A Westport woman is raising funds to help pay for veterinary care for a dog she helped save from a New York dog breeder arrested earlier this month on animal neglect charges.

In the summer of 2021, Shannon Vivieiros purchased a puppy from AKC Daschund NY, a dog breeder in Davenport, NY. The dog had numerous health issues, but Viveiros wrote that her attempts to contact and work with the breeder, Doreen Biasi, were unsuccessful and left "a sour taste" in her mouth. Soon after, she began following a Facebook group made up of dog owners who had also had bad experiences with the breeder.

Though she never got anywhere with her attempts to work with the breeder on her pet's issues and was subsequently blocked from her on social media, Viveiros said she was particularly taken aback by the story of another Facebook poster who had also had a bad experience. The woman wrote in January that Radar, the daschund she had acquired from the breeder under a guardianship arrangement in 2020, had been taken back from her after a following out; months later, the woman saw Radar for sale on the breeder's website.

"My heart ached for (her)," she wrote."I immediately began thinking of ways to somehow reunite her with Radar."

Though she was unable to reach the breeder directly, Viveiros had a friend and her brother contact her, work out arrangements and the next day drove to New York to pick up the dog. As soon as they secured Radar, they contacted the former owner, with whom they had not yet spoken, and gave her the good news that her dog had been retrieved.

"When we received Radar, he was in rough shape," Viveiros wrote. "He was wet, foul smelling, had apparent dental issues, appeared underweight and was visibly frightened.

The woman was soon reunited with Radar, but faces an uphill battle against numerous medical conditions. The owner's "ability to afford Radar's care is limited," Viveiros wrote.

"While (she) has done everything she can to give Radar the attention he needs, I feel compelled to do everything I can to help."

Viveiros has since launched a Gofundme campaign to raise money for Radar's medical bills. To date, it has raised about $1,400.

Just as the gofundme page was getting rolling, police in Delaware County, NY, arrested the breeder, Doreen Biasi, and her daughter Ashley on charges of animal neglect; specifically, failure to provide proper sustenance.