? About Breeders Contracts

This has been bugging me for a while. I was doing some research for my Irish Wolfhound and came across a site related the the Gentle Giant's rescue. (yes, I know, bad people, don't get a dog from there).
This site claims that the adoption contract from GG (and by extension all Adoption contracts) was basically a sham. That a dog is property and once the money and the dog change hands, the dog is the new owners to do what they wish with. The rescue no longer has any say.
What is the difference between that and a breeders contract? How can one mean nothing and the other be a legally binding contract. Or am I confused about what was being said?

Depends what you want a contract to do.. Monetary penalties are usually enforceable.. Removal of property is usually not.. So a contract stating if you do not neuter your new pet by 8 months I will take the dog back often won't fly if it goes to court.. but a penalty that's scary stiff will often be doable. Hopefully you make the penalty enough to scare someone into not doing something skeazy..

*MafiaPrincess.. Forgot to sign Dekka out. Oops.*

Whats wrong with Gentle Giant's rescue? (Maybe I haven't been updated?). I was going to get my future great dane from them in the far away future..

google it Melanie. They are TERRIBLE and DISGUSTING.

Here's one link...

http://www.gentlegiantnews.com/

Oh....

my....

god...

I just read one story so far and I am SICKENED by what I am hearing about that rescue. I really didn't know much about them.

I knew Gentle Giants was bad news, but I didn't know they would slap you with a lawsuit if you didn't feed your dog Pedigree. WOW.

If they really cared they would S/N before adopting out . They are out for the almighty dollar .........stay clear !!!

RUN, don't walk, RUN away. And google them and read the link that Lauren posted... they are horrible.

Yeah, I read all the stories on that link. I am horrified! I definitely think they are a mill, and that they breed all these animals (Since they are all unaltered and in the SAME room together). And its pretty strange that this rescues ALWAYS has puppies, and they have puppies in some pretty uncommon breeds that I KNOW wouldn't be going into rescues in large groups. Its ridiculous. And how all these animals are sick, and thin..and I was almost laughing at the fact they care so much about a dog eating pedigree. Those people are sickening!!

It is my dear friend Barb that they sued. (She is the site owner for Gentlegiantnews.com)

It wasn't breach of contract that they sued her for ultimately, though that's what started it all. It was for defaming them (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) because she went onto a message board and asked about other negative experiences with GGR. They claimed she was ruining their good name. (Again, HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA)

Punkygirl,

There is a pretty informative entry in my blog about them (link in siggie)....It's chock full of links pointing to all of their unsatisfied customers.

I should feel like someone now, though. If you wade through all the BS on their site, my great dane board is mentioned. Go me.

Still and Silent, basically a lot of what they put in their contract is NOT legally enforceable....so it's null. I could write in a contract that by signing, you agree to kill Ms. Smith, but obviously, that would not hold up in court for obvious reasons. They can sue people for anything they want, anyone can file a lawsuit, but it won't hold up in court.

I would like to hear Lilivati's input on this though, as I'm obviously not a lawyer. I just know what Barb (and Marc, who was sued as well) have gone through because Barb is one of my best friends, and she's told me alot of what she and Marc have endured at the hands of Butt Ward.

Also, and this is from personal experience, some will sue for breech of contract knowing that the person they're suing have no means to fight it.

There is a "well known" dane breeder who did this recently. They reposessed a dog from a friend based on allegations that the dog wasn't being cared for properly (I even told them I saw the dog FIRST HAND and he was fine.). They outright came out and told my friend she couldn't afford to fight them in court, so her smartest option would be to relenquish the dog back to them. She is a single mom who just moved from across the country, obviously she didn't have the financial means to fight them...so they took advantage of that.

It was a whole lot of drama, but it taught me to make **** sure I know what I'm signing, especially when it involves the ownership of a dog.

The Wards do this as well. They rely on the fact that they have high powered lawyers and sit on a pedestal of "prestige" (one more time, HAHAHAHHAHAHA) and that the average "Joe Schmoe" can't afford to fight them in court. Some folks belly up and let them have their way, but the few that have fought back, have won.

Wow, really sick! I'd never heard of them but I read the stories first then looked at their website...
They are marketing "doodles an woodles and Borzaf's OH MY!" - don't get me wrong, I have nothing against mixed breeds or designer dogs but to market them as such instead of being what they are supposed to be, a dog that really needs a home...pretty sick.
No wonder they haven't been shut down though, they have money and a lawyer who threatens anyone who talks...you'd think there'd be some way to make this stop, this is worse than a BYB and reminds me of a puppy mill...

Me and my friend heard of them a couple years ago when she was trying to find a rescue to take a mastiff mix puppy she couldn't keep. We even emailed them..boy am I glad they didn't email us back!! Did anyone manage to get pictures of the conditions? I am SOO surprised they have not been closed down! Those poor dogs!

What really, really cheeses me off is that they are smearing the names of hundreds of good rescues out there by calling themselves one . . .


I will say, however, that even legit rescues sometimes have contracts that are unenforcable, or just a tad bizarre, or both.

Notably, about monetary penalties . . .they can't hit you for too much . . . they either have to have actually damages (how?) or a liquidated damages clause . . . and courts HATE liquidated damages clauses. Theoreticaly, I see no reason why they couldn't make you return the dog if they wrote the contract properly . . . but I have yet to see one that did so. And then you'd have other problems if it got to court, including whether the buyer actually understood the contract.

I doubt if they will adopt if the pup or dog is s/n ed .....they want to make money !!!