Mar 17, 2009 10:50 am US/Eastern
I-Team: Puppies Bought From Breeder Die Of Illness
MIAMI (CBS4 I-TEAM) ―
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Coco, a Chihuahua died of Parvo disease shortly after being purchased from a breeder.
CBS
A South Family animal breeder is under fire from a family devastated by the loss of their pets, after the pets became deathly ill after the breeder sold the pets to them. The I-Team has discovered the breeder was banned from selling animals in Georgia three years ago.
Chi Chi the Chihuahua has brought joy to Natasha Van Ingen and her family for nearly a decade, but that joy can't hide the heartache over what happened to other Chihuahuas that recently became part of the Van Ingen family.
"My 7-year old Chihuahua passed away and we needed to fill the place to get the death off our minds," Natasha Van Ingen recalled.
They replaced their 7 year-old pet with Coco and Lilly, two teacup Chihuahuas that Natasha and her mother saw advertised in the local paper.
"I thought they were so cute," Natasha Van Ingen said. "I picked a black and white one 'cause it was like another previous Chihuahua that I had that passed away."
But within days of buying the two dogs in mid-February there were medical problems.
"They were fine when we got them home, playful eating good, everything," Natasha said. "Then, like 7 days later the brown one first, Coco, started to not want to eat. (She was) acting, like, depressed. So that's when it went downhill from there."
Days after the puppies came home, the Van Ingen's had to take Coco to a local emergency animal clinic. There the dog was diagnosed with the highly contagious disease, Parvo.
She died hours after arriving at the clinic.
The very next day Lily, too, began to have problems. The Van Ingens took her to Dr. Andrew Newman at All Pet Care Animal Clinic in Davie. All Pet Care is the same clinic that was originally holding Coco and Lily when the Van Ingens bought from breeder Tyrone "Ty" Morsello.
Dr. Newman confirmed Lily, too, now had Parvo. The dog died a few days after Coco.
Dr. Newman says he got the dogs from Morsello.
The I-Team obtained court records from Gwinnett County, Georgia, near Atlanta, showing "Ty" Morsello, the man listed as the breeder of the Van Ingen's two dogs, was charged with 67 counts of violating Gwinnett County's Animal Control ordinance, Neglect, in August, 2006.
The court records show Morsello pleaded guilty on September 1, 2006 to 50 of the counts of neglect. The other 17 counts were dropped.
Morsello received 7 years probation in exchange for turning over all his animals to Gwinnett County authorities, and he was prohibited from dealing in dogs or selling them in Georgia while on probation. He was required to pay $30,670 in restitution.
The CBS4 I-Team tried to track down Morsello at three different addresses including the Sunrise address listed on the Florida Department of Agriculture documents that came with the two teacup Chihuahuas sold to the Van Ingens February 20, 2009.
Neighbors told us the home in Sunrise had been abandoned for at least six months, though they confirmed Morsello had lived there some time ago.
Sunrise City Code enforcement letters posted in the window dating back to October 17, 2008 showed that the yard had not been maintained since at least that time.
Morsello was not at either of two other addresses listed as his home or place of business, and didn't return numerous messages CBS4 left at both places.
Dr. Newman said he has dealt with Morsello for years and has never had any problems.
"I don't know the details of (the criminal charges)." Dr. Newman said. "I really don't. I just know from down here before he (Morsello) went up there (Georgia.) And I know now that since he came back down here."
I-Team investigator Stephen Stock asked, "Does he take care of the animals?"
"He takes care of them," Dr. Newman replied. "I make sure that he takes care of them."
But Natasha Van Ingen remains unconvinced.
"He (Morsello) should not ever to be able to sell puppies ever again," Natasha Van Ingen said.
While the Van Ingens did get their money back from Morsello, the family wants to make sure others know what happened to them.
"It's horrible," Natasha said. "I don't want anyone else to go through what me and my family has gone through."
The CBS4 I-Team tried several different ways to get in touch with Tyrone Morsello to get his side of this story.
Natasha Van Ingen says anyone buying dogs from Morsello should at least know his history in Georgia.
Georgia court records show he still is prevented from even possessing, much less selling, breeding or acting as a broker of dogs or any other type of animal there until his 7 years probation ends.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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