Arche de Noël: puppies sacrificed so as to not spend money

Undeclared breeding, illegal commercial practices, and also appalling health conditions: nothing frightens the boss of this factory.

A deadly and extremely contagious canine disease

Parvovirus is a serious viral illness that affects dogs, leading to vomiting and bloody diarrhoea. As this disease is extremely contagious, animals must be isolated, their spaces must be meticulously disinfected, and strict quarantine measures must be put in place. However, the recurrent presence of rats within the organisation clearly shows its unsanitary environmental state.

Death confirmed within and outside the breeding farm

Since our first visit in October 2022, we learnt that an epidemic of parvovirus had broken out and had already killed 6 Australian shepherd puppies. The presence of the disease was again confirmed to us a few days later, in November, by another volunteer. However, within this fake rescue centre, our investigation revealed that no hygiene measures had been implemented. Unsurprising when we know that some of the care, such as removing stitches, is practised directly on site by the person in charge, with no regard for the most basic standards: disinfecting wounds with sterile material, done by a veterinarian.

At the beginning of January 2023, we were able to speak with a couple of adopters. What an (awful) surprise to learn that they were coming to get a little dog, after the one they had from here just two months before died at their home from parvovirus scarcely forty-eight hours after getting it. As a good trader, Azzopardi therefore obviously offered for them to come and get another puppy to replace the first one.

At the start of February 2023, a sibling placed with a foster family had to be euthanised because it was dying from parvovirus. The irony? According to the boss, the aim of placing it outside of the breeding farm was to protect the puppies from the epidemic. Which means that it was already carrying it when they left the premises and that the disease broke at the family's home, who had to have it euthanised to put an end to its ordeal. Instead of then closing the establishment to proceed with disinfection and putting an end to this epizootic disease once and for all, the person in charge preferred to spread the animals out away from his premises, posing a serious health risk to the community!

Not wishing to spend money on living beings he considers as goods, he chooses to let them suffer for days until they die, rather than taking them to a veterinarian to provide them with care or to cut their suffering short.

One Voice has filed a complaint against the owner in order to put an end to this massacre.

To find out more about Arche de Noël

• Arche de Noël: an adoption process that is unbelievable… and totally illegal
• Arche de Noël: a factory-breeding farm camouflaged by deceptively being called a ‘rescue centre’
• Arche de Noël: children subjected to the spectacle of animal abuse
• Arche de Noël: Aria killed because the boss didn't want to help her
• Arche de Noël: a museum of horrors for ‘exotic’ birds

Translated from the French by Joely Justice