A Story about a Dog and a Boy-help me stop this from happening again!!!!

A friend of mine forwarded me this story. It really happened to a friend of hers!!

"To my family and friends please help me get the word out so this doesn't happen to some other child.

As you all may know(or not know) my 8 yr old grandson Cameron has autism. My daughter Amie purchased a service dog for Cam from the North Star Foundation in Ct. Patty Dodds the executive director isnot a person to be trusted.(As we find out later) Cam's dog was specially trained for him by Tim and Elise of K9 concepts in California. On Saturday Nov 14th they flew to Boston with Cam's dog. On Sunday morning the big day had finally arrived. Tim and Elise arrived at Amie's house with the dog that Cam had named Bo . It felt like Christmas in November. I don't think Bo was here fifteen minutes and he and Cam where on Cam's bed like old friends. After a quick bite to eat everyone went outside. Watching them give Bo commands in a soft voice and the immediate response from the dog was amazing. It had turned out so much better then I every could have hoped for. I said to Marty I guess now we know why it cost thousands of dollars for a service dog. Around noon Tim and Elise left for Boston knowing that Cam and Bo were a good match and Bo was in a loving home. On Monday Patty was to arrive at 9am with a trainer to meet Amie, Tim and Elise. Tim and Elise would then go over all of the vital data for Bo and what he knows and how he has been trained to date. Now this is what was supposed to happen and if you read the NorthStar web site you would believe it does. In reality Patty showed up three hours late. Not only did she not have a trainer with her she had not in the past three months found the time to even contacted one. Next she drops the ultimate bomb that she is taking Bo because she has changed her mind and doesn't feels this is a good placement. THIS IS WHERE WE GET TAKEN BIG TIME. Up to this point she has only talked to Amie on the phone or via email. This is their first meeting in person. She never met nor did she care to meet Cam since he was in school. Tim and Elise told her they are the ones that have spent time with Amie's family and would not leave Bo if they didn't feel it was a good match. Tim even offered to sign a paper stating he would take full responsibility if anything went wrong. At this point Amie, Tim and Elise are standing in the driveway in a state of shock. Tim told Patty he would give her back the $5,000.00 she paid him for the dog which would release her if there was ever a problem. Patty didn't care what they had to say. She said her word goes and she left with Bo. Tim and Elise had to leave to catch a plane back to California sick over what has happened to Cam's dog. A dog that has been a member of their house for 7 months is off to Ct. Worse yet she cares so little about the dog she never asked as to what food Bo eats, what shots he had,etc. She even had the nerve to say she has another family in Ct. waiting for a dog. That child's Autism isn't as severe as Cam's and would be a better home for Bo. Amie left her voice mail stating she wants the immediate return of the $7,000.00 paid to her for Cam's dog. Of that amount $5,700.00 is to be returned to the HalfWay Cafe which is the amount they raised from a fundraiser they held for Cam. The other $1,300.00 to Amie for the amount she had paid so far. In total the dog was to cost $10,000.00. The remaining $3,000.00 was to be paid over the following year for training.

PATTY'S RESPONSE READ YOUR CONTRACT YOU DON'T GET YOUR MONEY BACK.The contract reads if the placement is not working and the family is at fault not the dog she gets the dog back and keeps your money. What the contract didn't tell us is if she has another buyer for your dog she can say she doesn't like the placement keep your money and sell the dog a second time. I don't believe that is legal but according to her she has done nothing wrong. THE PAST FOUR DAYS I HAVE TRIED TO FIGURE OUT HOW PATTY'S MIND WORKS. I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION I CAN'T FIGURE HER OUT BECAUSE I HAVE MORALS AND COULD NEVER ACT LIKE SHE DOES. I do know Bo needs to go back to Tim and Elise so they can see what damage she has done to him. Amie and the HalfWay Cafe need to have their money returned. I need your help in getting the word out so no other family is financial and emotionally ripped off by Patty and the North Star Foundation. On a final note there was a response from two of the North Star Foundation Board Members. One was her husband and the other is someone that said she has been Patty's friend for thirty years and they both think she is wonderful. Patty has a link on her site to a professor in California. Amie spoke to him and that was how we found out we are not the first ones to be ripped off by Patty. He gave Patty three trained service dogs free of charge for families who couldn't afford them. Later he found out she sold them to families for thousands of dollars."

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I hope you will help us for Cam's sake and all the those out there like Cam that cannot defend themselves against the Patty's of the world. Please get involved and pass it on to everyone you know. I can't change what has happened to Cameron but I can try it prevent if from happening to another child and their family.