Feb 12, 1996

I came across a local (classified ad) number leading to a voice mailbox advertising some kind of beauty product. The husband called me back--a local yocal with a handler flying down from Illinois. He gave me an option. I could buy the dregs of the litter. The sire and dam were both under 5 years old and neither he nor his wife had ever heard of fanconi, malabsorbsion, any eye problems. We had a moment of conversation like this:

"Do you know if there's any familial history of Fanconi?"

"What's that?"

"A hereditary..."

"Ah, don't worry about that, they're always coming up with new stuff..."

"Don't worry about it? You wouldn't be saying that if you'd had a dog that died of..."

"Our dogs are champions. You don't have to worry about their health."

"How do you know you aren't perpetuating a line of sick puppies if you aren't even familiar with the diseases?"

"Look, they're always coming up with new diseases..."