Bring Oscar Home

Dr. Dave and Dr. Emily have huge hearts for people and animals. At the hands of a breeder whose greed has superseded her care for the wellbeing of dogs she has produced, and at the hands of a judge who considered one of those dogs as a “thing” instead of the sentient being he is, their family has been torn apart. Oscar went to Dave’s chiropractic clinic every day and was the best work partner and patient caregiver. As Emily’s registered Emotional Support Animal he provided comfort and stability when the symptoms of PTSD (from years of domestic abuse including animal abuse in her previous marriage) would have otherwise been overwhelming.  Their story is below.
     Drs. Dave and Em have learned that their story is, unfortunately, all too common within the world of show dogs. They want to turn the heartache and tragedy of their excruciating loss into something good for other dogs and their humans. In addition to making every effort to bring Oscar home, they will also be working on changing AKC show, contract, and confinement standards, and will begin working on improving animal rights laws. It’s shameful that in 2020 our beloved best friends are treated no better than a used car or a couch. It’s also deplorable that a 56” long dog can legally be transported and confined in a 41” or 48” long crate.
     If you have had the privilege of loving a four legged fur-baby and hate the injustice this family has experienced, please give to TheOscarProject. Funds not used to pursue Oscar’s legal return will be used for legislative and AKC regulation changes.

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Oscar has been part of our family since October 2017. As many of you know, our friends who bred him gave him to us because they could not keep him when one of them was suffering with cancer. They had given us his sister, Gracyn, the year before. They asked us to make him part of our family and to keep him intact in case showing him ever became a possibility. We agreed to do so and over the last few years allowed him to be shown.
   You all know how handsome he is, so of course he did great in the show ring! His breeder wanted him to go on the road full-time, and while we were proud of him for doing well in the ring, we couldn’t stand to see him be gone from our family for months or years on end. 
   When his breeder took him to a show in Aug 2019 and would not bring him back, we diligently looked for him for 6 weeks until we found him. We rescued him from a show and brought him home. He had lost 14 pounds, had hookworms, ear infections, hotspots on several places in his body, and he was hypothyroid due to the stress of being away from us, his family, and being in a crate on the road.
   We sued for full ownership immediately after we got him home, as we have never had more than a verbal agreement with our friends. We have been in litigation for over a year and on Wednesday, a judge found in favor of the breeder, claiming she is his owner and can do with him as he pleases.
   On Monday, we had to give Oscar to the show handler. He will now spend his life living in a crate, going from show to show, being paraded around by people who do not love or know him like we do. All for the breeder’s ego. 
   We are beyond heartbroken.  Our biggest sorrow is for Oscar whose life was just turned entirely upside down and inside out at absolutely no fault of his own.