My little brother Ben has wanted an albino female hedgehog (female because he "doesn't want the willy rubbing on his hand") and I have no idea why albino but he wanted one for a good while now and my mum had said no until he had his own money saved up to show he was being mature and it was not impulse buying on his part (though he gets angry at the idea of pet shops let alone impulse buying). He managed to save up a bit of money this year and got a bit for his birthday and my mum asked me if they could look on preloved as none of the main breeders had albino's. I daftly said sure....thinking they would find nothing that suited them.

My brother found a little albino girl and I have no idea who next but between them they put a deposit down. I took control of the account because the breeder was on about withholding the papers until after they had collected her, which is wrong the papers should be ready the day they are due to go.

We had asked for pictures but she refused to send them, personally I thought she just couldn't be bothered but we later found out why...

My mum was unable to travel so far to pick her up, after 3 weeks of waiting I was ill too so a close family friend went and collected her using my hedgehog carry case.

The deal was she would come from the breeder to my house, I would give her mite treatment, weigh her and take her to my mums. However when she arrived at my door it became clear she was not going to be leaving me for a while.

I lifted the lid of the carry case to find a tiny!!!! very tiny hoglet. I noticed straight away her leg was broke and she was missing a few quills.



I contacted the breeder by email and got a text from her stating it must have happened in the car journey. I knew this was not possible as the scab on it was old and the way she was carrying her leg, it was clear she had "got" used to walking on 3 legs.

My brother at this point was in tears.

She arrived with me at about 7.30pm/8pm and after hearing from the breeder we took her down to the vet at 11.30pm. The vet gave her some pain killers and said bring her back in the morning for an x-ray.

8.30am we took her back to the vet and left her there for her x-ray. They called us to collect her and informed us she had a dislocated elbow, which had been left so long it was not going to be able to be fixed. The leg would need removing. They also informed me she had a bone infection.

We left with a course of anti-biotics and the vet said she refuses to amputate until she's grown in size. (she weighed in at only 84g)

The vet has also given us a signed statement that the injury and infection could not have happened after she came to us, as it had been there for a "long time".

My brother is scared of holding her incase he hurts her leg. And my mum wants her to stay with me until her legs been removed.






This breeder refuses to acknowledge that she should step up for what happened to this little girl. She's been with us just over 3 weeks now and has shot up to 230g and has nearly all of her quills back. My little brother comes to visit her because we dont like taking her out in the carrier, he loves her to bits but he's scared to touch her.

I dont blame him.

So please, do not buy from back yard breeders. IF something doesn't seem right (like with the pictures) run for the hills. Its not just dogs/cats that can get badly bred. My little brothers paying the price.

Once the amputation has been done that will bring the bill to just over £300.
If he had waited like I asked him to then it would have been different, however in a way I am glad he didnt wait. She needed vet attention and the bone infection would have killed her if she hadn't been treated.

We are hoping the leg will be removed just after christmas, then she will recover here and then my brother can finally have his hedgehog.

He's named her Solstice, although he did want to call her candy he was a bit worried about his friends and the name "candy".

__________________

That poor poor little girl.
I am so glad that she has you and your brother to care for her, if she hadn't come to you then I imagine she would be dead by now
Why cant the law be that you have to have a licence and regular checks to be able to breed, then things like this wouldn't happen.
Is there any way you can report the BYB to the rspca or anyone if the vet has said the injury is an old one then you have proof that it must have been while she was with the breeder, surely she can get done for neglect or something.

Solstice is a lovely name and she is a beautiful hedgehog.
I hope her operation in the new year goes well and wish her a speedy recovery from it.
x x

Awww bless her little heart , Solstice (fantastic name by the way) is a beauty

I agree with you about not buying from byb's , but also that in this case it was lucky your Brother did

I hope little Solstice (cant get over how cute that name is) continues to improve healthwise and that her operation goes well

I hope that breeder has a lousy xmas and new year

__________________

Not sure if the RSPCA will do anything, they are so lazy sometimes its un-real.
All I can really do is discourage people that want to buy from her.
This breeder is based in Leeds. There are a couple of breeders in Leeds so it doesnt really narrow it down for anyone looking to buy from that way.

We are putting together the case for small claims court. Hopefully the RSPCA may want to do something once a court rules in our favor.

__________________

this made me feel physically sick

poor poor baby!!!!! How can anyone neglect an animal like this? if that was a child the person would be locked up!

you still referred to them as "breeder" throughout your post . . . I would have called them something awful so well done for the restraint

Poor little thing. . .she is so gorgeous. . .how can anyone look at that little face and not want to help it?

I know you're looking after her until she is better but your little brother will probably love her even more knowing what she has been through. . .

Like you pointed out I'm so glad you got this little baby. . .it was clearly fate that brought her to you because she needed your help so much

If you had the "breeder's" address you I could turn up on the doorstep with the vet bills

get the word out to breeders in Leeds so they can try and find out for you and help you to get the word out about this person!

__________________

Poor baby. It's difficult enough to imagine how someone could neglect her to that extent, but then to try to pass her off on an unsuspecting buyer is beyond despicable

Liz

Hey hun,

I have her address, phone number and email address but we are going to try and do it through the courts.We are sending her 7 day letter this week, saying she has 7 days to settle out of court otherwise we are going further.

Sad part is she still sold 2 more of the litter mates after Solstice's story had been posted around. Apart from publicly naming and shaming her I dont really know how else to keep folk away from her.

__________________

Mummy hog or a sibling could have done this to her but to have it left for long enough to get a bone infection is actually shocking!
Then to sell her as healthy! wtf?

__________________

I would definitely at least report it to the RSPCA now. ..I know they're not normally worth talking to but it's worth a shot and like you said they might listen more when it's been to court if they don't do anything about it now

she needs banning from having animals!

I'm so glad you're actually doing something about this instead of just leaving it she really needs to be stopped . . .if she can't give them the care and attention they need then she should not be able to make money off them and pass the book

if she'd been honest about it it would have made more sense but even then it wouldn't explain why the poor little mite was left without any form of treatment leading to a bone infection

I honestly can't even get over this . . .I'm furious at her and I don't even know her!!!!!!

__________________

I'm glad she's got a good home and proper vet treatment, I also hope that she ends up having to foot the bill (if it was me I'd be knocking on her door with the bill and refuse to leave until she paid me.) I'm sorry this is what happened to your little brother but he will take good care of her and give her the life she deserves which is really good <3 you've saved that poor little hedgehogs life

I'm glad you are taking action and I hope that she never gets the privilege of having any more animals.

__________________