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I bought an imported Irish Jack from Violet Meadows Farm in 2005. I was aware then, and I am even more aware now that Keith Butler was the driving force behind the success of VMF. He is caring, thoughtful and seemingly indefatigable in his efforts to treat both customers and pups ethically.
However I have come to realize that the pups were way overpriced and that putting a deposit down, which I did with my dog in 2005 does not always assure you pick of the litter as I missed my choice several times.
Once I brought this to Keith's attention he remedied it. I think it was his genius and talent in website design and maintenance that allowed Susan's business to thrive. I am sure we would all feel better had his efforts not been in vain. I wish you luck in whatever you do Keith and please know that people DO know that you did your best.
I was very lucky that my pup had a minimum of problems. He has been loved so much since he was a pup I think that helped a lot. He is just a fantastic dog.
I spoke to Susan yesterday. She was very curt at first, but I feigned innocence and related to her that I was concerned that the website was down. When I asked her if it would be repaired soon, she answered yes. She stated that they had just been having difficulties with the website.
Whatever Susan. I knew what must have happened before I called. My
friend works in IT and that coupled with my own knowledge of who really runs a site and why it could suddenly be shut down was enough
information for me.
Irishjacks.com is out of business. I wish I had tried to adopt one of the older dogs before this happened. I hate to think what may happen to them. I simply could not afford the price at the time.
Good luck Keith, and Kathy, Sox...and the rest of you I miss our "chats".
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I have tried for years to educate the unsuspecting public so they would be better educated and spot a puppy farm, broker a mile away. I am sorry it took this long for people to wake up and actually start paying attention. And as well, I hope it changes the way people "shop" for their next puppy.
Someone mentioned that they contacted some of the "Irish" Jack Russell breeders out there and got either no responses or defensive ones. I have been saying for years that there are very few legitimate Irish Jack Russell Breeders ...so few I can count them on one hand. I am not surprised at all that many of them were not willing to discuss their practices openly.
Please, go to my website and READ the pages devoted to this topic... And then re-read again later, when you go hunting for your next puppy. The rules really apply to all breeds as there are people like this in every dog breed.
Keith, Thank you for taking a stand. My hat is off to you.
Sheila
www.connemaraterrier.com
(I originally posted this in Irish Jacks/Violet Meadow Farm — Unethical Business Practices, but thought I should also post it here...)
Hi everyone,
I'm the webmaster for importedjacks.com (http://www.importedjacks.com), another breeder of irish jack russells. I think it's important for me to point out that not all irish jack russell terrier breeders are unethical, and they don't all simply import mass amounts of puppies from "puppy mills" in Ireland.
I think it's terrible that Susan Sarao engaged in the sorts of activities that are described in all of the above comments. Dogs are truly man's best friend and they should never be treated simply as some kind of money-making machine.
I wish everyone who happened to receive unhealthy jacks from irishjacks.com the best of luck going forward. If you have any questions about irish jacks (health-related, etc.) feel free to reach out to us at importedjacks.com (just fill out the contact form on any page and we'll try to answer your questions to the best of our abilities).
By the way, Keith - what you did was brave and noble. It's good to know that there are people like you out there who are looking out for all the puppies of the world.
~Chris Einkauf (chris.einkauf@gmail.com)