Rescue Watchdogs^(TM)

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Maddie was having diarrhea, and had a minor fungal infection (we were feeding Pedigree), in our case the diarrhea was caused by a severe case of round worms. Maddie was also 20 lbs underweight when she came to us. Why she was not tested prior to coming to us is a good question because we took her to our vet the day after we got her home. I don't know how much you paid for your Dane but Maddie cost $600.00 (which we didn't get back). Frankly at that point I was happy just to be able to return her and caulked the adoption fee up as a charitable contribution.  --  Jane Marckstadt
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During this time, I sent repeated emails to the Wards requesting Tiergan’s veterinarian record. We were informed while we were there that he had been seen by a local vet and that his leg had been x-rayed - their personal vet did not recommend amputation. I wanted those records before bringing him to my veterinarian. I figured we would have a better chance of moving forward if I had all of his medical information ahead of the appointment.

I never received a response about his medical records. I did, however, receive one email from the Wards during this time.

The second time I asked for his vet records, about 3 days after adopting him, I asked about the adoption fee for a Saint Bernard my husband had grown fond of during our visit. I immediately received a response about the dog’s adoption fee, but conveniently, Burt Ward did not mention Tiergan’s vet records.

At this point in time, I began to become suspicious. I realized that each rescue handles their adoptions differently and each rescue has their own requirements. However, due to Tiergan’s physical condition, it struck me as neglectful not to supply his new owner with the veterinarian records as soon as possible.   --  Tricia

I adopted Ari from Gentle Giants.
 
I can only speak to my experience. I was told a dog, any dog, would be 400 to 500 dollars, and because I was not looking for a puppy, it would not be the later amount.

As soon as I "picked" (he picked us, really) all of a sudden this poor skinny to the point of every rib and vertebra showing dog, with his tail wrapped in paper towels and masking tape, price went from 400 to 650. After all, she promised he was a "rare" color, and was 18 months old. ( None of which I believed, but I was "in love" already)
 
Yep, it was fine until he was home about an hour and started coughing and vomiting, and coughing, and when I took his temp, he was running 105. I contacted the rescue before I took him to the vet, as I was pretty upset, and was assured it was probably nothing but a reaction to moving. I ran him to the ER vet and found that his cough wasn't just an average kennel cough, his lungs sounded " slushy".   -- Andi

My husband and I visited Gentle Giants Rescue with the intention of adopting an adult male Great Dane late summer, 2005 (we did not adopt a dog).  This was after reviewing their web-site and filling out an application – we were accepted. I have attached the e-mails we received from the ‘Rescue’ Operation after a phone call from Burt Ward.

...we should have been suspected something weird was going on when it was requested that we bring $400.00 cash with us and be prepared to pay more–up to $950.00 total. Also, red flags should have gone up when they said it is a requirement that we feed any dog that we adopted, their specially formulated food for the life of the dog. They said that the specially formulated food is the ONLY food that they feed the dogs – however, the only food that we saw there were bags of Pedigree...  Name withheld on request

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...a white Dane, she was blind, deaf & dumb. I had watched Tracy's mobil Vet do surgery on her eye, while she laid on a dirty blanket in the middle of her drive-way. I had her not even 2 months & had to have her put down. I was 7 months pregnant, when I came downstairs to find her bleeding out her ears & mouth ... I had to drag her through my house, down the side-walk & lift her into my car. On the way to the Vet. She peed & pooped, along with bled all over my car. Putting her down was the worst thing yet. I cried the entire way home. Only to have to listen to Tracy lecture me on how she was just fine & AGAIN it must have been something I did. How much she loved her & she could have saved her ... on & on & on. I just kept thinking this lady's Nuts!   --  Kelly
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I first adopted an adult male, I was told he was great with cats, but he walked in the door and went after my cat, trying to kill him. I decided that was not going to work out and brought him back to Tracy. Oh and this was after my 800.00 adoption fee.

Then I adopted a "rescue" puppy, but from what I have heard she wasn't a rescue, but a dog bred by Tracy. I was told this puppy would cost 600.00, but I wouldn't get any money back. The puppy had diarreah from the first day I brought her home. Tracy also said she was crate trained, but she wasn't. She also didn't have any shots at all and was 10 weeks old, Tracy said no shots until 14 weeks.  --   Cheryl McCorckle
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Apparently, Gentle Giants seems to believe that they have  a "contract" with me that says that I MUST feed my dog according to their feeding protocol, which is the above mentioned Pedigree food.  This created quite a heated "discussion" between us (mostly via email).  In these emails, they (Tracy) "informed" me that Eagle Pack is BAD for his health and will cause MANY health problems. She "informed" me that Pedigree is the ONLY food appropriate to feed a Great Dane.  -- Barbara Laird.

The last Dane I had, I ended up finding out I rescued her from a rescue group (which should not be the case).  I was there late at night.  They brought out a few dogs, and I liked them all.  But, then they brought out the dog I ended up adopting. This dog ran right up to me (I had a couple people with me, sitting next to me...she wasn't super interested in them), got right in my face, licked my chin and with the most desperate look (and i am not exaggerating), was telling me "get me the heck out of here lady."  I couldn't say no to that.

I was told she was 5 years old, but after seeing her
in better light, and a physical examination....no way;
at least 8.   -- Cynthia Duvall

I have mixed feelings about that rescue to be honest.  My girl is currently in training as she is skittish with some people and tries to bite people though fences, usually only middle aged women...however weird that may sound. I will never give her up, and she is making huge strides toward being the perfect dog.  I've just questioned the amount of underweight dogs we saw there and the sick dog she brought out that couldn't walk as a result of heat stroke as an example of what not to do. Very sad.  -- Name withheld on request

My cousin, Wendy Monro and her family with four young children, adopted Rex from the Gentle Giants Rescue a couple years back for $900. He was about one. He was pretty skittish, but very sweet.

Where we came into the picture was when my cousin's family needed to relocate  (temporarily at first) to Minnesota for work. We agreed to take in Rex, Lucy (another dane) and Scooch (a large wheaton terrier) for about 6 weeks.

I loved Rex but he had some serious issues.  Who knows what his history was, but the more homes and history that is perpetuated does not improve his situation. Tracy should NEVER readopt this dog out. It is her responsibility to keep or euthanize (as recommended by professionals). --  Julie Klingsberg

Once we got her home we decided to take her to our own vet to have a check up.  Well she tried to bite the vet.  So decided to try it another day.  A week went by, so we tried it again.  Got her inside and she tried to bite the doc again.  So he gave us some doggie downers to give her the following week.  Well he didn't give her enough and that didn't work either.  So we went home and I tried to give her a bath and she bit the hell out of my arm.   Called Tracy and was told she needed more time to adjust.  Like a fool, I beleived her.

The next week we went back to the vet and this time the trip was a success, except the doctor took one look at her ears and said in his opinion the dog was very abused and that someone had cut her ears with sizzors.  She also had two teeth that were infected and needed to be pulled,  and also had two cancerous groths on her leg that we had to have removed.  $500.00 dollars later, we went home with a dog that was taken care of by a onsite vet?????  HA HA HA what a joke.  The dog wasn't taken care of very well.

Almost every time I would get on the floor to play with her, she'd  start showing teeth, so I'd back off.  Then one day,  in Aug 2004, my wife was laying on the couch watching TV and Lucy came over and layed down next to her.  Lucy lifted her head and put it under Kathie's hand, like she was saying come on and pet me.  So Kathie did and Lucy bit her rigth hand.  --  Jim McNutt