As her 4-month-old golden retriever fights off a deadly virus, Marissa Alesi is recording herself live on TikTok.
“Thank you to my cult following for giving me the tools to completely, holistically heal my dogs from home,” said Alesi, a 33-year-old Chester County dog breeder and social media influencer. , referring to his thousands of loyal followers. . “I appreciate and love you all.”
But after treating Kiwi with IV fluids for 18 hours, the sick puppy never recovered.
Because Alesi was against vaccinating her puppies, Kiwi was not protected from the contagious canine parvovirus. Shortly after Alesi’s message of hope, the puppy died from a disease affecting the dog’s gastrointestinal tract. at his Honey Brook Township home in March 2022.
“He was very young,” Alesi told The Inquirer. “We did everything we could.”
Not everyone agrees.
Alesi has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok, but she was shocked when, a few days after broadcasting during her attempt to treat Kiwi, someone on Reddit created a forum dedicated to avenging the dead puppy .
Today, more than 8,000 people subscribe to the subreddit “Kiwisavengers,” where anonymous users, shocked by what they see as a preventable death, vent their collective outrage and call for accountability as they continue to Alesi skips parvovirus shots for her dogs.
Moderators boast that they “TAKE TEA” to the struggling influencer, and some topics are off limits. It’s all part of the Kiwisavengers’ existential mission: to expose Alesi for what they say are lies, scams and poor breeding practices.
For Alesi, the real-world consequences — he claims he’s lost job opportunities and been banned from Carnival Cruise ships because of the group — are piling up.
“I’m not the one person in this world, with 7 billion people here, who has had a puppy die of parvo,” Alesi said.
He added: “I paid for it more than you know.”
Kiwi’s Avengers
For starters, Kiwisavengers provides timelines and play-by-play recaps of Alesi’s behavior — a “crash course” that catalogs the names and breeds of more than 20 dogs and cats owned him in the past decade.
Callouts are not limited to Alesi’s dogs. After the influencer suggested to his followers that rapper Ice Spice’s hand gestures during his appearance with Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl were part of a “satanic ritual,” Kiwisavengers users quickly reposted of a screenshot, which elicits a communal eye roll.
A set of rules prohibits comments that mock Alesi’s physical appearance and sexuality, or identify her personal information. The moderators declined to be interviewed on the record, citing privacy concerns.
“We were like, what’s going on?” Alesi said, recalling when he and his wife, Angelia (another well-followed influencer), discovered the forum. “What are these people doing? Why are they taking time out of their day to go to an unknown group … call[ing] We murderers?”
Not all posts are made casually.
In an oft-repeated story, members say that while Kiwi suffered from parvovirus, Alesi could have paid $1,500 a night for the puppy’s care at an emergency veterinary hospital, but instead spent the money elsewhere.
This is one of the many claims that Alesi has denied.
Alesi says he is responsible for Kiwi’s death, and would have spent the $10,000 needed for a week’s care if he had the money.
Broadcasting during Kiwi’s struggles is part of his tell-all approach to social media, Alesi added.
“I’m not going to be that person on social media who makes my life look like rainbows and butterflies, and doesn’t tell people about hardships and bad things that happen,” Alesi said. “Because I think that’s bullshit.”
For Julia, a Kiwisavengers follower from Philadelphia who asked that only her name be used for security reasons, Alesi’s use of social media is driving negative attention.
“You’re constantly sharing everything you do online,” Julia said of Alesi. “Like, you’re doing it to yourself.”
‘I’m crushed’
Alesi’s attempts to remove the Kiwisavengers through Reddit staff, the police, and lawyers were unsuccessful.
Alesi was particularly concerned when users mentioned his family in the early days of the forum; today, Kiwisavengers moderators say they have banned discussion that refers to children.
That’s not all Alesi claims.
To protect his dogs from rabies, the breeder gives a modified shot at 6 months of age.
But Pennsylvania law requires all puppies to get the shot at about 3 months. So when Alesi was cited four times for rabies vaccine violations by the Chester County dog warden in December, the Kiwisavengers erupted in celebration.
“This is for you KIWI” one user gushed with heart emojis upon learning the news.
Alesi believes it was forum users who reported him to the authorities and the SPCA.
“They called every place I tried to get a job,” Alesi said. He recently alleged that he lost a job at the 911 call center because of the group, despite attempts to keep the job a secret. “I have a crush.”
In another instance, Alesi said, Kiwisavengers users reported him to Carnival after he smoked a vaporizer on TikTok live while sailing, in violation of company policy. After staff responded and found CBD oil in his room, Alesi said, he was later placed on the “Do Not Travel” list.
“Need Therapy” at one dark point Alesi said, feeling that she had been paid enough for the puppy’s death.
Vaccine skepticism
Despite the turmoil, Alesi has no intention of stopping holistic dog breeding. In fact, he said, customers seek him out specifically for his natural approach.
That means Alesi feeds her puppies a strict raw diet, and practices “slow natural exposure” to potential diseases by limiting public outings in their first months — as opposed to getting of the standard, five-in-one vaccine that protects against parvovirus, distemper, parainfluenza, and other diseases.
To the surprise of some veterinarians, dog vaccine skepticism is on the rise.
A 2023 report from Boston University’s School of Public Health found that 37% of pet owners who responded to a survey considered dog vaccines unsafe. More than 20% saw the drugs as ineffective, and 30% considered them completely unnecessary.
Karel Minor, CEO of Humane Pennsylvania, said that while veterinarians at the animal welfare nonprofit have not yet found vaccine skepticism as the Boston University study suggests, there has been a noticeable increase in recent years. .
“I’ve seen more people asking if it’s necessary, what’s the effectiveness, is it harmful?” Minor said about the five-in-one shot. He speculates that this skepticism is tied to widespread anti-vaccine sentiment that has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minor acknowledged the statistically rare chance of an allergic reaction to the shots, but stressed the safety of dog vaccines is backed by research. He encourages those with reluctance to discuss their concerns with their veterinarian.
“Parvo is expensive to treat — at best — and fatal, often, at worst,” Minor said. “It can be easily prevented with a very cheap vaccine. The risk to the dog is incredibly low.”
As long as the Kiwisavengers remain active, the puppy’s death serves as a warning.
Then there’s everything else.
“If you’re not careful here you can lose the thread quickly because it’s just a mess,” wrote one Reddit user when explaining the existence of Kiwisavenger. “… easily hooked.”
