Legal fees to pursue Service dog defrauder
Donation protected
~Dog trainer defrauds Quadriplegic man of almost $19k and steals/sells his dog~
After consulting with an attorney, I will be pursuing this matter legally in hopes of recovering the funds lost. Whatever funds are raised here will go towards retaining that attorney and starting the litigation process. While the outcome is uncertain, I feel compelled to fight this injustice to the best of my ability. This process will be time consuming and likely expensive. Any funds left over, or recovered through the litigation process, will go towards the training of a service dog with a trustworthy trainer. In the unlikely event that I am able to recover all expenses incurred as well as the fee to have a service dog trained, remaining funds will go towards my ongoing physical therapy and medical needs. Thank you.
Gofundme link at the bottom *
To understand the circumstances, you will need an overview of the back-story. January 5th, 2017 I was in a life-altering boating accident which left me paralyzed from the middle of the chest down. I am now a C5 quadriplegic.
I have bicep function and some shoulder function, no finger dexterity, no triceps so I cannot lift my arm above my head, and no leg movement. I depend 100% on a power wheelchair as a mode of transportation, as well as the assistance of others to perform normal daily routine tasks.
To this day I still do therapy four days a week. This is not some thing that I want to do, but something that has to be done to keep my body in shape so that when the day comes my body and unused muscles will be ready to perform.
In March 2019, I hired and signed a contract with Elizabeth Robison of Bryan, Texas (Doing business under the name: Drachten Performance also DBA; Cirrus Sky Farms, and Nirvana Saddlery). I learned about/met Beth Robison when she purchased a Labrador Retriever puppy from me the year before (2018). It was at that time that I learned she was a dog trainer and that they trained service animals. In March 2019 I reached out to Beth Robison to gain information and a better understanding of what the service dog training process would look like with her and what all went into the process.
A contract was signed that was for a nine-month training time frame that had a 60-day buffer either way. The nine-month time frame was established by her because she had a dog in training that she had since a puppy which she believed would not take as long to train completely.
Training started April 1st of 2019 with a dog named Mia. I Purchased this dog from her before the training started and it was the dog she suggested. This dog had a complete health background check and certification to ensure that it was fit to be a service dog. April through October the training seemed to be going well and Beth’s communication was very good. Email, text, and phone conversation updates were frequent upon my request.
When November came Beth told me she started to have some problems with Mia and her retrieving and not taking the pressure that she was putting on her. It was at this time she told me that she had another dog she had been training alongside Mia.
This dog’s name was Nox (which happens to be the dog that she bought from me in 2018).
Beth suggested that she continue training both dogs for the next couple of weeks but then we need to decide which dog to go with so that it could be finished in the allotted amount of time. At the first of December she suggested that we switch to Nox in order to finish the training in the given timeframe.
I took her suggestion and agreed to this given her training experience and the fact that she had spent time with both dogs.
Beth and Nox came from Texas to Arkansas for a home visit during the middle of December. It was at this time I started to get the feeling that the dog was not going to be done on time and that something was going on. Beth said that the training should not take more than a couple of months to put the finishing touches on everything. At the end of December Beth and I had a conversation and based on how the training was going it was determined that January was the last month that I was going to have to pay for the training.
Around February Beth started having trouble with Nox and her retrieving. She blamed it on a trainer that she had Nox with earlier in her life. Let me remind you that it was in the contract and her job to have the dog vetted for any underlying conditions or problems that would prevent it from being trained. She knew long before she suggested Nox to me that this past trainer had allegedly messed her up when it came to some retrieving stuff.
It was at this time that I told Beth that we should just take it slow with Nox so that she does not get burned out and that even if it took longer, I would eventually still get my service dog. She agreed to this and thought it was a good idea.
Fast forward to the end of March. Beth became exceedingly difficult to get in touch with and was very spotty in returning any text messages or emails. I called, text, and emailed trying to get updates with limited success.
Towards the end of April, I finally received some video updates after trying to communicate for over a month. I could see that the dog had made little to no progress from where she was in December when she came up to visit. I expressed my concerns with Beth about this and she continued to blame the other trainer and how it messed her up so bad. It was also at this time that she told me that she had offered me another dog the month before, which never happened. She at this point asks me to join an online blog/training/update webpage that she has put together. I joined this webpage and got some email updates about general training stuff.
In June after much thought and speaking with an attorney I decided to request repayment of training expenses from Beth since no progress has been made and there was no clear end in sight. She told me that the contract will not allow for repayment and that I could just have the untrained dog. It was at this time that I learned she had switched to a new dog on her own without ever calling, emailing, or texting me. I gave no approval of her switching to this new dog. She told me she switched to a new dog named Noah, and that she had posted about this on the blog and since I never responded to her post she just continued training this Noah dog on her own. I asked her what happened to Nox and it was at this time she told me, through email, she rehomed her.
This obviously came as a shock to me since I had no idea any of this was going on. She not only switched to a totally different dog, but she also sold my dog that I had purchased from her without ever talking to me about it. Keep in mind this is the dog that I have the AKC registration papers for that list me as the OWNER. She is the trainer.
After speaking with her about this dog named Noah, and seeing a video of him, I tell her that this is absolutely not going to work. I have no background information on this dog, where it came from, it’s health history, pedigree, bloodline, etc. This would be the third dog she wanted to train, and again she just “re-homed” my dog that I own without my consent why should I trust her with any other dog.
It was at this time I spoke with an attorney again about the situation. During this time frame Beth then emails me and tells me that it has been too long between correspondence and that she will no longer be training a dog for me. She gave a very short window to arrange the shipping of Noah. I told her that I do not want Noah, that I never agreed to switching to him, and that I wanted the dog that I bought from her and my money back.
Long story short, I have now been defrauded just short of $19k. I cannot get a response from her to figure out where the dog that I own and have papers for is. I write all this to help raise awareness about this person so that hopefully this does not happen to anyone else.
Not only am I out money, but also a service dog that would give me back more independence.
This is not intended to bring any harm against the perpetrator who engaged in the wrongdoing and defrauding. Thanks for reading. If you feel inclined to donate towards this, I would greatly appreciate it.
Nic
**(Dog pictured is Nox. The dog she rehomed/stole/sold without ever contacting me first)
After consulting with an attorney, I will be pursuing this matter legally in hopes of recovering the funds lost. Whatever funds are raised here will go towards retaining that attorney and starting the litigation process. While the outcome is uncertain, I feel compelled to fight this injustice to the best of my ability. This process will be time consuming and likely expensive. Any funds left over, or recovered through the litigation process, will go towards the training of a service dog with a trustworthy trainer. In the unlikely event that I am able to recover all expenses incurred as well as the fee to have a service dog trained, remaining funds will go towards my ongoing physical therapy and medical needs. Thank you.
Gofundme link at the bottom *
To understand the circumstances, you will need an overview of the back-story. January 5th, 2017 I was in a life-altering boating accident which left me paralyzed from the middle of the chest down. I am now a C5 quadriplegic.
I have bicep function and some shoulder function, no finger dexterity, no triceps so I cannot lift my arm above my head, and no leg movement. I depend 100% on a power wheelchair as a mode of transportation, as well as the assistance of others to perform normal daily routine tasks.
To this day I still do therapy four days a week. This is not some thing that I want to do, but something that has to be done to keep my body in shape so that when the day comes my body and unused muscles will be ready to perform.
In March 2019, I hired and signed a contract with Elizabeth Robison of Bryan, Texas (Doing business under the name: Drachten Performance also DBA; Cirrus Sky Farms, and Nirvana Saddlery). I learned about/met Beth Robison when she purchased a Labrador Retriever puppy from me the year before (2018). It was at that time that I learned she was a dog trainer and that they trained service animals. In March 2019 I reached out to Beth Robison to gain information and a better understanding of what the service dog training process would look like with her and what all went into the process.
A contract was signed that was for a nine-month training time frame that had a 60-day buffer either way. The nine-month time frame was established by her because she had a dog in training that she had since a puppy which she believed would not take as long to train completely.
Training started April 1st of 2019 with a dog named Mia. I Purchased this dog from her before the training started and it was the dog she suggested. This dog had a complete health background check and certification to ensure that it was fit to be a service dog. April through October the training seemed to be going well and Beth’s communication was very good. Email, text, and phone conversation updates were frequent upon my request.
When November came Beth told me she started to have some problems with Mia and her retrieving and not taking the pressure that she was putting on her. It was at this time she told me that she had another dog she had been training alongside Mia.
This dog’s name was Nox (which happens to be the dog that she bought from me in 2018).
Beth suggested that she continue training both dogs for the next couple of weeks but then we need to decide which dog to go with so that it could be finished in the allotted amount of time. At the first of December she suggested that we switch to Nox in order to finish the training in the given timeframe.
I took her suggestion and agreed to this given her training experience and the fact that she had spent time with both dogs.
Beth and Nox came from Texas to Arkansas for a home visit during the middle of December. It was at this time I started to get the feeling that the dog was not going to be done on time and that something was going on. Beth said that the training should not take more than a couple of months to put the finishing touches on everything. At the end of December Beth and I had a conversation and based on how the training was going it was determined that January was the last month that I was going to have to pay for the training.
Around February Beth started having trouble with Nox and her retrieving. She blamed it on a trainer that she had Nox with earlier in her life. Let me remind you that it was in the contract and her job to have the dog vetted for any underlying conditions or problems that would prevent it from being trained. She knew long before she suggested Nox to me that this past trainer had allegedly messed her up when it came to some retrieving stuff.
It was at this time that I told Beth that we should just take it slow with Nox so that she does not get burned out and that even if it took longer, I would eventually still get my service dog. She agreed to this and thought it was a good idea.
Fast forward to the end of March. Beth became exceedingly difficult to get in touch with and was very spotty in returning any text messages or emails. I called, text, and emailed trying to get updates with limited success.
Towards the end of April, I finally received some video updates after trying to communicate for over a month. I could see that the dog had made little to no progress from where she was in December when she came up to visit. I expressed my concerns with Beth about this and she continued to blame the other trainer and how it messed her up so bad. It was also at this time that she told me that she had offered me another dog the month before, which never happened. She at this point asks me to join an online blog/training/update webpage that she has put together. I joined this webpage and got some email updates about general training stuff.
In June after much thought and speaking with an attorney I decided to request repayment of training expenses from Beth since no progress has been made and there was no clear end in sight. She told me that the contract will not allow for repayment and that I could just have the untrained dog. It was at this time that I learned she had switched to a new dog on her own without ever calling, emailing, or texting me. I gave no approval of her switching to this new dog. She told me she switched to a new dog named Noah, and that she had posted about this on the blog and since I never responded to her post she just continued training this Noah dog on her own. I asked her what happened to Nox and it was at this time she told me, through email, she rehomed her.
This obviously came as a shock to me since I had no idea any of this was going on. She not only switched to a totally different dog, but she also sold my dog that I had purchased from her without ever talking to me about it. Keep in mind this is the dog that I have the AKC registration papers for that list me as the OWNER. She is the trainer.
After speaking with her about this dog named Noah, and seeing a video of him, I tell her that this is absolutely not going to work. I have no background information on this dog, where it came from, it’s health history, pedigree, bloodline, etc. This would be the third dog she wanted to train, and again she just “re-homed” my dog that I own without my consent why should I trust her with any other dog.
It was at this time I spoke with an attorney again about the situation. During this time frame Beth then emails me and tells me that it has been too long between correspondence and that she will no longer be training a dog for me. She gave a very short window to arrange the shipping of Noah. I told her that I do not want Noah, that I never agreed to switching to him, and that I wanted the dog that I bought from her and my money back.
Long story short, I have now been defrauded just short of $19k. I cannot get a response from her to figure out where the dog that I own and have papers for is. I write all this to help raise awareness about this person so that hopefully this does not happen to anyone else.
Not only am I out money, but also a service dog that would give me back more independence.
This is not intended to bring any harm against the perpetrator who engaged in the wrongdoing and defrauding. Thanks for reading. If you feel inclined to donate towards this, I would greatly appreciate it.
Nic
**(Dog pictured is Nox. The dog she rehomed/stole/sold without ever contacting me first)
Organizer
Nic Cole
Organizer
El Dorado, AR