Heartbroken Millie

We desperately need your help, and this one is a heartbreaker. Literally actually, tiny schnauzer puppy Millie is only 9 weeks old and has a broken heart.

Sweet tiny Millie should be going to her new forever home filled with toys and soft beds and looking forward to a lifetime of love and happiness as part of a family. Instead she has been hospitalized since she arrived, fighting for her life, and we don’t know if she will ever have that chance.

Another by-product of the cruel puppymill industry that prioritizes profit over animal welfare, Millie was bred for her “exotic” merle coloring so that her breeder could charge a higher price for her. With no health testing or regard for the health and conditions of the parents, congenital defects are common, some more serious than others. Millie was born with a 5/6 heart murmur, deemed unfit for sale and worthless, and her story could have just ended there. She was one of the lucky ones and was released to rescue, and it’s up to all of you to help us show her that her life matters. Her parents will likely continue to be bred unless they continually produce many other unfit for sale puppies or until they can’t physically breed anymore, and then if they are very lucky maybe they will have a chance at freedom and rescue.

She arrived weak and lethargic with pale gums and little appetite, and had labored breathing and needed to be placed in oxygen as soon as she arrived at the hospital. X-rays confirmed our worst fears… this tiny puppy is already in heart failure with a dangerously enlarged heart. A devastating diagnosis at any age, but especially for such a young pup who has not even had a chance at a life yet. Her prognosis is guarded, and we don’t yet know the underlying cause of her heart defect, whether it is fixable, or if help came too late. Her vet bills have already far exceeded the amount her breeder could have hoped to make from her sale even if she was healthy, but we can’t put a dollar sign on this sweet little life. She is on medication and will be getting a cardiology work up asap to see what, if anything can be done to help her. We fear the worst but hope for the best, and as long as her heart is still beating and there’s a chance for her to survive, we will continue to fight. Everyone she meets instantly falls in love with her sweet personality and spirit, and we are hoping she at least gets a chance to make it to a home and enjoy a quality of life for some amount of time.

Little Millie is breaking our hearts, as well as our bank account, and we need your help so that we can continue to help her fight, and continue to help others like her, the unseen victims of the pet store industry. Stay tuned for updates as we know more and please share her story as yet another cautionary tale for anyone considering buying a puppy.