POOPS Busselton coordinator Cathy Gibson has come to the aid of a rescue dog Rosie who suffers from osteoarthritis in her knees and hip dysplasia.
POOPS is a not-for-profit organisation which has volunteers who walk dogs for people aged 65 years or more or people who have a disability or disabling illness of any age and can no longer walk their dogs.
Rosie was obtained from a puppy farm in Perth, she was sold because she had stopped producing puppies for her original owners.
Her rescuers Paul and Annette Pavlenko travelled to Perth when they heard there was a westie available.
Mr Pavlenko said when they got there it was quite obvious the place was not a professional breeding kennel but that dogs were being bred in a backyard.
"When we saw Rosie it was love at first sight, she was in a shocking state I had to get her out of there regardless of how much they wanted for her," he said.
"The place was shocking.
"We took Rosie to the vet and several dollars later she was okay, she needed teeth extracted and all sorts of medicines, she has had nothing but problems.
"She is wonderful and I am so pleased we brought her home and took her away from that place.
"If we can do anything it is to let people know about backyard breeders, it will be worthwhile."
Ms Pavlenko said one of the main reasons they got Rosie was so she could take her for walks, when Ms Pavlenko started suffering seizures they couple engaged POOPS to help them walk their dogs.
POOPS coordinator Ms Gibson noticed Rosie was limping and offered to take her to a vet who kindly offered to reduce her fees by half so they could x-ray the dog.
Ms Gibson said unfortunately for Rosie she was suffering from osteoarthritis and hip dysplasia, things caused by breeding.
"The people got rid of her because she was not pumping out enough puppies, but all the puppies she would have bred are going to have the same conditions," she said.
"It is horrible and hopefully new legislation will knock this on the head, Rosie is paying the price for people's greed."
Ms Gibson has setup a Go Fund Me page to help pay for Rosie's ongoing vet bills and to buy a pram so she could continue taking Rosie out on walks.
"It is the only thing we can do for her, she started the first of her Cartrophen injections last week and needs three of those every week," she said.
"She is also on a Chinese herb for her joints and a liquid meloxicam, which is also for pain, all we can do is keep her pain levels down and keep her comfortable."
If you would like to donate to help Rosie walk pain free please visit gofundme.com.
