heart will
prevent him from being a surgical candidate.
The blessing is that Jackson doesn't know anything is wrong with him. He isn't
in pain, and he won't be in pain; but one day, he'll go to sleep and won't wake
up again. Til then, his foster family will love him, and play with him, and care
for him....for whatever time he has.
Jackson has a cardiac
recheck at MSU in June 2003, and unfortunately the news isn't good. His heart
condition has continued to worsen, and will likely cause him to leave his foster
family within the next several months.
At this point, Jackson continues to be the same bouncy, happy-go-lucky boy that
has never met a stranger, and loves the world. He's on some heart medication, in
hopes of slowing the damage to some degree, and buying him some extra time with
us. We brought Jackson into our home knowing that he had a heart condition, and
that it may or may not be treatable. Many folks who are the victims of puppy
mills, pet stores, or disreputable breeders aren't aware there's a
problem...until they're already in love with their new pup.
What can you do to prevent things like this from happening to other dogs? Don't
buy dogs from pet stores, or from breeders that don't do genetic and health
testing. Choose puppies or dogs from reputable breeders, or shelters and
rescues. Spay and neuter your pets to prevent accidental breeding.
Click here
for information on choosing a reputable breeder, and
click here
for "red flags" to stay away from when choosing your puppy. The next time you see
that cute little puppy in the window, please remember Jackson....it's not how
much the puppy costs, it's what it costs the puppy.