January 7, 2003

ATT: Veterinarians and Veterinary Supply Providers

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been a pet distributor for 12 years, buying up to 200 puppies from midwest kennels each week and marketing them to Chicago and east coast pet stores. From 1978 to 1998 I also operated a large breeding kennel, wherein I raised purebred dogs. I am a member and one of the founders of the Iowa Pet Breeders Association. I volunteered to write this letter to recommend a product that I feel has virtually saved the pet industry in our country and maybe even the world, since many U.S. puppies are marketed overseas.

At the time I became involved in the pet industry 25 years ago, parvovirus was a major health problem throughout the United States, especially for commercial kennels. Although the vaccines available at the time helped to overcome this problem somewhat there were various strains of the virus that were vaccine resistant. Commercial kennel or pet store owners had no option but to battle these strains with whatever methods he and his local veterinarian could find. Thousands of dollars were lost when one of these strains of parvovirus invaded a kennel or pet store, killing both puppies and adult dogs. The financial and emotional strain was horrendous and many kennels and pet stores simply closed when they could find no way to overcome it. I have firsthand knowledge of the struggle the pet industry faced, because my kennel suffered two separate parvo outbreaks during these early years, one which killed 75% of the puppies I produced. Whether because of my tenacious German spirit, my love of raising dogs, or just plain stupidity. I refused to "throw in the towel". I took comfort in the fact that I was not alone and I prayed for a miracle to save the pet industry from this scourge. I had no clue that my miracle was waiting in Tennessee!

In 1990 I began to market puppies wholesale and a pet store owner told me, "Before you buy and sell any more puppies, you'd better talk to Dr. Bob Page in Dresden, TN. He's formulated a vaccine against parvo that WORKS and I won't buy any puppies from you that haven't been vaccinated with it!". Only a fool wouldn't have heeded her advice and my mother raised no fools….I called Dr. Page immediately. He explained that although his product had not yet received FDA approval (he was at the time involved in that process), he could prescribe to me if I would come to Tennessee for a personal consultation. My finances were limited right then, but I'm thankful I made the decision to go!

After a lengthy consultation, during which Dr. Page addressed my breeding program, herd management, size and type of facility, ventilation, veterinary health program, nutritional needs, and other pertinent data. I left Tennessee with 200 doses of the product he called Neopar, a veritable wealth of new knowledge, and a lifelong respect for Dr. Bob Page.

Since that day I've marketed over 60,000 puppies and every puppy sold by me has been vaccinated with Neopar. My death loss from parvo has been almost nonexistent with Neopar. I have recommended Neopar to every pet store I sell to and every breeder I buy from, especially those that ask for my help when they start losing puppies. I strongly believe, from my own experience, that Neopar not only protects puppies from parvo, but also boosts their immune systems in general, enabling them to fight off other diseases, with proper vaccination and kennel management. I wouldn't continue in business if Neopar was no longer available!!

Neopar has been approved by FDA and is now available to veterinarians and veterinary supply providers. Almost all large distributors like myself are using Neopar to protect the puppies they sell, but many breeders are not aware of its benefits and they still needlessly lose puppies to parvovirus. They trust their veterinarians to show them the best products to use in their kennels. I wish I could tell every kennel operator and dog owner about Neopar, but even though I haven't the means to do so…you do. I credit Dr. Bob Page and Neopar with not only saving my kennel, but the entire pet industry in this country. Wouldn't it be great if your dog owner clients were as graceful to you as I am to Dr. Page? Please make Neopar available to them!!!!

Sincerely,

Patti Noethe

Oleo Acres Kennels