A WOMAN who bought an imported English Bulldog has been told by a vet she needs to pay £25,000 for surgery or face putting him down.

Rachel Adams, 46, from Garsington, said she bought Hungarian 17-week-old Buster, from Sandhurst-based Perfect Pets in September last year for £1,100.

She thought a dog would help her exercise as she is waiting for a double lung transplant because she has emphysema.

But when she took Buster to a veterinary hospital in December for checks she said she was told when he’s old enough he’ll need surgery including on his hips, knees and a deformed front leg costing about £25,000 and that it would be kinder to put the dog to sleep.

Miss Adams said: “I’m a great believer in love at first sight and I fell in love with him. But after two or three weeks I knew something wasn’t quite right.”

Miss Adams, who lives with her partner Kevin Hardie on the King’s Copse caravan park in Garsington which the couple manage, said a friend recommended the website.

She said: “In the first couple of weeks I noticed his back legs were quite stiff. He didn’t seem to be able to jump up or go for a full blown run.”

Miss Adams said she took Buster to Vets4Pets in Cowley which took x-rays revealing problems with Buster’s joints and legs.

He was then referred to the Fitzpatrick Referrals Veterinary Practice & Hospital in Godalming.

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The hospital said it could not confirm how much the surgery would cost but Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists in Winchester told the Oxford Mail the standard cost of a hip replacement would be between £4-5,000 including a £600 consultation fee and replacement elbow operations would cost £6,500, a total of £23,700.

Miss Adams, who only has Buster insured up to £2,000 per condition and is trying to raise money for the surgery, said: “It’s terrible to have to live with it really because of all the problems he has but you can’t put him to sleep at seven months old.”

Perfect Pets is owned by Hungarian couple Gabriella Kiss and Andras Varga who run it from a house in Berkshire.

Miss Kiss said the couple regularly bring up to ten dogs over from Hungary at a time in a specially licensed car and health checks are carried out before they leave the country at a fraction of the cost a UK vet would charge.

On their website it states: “Cheaper doesn’t mean the pup has any problems, it is just because these puppies are from Hungary, directly from the Breeders and because we don’t supply Pedigree or KC Registration papers with them.”

Miss Kiss said she could not remember Miss Adams, but said all dog owners are asked to return their pets if they have problems so they can be taken back to Hungary for treatment.

She added: “English bulldogs are short nosed dogs and as they go along they can develop problems.”

“We’re licensed so we don’t want any problems, we just want to get more customers and for our customers to be happy.”

Perfect Pets is licensed to sell puppies by Bracknell Forest Council and is checked regularly by Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency officers.

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