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I sent a $400 deposit to Lisa Barber from New Zion Shilohs for a puppy the beginning of Aug. 2013. She was expecting a litter the middle of Aug. and said a deposit would put me in line for a pick of a puppy. As the month went on I found it odd that she was not in touch with me nor did not reply to my e-mails. The end of Aug. she e-mailed me and said no puppies were born and to call her cell phone the following day to discuss upcoming litters. I called and she didn't return my call. To date I have had no communication whatsoever from her. I have e-mailed, phoned and sent a letter that she received. The BBB got involved and she didn't respond to them either. I started asking for my $400 deposit back in Sept. and to date have not received it. I would have been willing to wait for a puppy from her but found her lack of communication left me feeling iffy about her business practice. I have heard she is a very busy woman. Interesting though that I had an acquaintance e-mail her regarding litters and she found the time to reply to them on several occasions. Guess just to busy to return my $400 deposit. Not a way to do business! Shame she can't do the right thing and return it.
TO: M Rifkin, Sadly I did not do my research prior to sending the deposit like I typically ALWAYS do. As I look back now I think because at the time I was still grieving over the loss of our previous Shiloh Shepherd and in a sense wanted to "replace" him. We had a Shiloh Shepherd from this kennel that we received in 2002. However, we never dealt directly with the kennel. The dog was given to us from an acquaintance because his cousin that bought him decided it was to much dog for his family. This acquaintance had gotten 3 dogs total from this breeder through the years and was satisfied. Our Shiloh lived to be 11 1/2 yrs old, was healthy until the end and passed this July. We all have a special place in our hearts for our dogs but this guy had just a bit more in ours. I did not know that the mother who ran the kennel previously was deceased and the daughter had taken over. I spoke to the daughter on the phone for about 45 min. initially. All sounded good and then as August went by I started thinking something was up. That is when I started seeing reviews about her and I should have done that before sending the deposit. Yes, it is a learning experience for me. As far as the $400 being gone, maybe. At this point it is the principal of this and the fact that she can put her head down at night and sleep knowing she is taking peoples hard earned money. I will not go quietly and if I have to drive 5 hrs to take this woman to small claims court I will do it.
I am submitting this affidavit along with the Complaint Form, copies of emails to and from Lisa Barber and the registry International Shiloh Shepherd Registry ISSR and The Final Necropsy Report for our dear little 6 month old Shiloh Willow who died unexpectedly in her sleep on March 09, 2013.
When we originally looked for Shiloh Shepherd pup last spring 2012 I contacted several breeders and no-one was having pups available at the time we could get one. I was referred to a few breeders in Upstate NY as we live in Burlington, Ontario and the drive would not be onerous.
One breeder Mindy Mencias at Echo Shilohs in Noblesville IN reportedly was going to have a litter in the fall of 2012 and I started to converse with her but then the pregnancy did not take so there would be no puppies. I then spoke with Jessica Strauss ISSR breeder at Solace Shilohs in New York and Vanessa Dutton in Alberta another ISSR Breeder and they referred me to New Zion Lisa Barber as they said she was having a few litters that would be ready in the fall.
I originally spoke with Lisa Barber few times on the phone and did send her a deposit for the pup. She said she was having 4 litters to be born through a few weeks in August and one of them would be fit.
We arranged at her suggestion to go to Fillmore in late August to see a Litter Evaluation (LER) done on pups that were 8 weeks old and ready to go to their homes.
When we got there were a few other people including David and Margaret Baumgarner ISSR Breeders from Kitchener Ontario-- Victory Shilohs.
The LER was a farce- I offered to step in and assist but was told not needed. For example- Lisa had her teen age son help with some of the testing such as stand at the bottom of the hill and call the pup. He was so lazy in his “efforts” I called the pup enthusiastically and it came running to me! The LER took hours- there were so many interruptions and it was not at all in our opinion conducted professionally and competently. It was done in a haphazard lackadaisical manner.
We asked to see her dogs and were aghast to see 3 young adult dogs in a pen in her “office’ (which was filthy with Ashtrays overflowing with cigarette butts, the house looked like a hovel and the pen was full of feces and the poor dogs were in it. They were so happy to see us and they jumped up and were licking our hands and wagging their tails.
Then we went into the “Kennel’ that looked like a converted garage that had an open back door leading to an outside run for dogs. We saw at least 3 pregnant in kennels again filthy with feces. There were 3 other pups about 3 months old at the entrance to the outside run who jumped up to greet us and licked our hands.
We could not see the other dogs but heard several barking dogs and we assumed they were in the outside run. Lisa said to us that her ‘help” had called in sick and that was why the kennels were not clean.
We did not know what to think- as she “said” her help called in sick but we thought the state of the kennel was not minimum standard but we had no contacts that could tell us of any bad dealings with Lisa Barber and she then had our money for the pup so we were determined to get the pup and give it loving safe home.
When the pups were almost 8 weeks in mid- October I called her each week to find out if a pup would come from that litter as a LER was to be done to determine the pup’s temperament to match the right pup to the right owner. Each week I called and I also had to make repeated calls to try to reach Lisa barber-there was always some excuse - none of the pups were suitable for us or someone was ahead of us in line and had first pick. Finally the last litter that was evaluated end of October there was a pup for us. It was “Silver Girl” whom we named Willow whose parents were Zion’s Golden Grizzly Bear (Bear) and Zion’s Vintage Chablis Wine (Chubs) born August 29, 2012.
We went to New Zion on Nov 3, 2012 to pick up Willow. She was beautiful, clean little pup and again we saw the dirty pen in the office and the overflowing ashtrays. We were glad to get her out of there
So Lisa Barber had 4 dog’s that had litters in August and she told me there we 36 pups in total- so at one time in that kennel there were at least 36 pups, 4 female dogsand at least 3 dogs in the house totalling 43 and that is over the 25 maximum that are allowed on such a property .
Willow was checked by our vet 2 days after and no issues were found. We started her life with us and I took her for obedience training at 9 weeks was able to be home all day with her as I work from home so she had a safe and happy life. We followed all of vaccine schedules, feeding instructions, socializing, nurturing that a large breed pup needs to grow to be a good canine citizen. She slept in our room every night from the day we brought her home.
I did email Lisa Barber pictures of Willow and told her how she was doing and how much we loved her.She did not even respond to my email though the package we got from Lisa Barber stated- “I love your pup as much as you. Please keep me informed via pictures, little notes, calls… If you have any questions anything at all, call me ANYTIME.I care about your (our) puppy as much as you do.”
The New Zion Website states:
“I have a special unit where my pregnant Mama's stay until a few weeks after the pups are born. There are several reasons why I have this method. First, I have a lot of visitors coming in and out of my house on a weekly basis. People do not realize that they can pick up diseases anywhere! I want to make sure these newborns are kept in the most sanitary conditions. The other reason I do this is for the dog’s stress level. I want to keep the environment as quiet and relaxing as possible. However when I feel that it is safe between 2 and 4 weeks of age, I let these beautiful pups into my office. Here, interaction occurs with my family members and very close friends. From 4 to 6 weeks I am more lenient because they have received their first shots. They spend more time in my office, in my specially designed office pens. From 6 to 8 weeks they come in and romp around in my house, on my deck and in the yard until they go to their new forever homes. This method allows for plenty of socialization and the beginning stages of basic training!
My adults also have a unique system that I have designed for them. Each dog has a rotating house schedule. This means that ALL of our dogs have a chance to be in the house. I also work with each one whether they are in the kennel or in my house. Depending on the individual dog, their personality, etc. will determine the type of training that particular dog will undergo.”
This is not what we saw at the place as described previously.
So on the morning of March 09, 2013 we woke and wondered why Willow had not ‘woken’ us up as she usually came over to the bed and jumped up and licked us happily to tell us time to get up. My husband said “Something is wrong!” - He went over to her and said “She’s not moving!” I got up and before I could get over to where she lay by our bedroom door-he cried, “She’s dead!”
Quietly and without any warning signs Willow died in her sleep. When we found her she was already cold and rigor mortis had set in. I am an RN and could estimate from my medical knowledge that she likely died around 2 or 3 AM in the morning and we found her at 7 AM. I also surmised it was heart related due to the sudden nature with no previous warning signs.
We were devastated and I was in shock and could not screaming for almost 30 minutes.
I called our vet who told us to take her to have autopsy done which we did.
I emailed Lisa Barber to tell her what had happened as I could not reach her by phone- someone would pick it up and then hang up.
I did not hear from Lisa Barber by March 11/13 so I emailed her again. I also posted on Facebook what had happened to Willow and asked people who may have information on New Zion contact me. I was then bombarded with messages and calls from people who had had bad experiences with New Zion. I also learned that at least one other pup with the same Sire as Willow died suddenly without warning.
The autopsy shows Willow had issue with her heart and likely died of sudden cardiac failure brought on by Ventricular tachycardia which can be fatal if the pup has symptoms. Most pups die between 4- 8 months of age but if a pup is lucky enough to live to be 2 years of age they can outgrow it. If they are diagnosed they can be treated with medication but should never be bred and pass it on to the next generation.
The other issue is that Willow has 7 litter mates and they could also through the laws of genetics have the same disorder. As I could not reach Lisa Barber I wondered about Willow’s littermates-how they would know to be able to get their pups tested and possibly save their lives?
As well I had proof from New Zion website that Willow’s dad was still being bred and every breeder I spoke with said he should never had been bred again. An ethical breeder will remove dogs from the breeding pool once they know their dogs have issues but Lisa Barber knew over a year ago that Willow’s dad sired pups and at least one died, so she never should have bred him again. This shows callous disregard and negligence for the welfare of animals and perpetuates health problems and may negatively contribute to the demise of the breed. The breed is a relatively new breed and has not been recognized by the AKC as there are not yet 25 generations of Shilohs yet.
I did not hear from Lisa Barber until after I sent a grievance to the ISSR “board” which Lisa Barber is the “appointed” Registrar since her mother breed “founder” Tina Barber died. The ISSR does not elect its board like other democratic groups but appoints those who are supporters of how The Barbers want things done .Lisa Barber then emailed me and said she was sorry but had family emergencies and could not get to her computer or phone. She asked if I got the autopsy report back yet .The ISSR “board” also emailed me and made excuses for her and (I was warned by many people this is how Lisa operates)said I would get replacement pup.
I have also enclosed the Gracie initiative in which The ISSR (which is Lisa Barber as Registrar) stated pups had to be tested for heart defect so Lisa Barber knew then that Gracie died but yet she still used Bear as stud and Willow was born one year or so later.
We do not want a replacement pup- we want our money back for the poor pup and the cost of the autopsy that we paid for that shows the pup died from an inherited health issue- $1, 550.00 + $348.00 for the autopsy and we want New Zion to be shut down once and for all.
As a result of this I want The Lemon Law applied to my case as Lisa Barber knowingly bred Willow’s father who had sired a litter previously from which a pup Gracie died just like Willow. This show callous disregard and negligence for animal welfare and I want New Zion to be investigated for breaching animal welfare, based on the filthy conditions we saw and will attest to, be shut down and rule that Lisa Barber can never breed dogs again .
I hope you can find complaints in your records made against New Zion previously and I have encouraged others who have told me their stories to also file a complaint even if they had before and it fell on deaf ears.
I look forward to hearing back from you regarding the status of our complaint.