Thursday, September 12, 2013

Dog Auctions - A Source of Brucellosis?

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A warning to dog rescues from the Missouri Alliance for Animal Welfaredog auctions could be a source of brucellosis.

Canine brucellosis is an infectious disease most often caused by the Brucella canis bacteria. It can be transmitted to humans, as well as other dogs, and is a significant cause of reproductive failure.  Canine brucellosis is mainly transmitted during breeding, but puppies can become infected from their mother during pregnancy by way of the placenta.

It is very difficult to cure an infected dog.  Several weeks of antibiotic therapy are needed and relapse is common.  

Spaying/neutering of the dog can reduce transmission risk, but Canine brucellosis can still be spread to others because it does not remove the bacteria from the body.  In addition, several sources note that this disease can infect a dog without producing any signs of illness.

At a recent seminar, hosted by the United States and Missouri Departments of Agriculture, commercial dog breeders were given a stern reprimand for selling dogs that are infected with Canine Brucellosis to rescue groups.

Dr. Kessler, DVM, a private practitioner with almost 25 years experience working with commercial dog breeders, told the seminar audience that it is "morally wrong" for them to knowingly sell dogs with Canine Brucellosis to rescues via deceptive means.  
"Brucellosis is a very painful disease for the dog and results in heartbreak for the family that would adopt a sick animals.  Even worse, as a zoonotic disease, it can be transmitted to a family member."
Dr. Kessler further stated 
Some disreputable breeders who owned dogs positive with Brucellosis were culling them by selling them to rescues - either directly or often times at auction. 

Dr. Kessler warned that rescues were being fooled by false negative tests for the disease. He explained that unscrupulous breeders often administer high dosages of antibiotics prior to the sale and testing for the disease and such high dosages will result in a negative test. It can sometimes take 90 days after antibiotic treatment to acquire an accurate result from a culture test for Brucellosis. 

Dr. Kessler said some commercial breeders were rationalizing this practice by arguing that since the dogs are spayed and neutered by rescue groups that there was no fear of the disease negatively affecting the animal. He explained that while spaying decreases the risk of Brucellosis, it is no guarantee; and neutering does little to prevent the disease. 
  
Dr. Kessler went so far as to recommend that rescue groups should not acquire dogs from auctions as there is no way to verify if a dog has Brucellosis.  [see below]  He stated that the disease is becoming more prevalent in Missouri and a negative test does not guarantee that a dog doesn't have Brucellosis.   
  
Unfortunately, deceptive practices are common place among puppy mill breeders. Commercial breeders have for decades sold sick and genetically defective puppies to consumers via pet stores or, more recently, online. So it comes as no surprise to learn that some puppy mills are fraudulently disposing of diseased breeding dogs by selling them to rescues groups.
 
The good news is that Kansas State University has developed a new test for brucellosis that is not affected by high dosages of antibiotics. It is known as the PCR test and is different than the commonly used "culture" tests. 
 
In an apparent response to this new test, one of the largest dog auctions in Missouri will only honor its guarantee against Brucellosis if the purchaser can show a positive result from the "culture test." This auction service, as well as other auctions, will also only honor such guarantees if a positive test was performed within 7 days of the sale - a time frame that easily allows for false negatives. 
 
Such warranties seem only to guarantee that disreputable breeders can continue to sell dogs infected with Brucellosis with impunity. 
 
 
 
Talking Dogs is the official blog of For Love of a Dog Jewelry.

14 comments:

  1. It is getting more and more difficult to have brucellosis tests done. We always have one done before breeding our dogs, but it is really difficult to get them done in time for a breeding. I wish the tests were more widely available as they were a few years ago. I am not sure how widely available the real time PRC swab tests are. I think those may be the ones that are hard for vets to get now.

    Our vets do a blood test. It is a two step test and the first test is a quick general screening test that produces false positives. Then a more specific test which takes longer is done to check for the actual bacteria. (I think the samples are sent to Cornell U or one of the other big canine testing labs.)

    I am not in favor of sick dogs being sent to rescues to infect other dogs, but I would hate to see dogs euthanized over false positives. Do you know the rate of false positives for that test? I would be curious to know and how widely available it is.

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  2. According to what I've read on several dog breeder forums, the PCR test is only done at Kansas State University and Iowa State University AND the PCR test have not seen the false positives and negatives as the older testing methods. The PCR test detect the Brucella DNA.

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  3. Wow! That is a scary disease! Yikes! Dog auctions just sound so terrible anyway and then with this disease. Dreadful!

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    1. Dog auctions are the vehicle for commercial dog breeders to downsize or go out of business. Lots of rescues attend to save dogs. Yep, very scary disease!

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  4. Thank you K-State! Another reason to love Kansas. Too bad their efforts won't amount to much. Not all breeders are as conscientious as 2BrownDawgs. And the bad breeders keep finding loopholes. :(

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    1. From what I could find, the new PCR test (developed by K State) is only available through them and Iowa State. Hopefully, more dog breeders and vets will make the switch.

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  5. Yes right now most vet clinics are sending the brucella tests to cornell. Scary stuff out there. Thanks for posting.

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  6. This is really interesting. I first learned about the disease when we visited an emergency clinic in college. One of the doctors told us not to touch a dog because she had it. I also remember doing at least one test for a client who bred Cane Corsos. Interesting how so many are able to get away with this.

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    1. I knew about the disease because we had cattle in the past. Very scary stuff (though I never new of anyone personally who dealt with it.) Highly contagious.

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  7. Interesting. I feel like we are just starting to hear about brucellosis again although its always been there. Our local news had something on it a few weeks ago and it stopped me dead in my tracks because the "breeder" that they were using to speak about the disease did not seem like a very good role model.

    We've used the basic blood tests on both the boys in the past, but there is room for error with that test. But everyone that I have dealt with in breeding has always made it clear that a brucellossis test needs to be done and proof given.

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    1. Well, I don't think the breeders you'd be dealing with would have anything to do with dog auctions... :-) There's a humongous difference between responsible dog breeders and most commercial dog breeders. This workshop was given because there were commercial dog breeders not doing the test and knowingly selling dogs with the disease.

      As I mentioned above, I'd heard of the disease, but considered it one of those things that was "in the past." Unfortunately, not so.

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  8. Thanks for writing about this! I have heard of Brucellosis before, but never knew much about it. This made me look more into it. We don't buy dogs at auction (or purchase from a breeder), but even those of us who only adopt rescues need to know about this.
    Overall, it's just one more reason (among MANY reasons) that puppy mills/puppy farms need to be stopped. It is still beyond my comprehension why they are not outlawed altogether. They are a blight on society every way you look at them, and yet they are allowed to continue to operate.

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    1. You're absolutely right! If one our beloved shelter/rescue dogs even came into contact with a puppy mill dog(s) with these disease... well, we'd be looking at probably heartbreak. There are dog rescues whose true mission is to save dogs from puppy mills and those are the ones with the greatest risk of unknowingly taking in a dog/puppy with the disease.

      You know I totally agree with you about puppy mills :-)

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  9. Wow I had never heard of Brucellosis before today, it's so scary out there, and I wish more people educated themselves about what's going on. Then we'd see some change!

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