Friday, October 24, 2008

In Response to the post below...

I have to admit, I'm very curious as to what GGR is up to (of course, in a neutral light). As said on the boards, I'm going to visit GGR myself as soon as I can, and gather as much information as I can. There is a lot of mudslinging on both parts - many people are attacking GGR antagonists, and the ones working to stop Gentle Giants are certainly very outright with their opinions. This is good though; it could change the lives of the thousand some odd dogs they take in yearly.

So, before I do go out, I'd like to come armed with some knowledge on the place. Does anyone have personal experiences with it? I've read the few horror stories on the place, and if you have any information on Gentle Giants Rescue, negative or positive, don't hesitate to post.

7 comments:

mommyof3 said...

I know of several people who have adopted through GGR, and will see if they are willing to post their personal stories. Thanks.

Kim said...

Hello, In your previous post about the wolfhound someone made reference to the family "with the cats and rabbit". We are that family. We have far more experience with GGR than we would care to recall, but I would be happy to share any information I can with you.

Any of you who do not have personal experience with these people, please do not support or defend them. Until you set foot on their nasty property and see the condition of these poor dogs with your own eyes and hear Tracy and Burt's lies with your own ears, you could never believe all that is truly going on there. The only positive stories I have seen are on their own web site or are more than a decade old. I think it is possible that these people started off with good intentions in the beginning. But they have fallen far from that ideal now.

I am in support of closing GGR doors and would do anything to further that process. NO ONE should have to experience what we went through.

And in relation to our "unfortunate" bunny and cats, this situation could not have happened with just any rescue because we were lied to throughout the entire process. We were encouraged to correct this dog with a plastic baseball bat to get it to comply. And I'm not sure if you read the story closely but the rabbit was killed inside a locked heavy plastic crate. The dog was so crazed it broke through the crate before we could stop it. This was not simply a poor introduction, she was an abused aggressive powerful Great Dane that Tracy Ward highly recommended for our family of small pets and small children. And when the dog was returned to Burt and Tracy they were ever so pleased to announce to us one week later that she had found another home. Do you suppose they rehabilitated her in one week?

Please tread carefully.

mommyof3 said...

Kim, thanks for sharing, I hope I didn't get too much of your story wrong, I know there was alot more to it than just what you shared. I am so sorry for what you went through, and am so thrilled that you have your beautiful Beau now. Thanks again.

Gentle Giant News said...

Legendsliveon,

You don't just get to "visit" GGR. The only people allowed on their property are those people that are intending on adopting. They don't allow "looky-loos", and they don't allow people in to just inquire or gather information.

LegendsLiveOn said...

GGN:

Maybe that's where some clientele and people who have had experience with GGR's suspicions lie...?

Why would you not allow prospective buyers to "looky loo"? That's what a responsible pet owner does. Sure, if your business is a shithole I can see you not wanting people to visit, but if a company of this magnitude refuses buyers the right to look around and make decisions based on what they see, hear, and overall how they perceive their future pet would fit in with the family, how do you think this rescue is going to be projected as? Certainly not anything positive. Your statement sounds very shady. Of course, you'll still get the handful of ignorant people who come with money in hand whose intentions are to buy a dog on the spot with no prior knowledge of the dog's disposition, prior history, or health background.

And to add on top of that, it isn't that hard to pretend to be interested in adopting. How do you think puppy mills were brought to light? Trust me, if there are any malpractices in any profession involving animals, they will be revealed. People who truly take in the seriousness of animal rights are not just going to stop at the gates when someone says halt. They will get in there, believe me.

Kim:

That is horrible... hitting an animal is never a substitute for real training, and I can't believe that the owners of this facility would actually encourage you to do such. As for the rabbit... are there no behavioral screening tests, or do these people just not care? This situation is a bit frustrating to me.

LegendsLiveOn said...

And GGN, thank you for all of your input on this "rescue"; it's been very helpful to me.

Kim said...

Frustration doesn't even begin to describe it. In response to your question about screening for the dogs:The "application" process makes it appear as though Burt and Tracy are very interested in finding the right match for each family. They claim to personally train each dog that comes into their "care" and are very adamant that every dog there is trained to interact with other cats and dogs.
Once we arrived on their property it became evident that they are only interested in moving dogs. They brought out dogs that did not fit the requests of adopters (wrong breed or age group etc.)and would continually make comments like "if you take more than one dog there is a discount on the second adoption fee". It was very frustrating to be told through email before hand that they had "plenty" of dogs that fit the description of what we were looking for (personally, a 2-7 year old great dane, no preference on sex or color). Then to travel all the way down there and discover there were 5 or 6 very sick and injured dogs of the breed we were looking for but that were not in the age range we were looking for. Basically nothing like what they describe before hand

After our experience with our bunny, Tracy told us because they didn't have rabbits on their property, she couldn't be sure the dogs would be okay with rabbits. Quite a different story than the one we got before taking the first dog home. They assured us several times that their dogs were trained to interact with all animals well and there would be no problem. And if there were a problem, they promised to be just a phone call away and promised us anything could be corrected with follow-up training. That 'training' turned out to be the baseball bat. I don't think so!

Every word from Tracy and Burt's mouth proved to be deceptive or a flat out lie. They assured us that what happened to our family was a fluke situation and they had never had something like that happen in all their years of operation. If we would choose to come back they promised us "the perfect Great Dane puppy" and even offered to deliver a new rabbit and puppy to us in Northern Cal. When we declined the offer of a 'replacement' bunny they both assured us that they would find a way to expose our new choice to rabbits before we picked him up two weeks later to be absolutely sure they had done their part. Sounds real upstanding, doesn't it. Empty promises and lies, as usual.

It would take far too long to expose all of the details of our experience. But during our trial with them we continued to tell each other that this HAD to be a fluke. They couldn't possibly treat people this way and stay in business. Since then we have talked in person to several other people that have dealt with the Wards personally and sing a very familiar tune. It is shocking to think that they can continue to do what they do over and over. The condition of their facility and the sad state of the MANY sick and injured dogs there are enough in my eyes to close them. But the fact that they continually take advantage of and lie to families is sickening. This is more than a sad situation, it is dangerous to place rescue dogs the way they do. Because of our experience I believe whole heartedly that their "training" technique is abusive. To abuse dogs and then send them to families with children is foolish and dangerous. I want these people stopped. If you do go there, be careful, but I wish you the best in your endeavor to expose the inside story of GGR with picture proof.