Unscrupulous pet-shop owners have been urged to clean up their act after a woman who spent $7,000 on a puppy was left distraught when it fell gravely ill days later.
Deborah Yang has since spent $5,000 on treatment for her West Highland White terrier, Piglet, and now faces an anxious wait to see if he will pull through.
With many animals kept in overcrowded, unhygienic conditions, critics say the pet shops are a breeding ground for diseases that often do not surface for weeks.
When Ms Yang bought the puppy in a pet store in Causeway Bay three weeks ago, the owner told her she had 24 hours to get him checked by a vet. She could return him if there were any problems.
'I didn't take him to a vet because Piglet looked healthy and was very energetic,' she said.
Within four days, the puppy started showing signs of sickness. He was vomiting, weak with an upper respiratory tract infection and had diarrhoea.
