I purchased a dog from Eugene Thompson and this has been a nightmare from the very beginning. We originally set out to buy a female. We put $200 down to reserve her. Heidelburg will not let you bring the puppy home until around 13 weeks. My wife and I began taking our kids to visit the puppy on weekends for visits. My 2 & 4 y.O. Children became attached very quickly. Then we received the call! All the puppies except one, including ours, died from that specific litter! We were told that we would have to pick out another puppy, but this time they only had 2 male puppies available. So... We started all over again, not getting what we want. With the kids' excitement, and now heartbreak, we decided to move forward thinking this was a fluke! Not exactly.
Fast forward... 10 more weeks of waiting and we finally bring our male dog home. Eugene Thompson (owner) told me that our dogs parents were both champions - They were not. That's okay because another person at Heidelburg told me the parents weren't before hand and I was okay with that. Anyway... Our male dog started developing a rash on his back and after the first several times of Heidelburg telling us he had worms, they finally concluded that we were terrible for not feeding him correctly. "Wayne" at Heidelburg rudely berated my wife directly in front of my small children telling us it was all our fault! Too bad I wasn't with her. My wife calls me from her phone as she was leaving swearing she would never step foot on their property again. She immediately took him to a vet to be treated and in that process, we found out that Heidelburg sold us a dog with CRYPTORCHIDISM (testes did not descend into the scrotum). As additional information, the following is taken from Wikipedia - "Cryptorchidism is a common occurrence in dogs and is thought to be a sex-limited autosomal recessive trait.[1] It is found in up to 10 percent of male dogs.[2] Dog testes usually descend by ten days of age and it is considered to be cryptorchidism if they do not descend by the age of eight weeks.[3] Cryptorchidism can be either bilateral (causing sterility) or unilateral, and inguinal or abdominal (or both).
Because it is an inherited trait, affected dogs should not be bred and should be castrated. The parents should be considered carriers of the defect and not be bred. Littermates may be normal, carriers, or cryptorchid. Castration should be performed on cryptorchid dogs also due to the high rate of testicular cancer, especially sertoli cell tumors.[3] The incidence of testicular cancer is 13.6 times higher in dogs with abdominally retained testicles compared with normal dogs.[2] Testicular torsion is also more likely in retained testicles. Surgical correction is by palpation of the retained testicle and subsequent exploration of the inguinal canal or abdomen."
I called Eugene Thompson being very respectful and professional. I gave him the news from our vet and he immediately responded by saying my vet was a "LIAR" and "only trying to take my money". He told me that if I had the dog castrated, I would "ruin the dog" and it would "INCREASE his chances for testicular cancer". I called my vet back to give her his feedback. I was told by my vet that Eugene's statements are ridiculous and not supported anywhere in the veternarian society or research. You can't have testicular cancer if the testes are removed! Just to show you how rediculous Eugene is with the words he throughs our without any substiation. I also found out that Heidelburg had improperly vaccinated our puppy with a vaccine that vets stopped giving 30 years ago!
THIS IS WHERE IS GETS NASTY! I called Heidelburg back and requested for them to pay for the surgery as this is something they should have detected during their evaluation when the dog reached 13 weeks. I was professional the whole time. He was only argumentative. Again, Eugene insisted that I would ruin my dog if I gave him the surgery and then pointed to a waiver in the contract I signed on the last day when I picked the dog up to bring him home. I told him I would take him to small claims.
Within a week I received a certified letter from Eugene and Heidelburg stating that if I sued, I would be headed for "financial disaster" just as OTHERS who have tried to sue them for SIMILAR PROBLEMS. Keep in mind, he knows some of his dogs carry this defect. Also keep in mind that the veternarian research and medical field states that the PARENTS SHOULD NOT BE BRED!
OTHERS??? YES! He knows that this has been a problem with some of their puppies. During one of my conversations with him, Eugene told me about another owner with the same problem. I'm not making any assumptions on my own here. It came from HIS mouth.
During this whole process of discussing what the right thing to do for the dog was, I asked Eugene to recommend a vet and I would be happy to use his recommendation. Guess what? He said "they are all liars". I clarified, "You can't recommend a single veternarian in the entire state of Texas?" He couldn't give me a name, but he mentioned a person in (I believe) Cypress Wood (?), but then followed it up with a comment later that she had lied to him directly before too.
I'm sorry, but this is a BIG RED FLAG that a breeder the size of Heidelburg can't recommend a vet who isn't a liar. I went back to my vet to tell her and was told the she "cringes everytime (she) hears the name Heidelburg". She implied other local vets do as well and that they have a terrible reputation in the local area with them.
LASTLY - I am suing. I've already heard from his lawyer too. I don't care. It is the right thing to do. While investigating these people, I found another lawsuit which was just ruled on in January in Prectinct 3 in Montgomery County Texas where Heidelburg was found liable for ultimately causing the death of an animal being kenneled. Their dog received "traumatic injury" and was left for an excess of 9 days without being sent for veternarian care. The dog had to be put down shortly afterward. This is a matter of public record available at the courthouse for a fee. Of course Heidelburg didn't accept the verdict and they are now appealing - which they have a right to do.
Research this company before you buy or kennel and make your own decision. You will find that I'm not alone in my experience.
0 comments