Quebec’s ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) says it is investigating a French bulldog breeder based out of Côte Saint-Luc known as We Love Frenchies.
People claim that the breeder is not transparent when it comes to the origin and the health of the dogs their company sells.
A Montreal-based woman says she feels like she was lied to about where her puppy comes from by the breeder from which she purchased him, We Love Frenchies. We are concealing her identity because she fears retaliation from the breeder.
She claims she was told the puppy was bred in Montreal, but after taking a closer look, she says things didn’t add up.
“I kind of feel like I was duped,” she said. “They lied to me saying that he was a Quebec dog and knowing that his sticker is from Ukraine… it just says that he comes from there.”
The sticker — with a stamp with letters in Ukrainian — was attached to the puppy’s vaccination booklet, she says.
Mathylde Ducharme says she also purchased her dog Pablo at We Love Frenchies and says she also feels duped by the company.
Ducharme claims Pablo had a host of health issues, including a curved spine and a heart condition.
Ducharme says she feels the breeder wasn’t transparent when it came to Pablo’s health and medical background.
“She (the breeder) told me the dog’s cough was due to the air conditioner. In fact, it was because he was full of edemas (swelling) all over his body,” Ducharme told Global News.
Ducharme also claims the vaccination booklet the breeder gave her didn’t even have Pablo’s correct information — it was for a female dog, Pablo was a male.
Ducharme returned Pablo to the breeder and says she got the $3,000 she paid for the puppy back.
Global News has obtained other vaccination booklets from people who claim similar situations — finding Ukrainian stickers and being provided with booklets by the breeder with information that doesn’t add up.
The Quebec Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food confirmed to Global News there is an open investigation into the breeder by one of its partners but can’t comment on the specific case.
This investigation comes at the heels of a disturbing incident at Toronto Pearson Airport.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), 38 dogs arrived dead on June 13.
- What is a halal mortgage? How interest-free home financing works in Canada
- Capital gains changes are ‘really fair,’ Freeland says, as doctors cry foul
- Ontario doctors offer solutions to help address shortage of family physicians
- Canada will take bigger economic hit than U.S. if Trump wins election: report
They came aboard a flight from the Ukraine carrying about 500 puppies, many of which were sick on arrival.
Following an investigation by the CFIA, the agency decided that effective July 6, 2020, the CFIA will no longer issue new permits for the importation of commercial dogs under eight months of age from Ukraine.
“It was really disappointing to see what happened in Toronto with those 500 dogs and that could’ve been mine, that could’ve been my dog,” the woman said.
We Love Frenchies’ website states that it imports dogs from the Canada and Europe and says it’s just not easy to find on their site. You must Google their name in order to land on that specific page.
Their site also states that they do all necessary tests to ensure the health of their dogs.
“Our goal is to preserve the breed and the genes by doing all the tests necessary to ensure the health of our dogs,” the website reads.
“We provide a contract that includes the responsibility of the buyer, a one year health guarantee along with some conditions to make sure our dogs go to good homes.”
Global News reached out to We Love Frenchies. In a text, the person replied: “this is harassment, I have nothing to say. Please do not contact me anymore or I will call the police.”
In Quebec, it’s not illegal to import dogs when you hold the appropriate permit.
Global News was unable to verify whether We Love Frenchies holds such a permit.
But the woman with whom Global News spoke says the fact the government allows the importation of dogs is not right and like Ducharme, she would like to see change.
“I genuinely hope that something is going to change in the laws and in the ways people don’t over breed and they have to have the rules and regulations to abide by and this company is the perfect example of what I stand against,” she said.
Both women are warning other people to do more research on the breeder they choose and to push for answers on the origin of their dog.
Comments