On March 11th, we purchased two 15 week old (brothers) German Shepherd puppies from Mittelwest Kennels in Wonder Lake, Illinois owned and operated by Julie Carroll Martinez. We were met by Grant, her kennel manager and boyfriend, who showed up the pups. He never asked us one single question about our experience with German Shepherds, our home or the environment the dogs would be living in. There was no:
Application process
Bill of sale
Receipt
Contract
Health history
The only question he asked is if we would be paying by cash or check. I asked Grant if the pups were vet checked, and he said no because it wouldn’t be possible for them to bring every single pup to the vet, making it sound like there are too many pups and it would be too expensive. Prior to going to Mittelwest, we searched the internet, and we found customer complaints, on the rip-off boards as well as other German Shepherd boards, filed against Julie Martinez and mittelwest Kennels. I asked Grant about the complaints, but by this time, I knew the pups were coming home with us. We took the pups to the vet the very next day, and both pups had parasites and worms. One of the pups, Rocco, was biting and scratching in the car on the way home from the kennel after purchase. He was diagnosed with a yeast infection as well as a bacterial infection that he’s been fighting to this day. He scratches and bites his fur continually, and when I informed Julie Martinez of Rocco’s issue, she didn’t want to be bothered and made the comment to me that it (Rocco’s problem) could be anything. Milo, his brother, had been healthy except for a yeast infection in his ear, which was successfully treated. On June 11, Milo suddenly died after our daily evening walk. Needless to say, we were devastated by the loss of our 6 month old puppy. We had a necropsy performed ($600) to determine Milo’s cause of death. Although the test came back inconclusive, it ruled our intestinal twisting, bloat and anything we could have been responsible for. Three DVM’s, our vet, the necropsy performing vet and the vet who examined the tissue, all stated the findings were consistent with ventricular arrhythmia (sudden death heart attack). I immediately sent the report to Julie Martinez as soon as we received it, expecting her to proactively replace the puppy. She said she would give us a $500 credit towards the purchase of a new puppy. Knowing that we were distressed and angry, she then countered with a $1000 credit towards a new puppy. We had already spent several thousand dollars on the puppies, $750 on the necropsy and cremation for Milo, and over $1000 in vet bills on Rocco, who is still suffering from an autoimmune issue. At one point, after trading several e-mails with Julie Martinez, she knew we were very upset and concerned with Rocco’s wellbeing. She extended an offer for us to bring our family out to the kennel stating that we have all been through a loss like this and we all know how tragic it is. Even though we were very angry at Julie for being so insensitive, we thought it might be her way of offering some empathy, and we decided to ride out to the kennel (this was the night after Milo died). As we drove past the electric gate, Julie was outside, and when she saw our car, she immediately went into the house, never to be seen again, sending her boyfriend, Grant, to meet us over at the kennel. Grant never once mentioned Milo’s name or uttered any words that he was sorry for our loss, nothing about Milo at all. He did, however, go into the kennel and bring out three different puppies, telling us to take each one for a walk with Rocco. We were completely blown away at the lack of sensitivity and professionalism on both their parts, as it was Julie who invited us out to the kennel in the first place, and never left the house to come out to talk with us or even offer us condolences. After this incident, I told Julie we would like a refund based on the fact that she sold us two unhealthy puppies, one of which is now dead. Julie’s response was “We cannot replace every dog that has died that we have sold.” Our puppy was only 6 months old.
Unfortunately, after the fact, we have talked with other people that have had similar experiences with Julie Martinez and Mittelwest Kennels. This has been a tragic experience for our family and the surviving pup, Rocco.
Please do your research. Google Mittelwest Kennel and Julie Carroll Martinez complaints. Check out postings on German Shepherd dog.com and pedigree.com before you ever considering purchasing a dog from Mittelwest Kennels.
If we can prevent one person from experiencing the heartache we experienced, it will be well worth our time of writing this. We are happy to talk with anyone considering purchasing a puppy from Mittelwest Kennel or any owner of one of her unhealthy dogs that is afraid to come forward. We strongly believe in breeding and showing these beautiful animals for the love of the breed, the animal and the sport, and not for the love of money.
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