LOVE Island star Molly-Mae Hague spoke of her anguish earlier this year after a dog she bought from Russia died after six days.
Molly, 21, had been assured by sellers in June that her pomeranian Mr Chai was healthy.
But it emerged he had been born with enlarged internal organs and part of his brain was exposed.
Now Molly-Mae has urged pet lovers to steer clear of imports after being left heartbroken by the death of the pup — a gift from fellow Love Island contestant and boyfriend Tommy Fury, 21.
She said: “If we had our chance again, we wouldn’t have imported from Russia.
“The autopsy results showed that his skull wasn’t fully developed and he didn’t have a white blood cell left in his body.”
The blood disorder left the dog unable to fight off any infection.
Molly-Mae, from Manchester, added: “If we had the time again, we’d have a dog from the UK.”
Other puppy peddler victims told HOAR of their heartbreak after Christmas gift pets fell seriously ill or died within days.
Mum-of-two Rebecca Reed, 45, bought a cute pedigree cavachon Max in 2015 — and watched in horror as he collapsed and was put on life support within 17 hours.
Max was much younger than the sellers claimed and was almost killed by megaesophagus — a hereditary condition which stops dogs eating.
Rebecca, from Sussex, said: “He seemed perfectly healthy, but it turns out he was probably imported and we were tricked by a professional gang.
“The whole family endured an awful time over that Christmas wondering if he’d pull through.
“We’ve ended up spending £5,500 in vets’ bills to make him the happy, lovable dog he is now.”
Another mum told how her toy dog cross Evie arrived for Christmas 2019, but had to be put down days later on December 27 after contracting the fatal parvovirus.
Buyer Sarah, 31, from Chichester, West Sussex, believed she was getting a healthy, well-bred dog from a happy home.
But Sarah — duped by online lies by smuggling gangs in a ploy dubbed “dogfishing” — realised the pup was in distress as soon as she saw her.
She said: “The environment the puppies were in didn’t sit well with us. We wanted to take her away from there, get her vaccinated and give her a good home.
“But she was so sick, there wasn’t time to get her vaccinated.
“The vet said she probably wouldn’t last the night, so we had to put her to sleep. We just couldn’t let her suffer any more.
“It ruined our Christmas.”
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