Thyme and Sage Ranch Jennifer Petkus reviews and complaints

I understand that this puppy mill has been in operation for a while.
Why were people not reporting this to the humane society sooner if they have been there and or bought from her?
Why do people have to wait to tell someone about a place this disgusting?

Jennifer Petkus has been charged with 11 counts of animal cruelty. Just Google her name or the name of her "rescue."

I adopted a puppy from Jennifer in December and she was very honest about the fact that he was sick. She also offered to take him back and refund my money. My experience with her was a positive one and yes the puppy was sick but after the Vet gave him antibiotics he was fine. You pay to save a dog and assume the bills or you go to a breeder and pay a high price or save a dog.

She needs to be closed. Because she is not allowed to be listed on Petfinder with Thyme and Sage Ranch anymore she is now using her position as the Richland County Pound to post their animals but then have in each of the description a line that says "more dogs available at www.thymeandsageranch.com

I am sure that Petfinder will be getting emailed about this from everyone who knows of her "operation".

Jennifer Petkus of Thyme and Sage Ranch has been charged with 11 counts of animal cruelty. For more information, just Google her name or the name of her "rescue."

Im not postive without asking others in our group, but I would along with I think the other members of the group would be happy with a clean up effort as suggested by the other poster...as long as things remain under control once its done and that the puppie/dogs at Jennifers are vaccinated properly etc. We arent holding a grudge, we just want all the animals to be healthy when they go to their new homes. Obviously she doesnt want the dogs to be sick either. Jennifer and any other rescue that is reading may always contact us at our email address if they need help. raddogs@radrescue.org

If this place needs a good thorough cleaning and dogs are getting sick, maybe the person who is posting responses on the behalf of Thyme and Sage should tell Jennifer to maybe contact some rescues to come out and help her disinfect her premises, and get the number of dogs down to a more manageable amount so that things stay clean and under control. I would think that it would be a common goal and would probably make everyone involved happy. The other rescue groups would probably be happy because they would feel like they are helping out the welfare of the dogs which is what rescue is all about, and Jennifer would not have the public angry with her and constantly posting their complaints. Maybe she doesnt care, and maybe she just lets it all go in one ear and out the other?, but all should not be a lost cause just because things didnt go like they should have. I mean really all of you should work together and fight for the same cause. It doesnt help anyone to hold a grudge against someone else when there are so many dogs out there needing all of your help.

Most rescue groups do pitch in and help other groups. Our group tries to help other groups and the two local shelters in our area, when we have open foster homes we will go bail out dogs. If we dont have the space available and someone is calling us to surrender a purebred we will often times email the purebred rescues to see if they can help out, or call a different mixed breed group. I believe that is the way a lot of rescues work. We are not opposed to helping out any group as long as the group/shelter is giving proper care to the dogs in their custody.

I was just on Petfinder and its unbelievable the number of rescue groups on there, and Im not sure how they police all of the groups, but there mustve been a founded complaint to get Petfinder to remove this place. I googled alot of groups in this area just to see what would come up and see if there are complaints against other groups and I didnt find any. Even a yorkie group from God knows where has people complaining about this place along with the Richland County news website has a lot of stir about it. What Gives? If she isnt able to take care of the dogs like they need it, why doesnt she give them to the purebred or mixed breed groups? It would be interesting to see if everyone could just pitch in and help out, but from reading on her it kind of looks like shes not interested in that. I also read under Richland County news that she is paid $750 dollars per month by contract with the county so no wonder she answers all the calls in the middle of the night, she gets paid for it so for Puppylover to make comments that other groups dont do that is just not fair, they dont get paid anything for their work they are volunteering.

To bad that there is not some sort of a rescue police for all of the rescue groups.

Sara...I am the one from the RAD group, and I am the only one posting for this group...the other posts are coming from different individuals or other rescues that have had "dealings" with T&S.

Of the 88 dogs that our group placed, none of them have died, or been returned to us sick, nor have we gotten complaints that they have parvo, coccidia, giardia, kennel cough or any other thing. We may not be able to boast about adopting out 427 dogs, but we can say that EVERY dog in our program has been wormed, vaccinated for dhlppc, given rabies if old enough, heartworm tested if old enough, vaccinated for lymes disease, and spayed or neutered at 4 months of age. If the dog goes out of our program before the age of 4 months we have a STRICT follow up policy on the dog getting spayed/neutered and the rest of its booster shots. And I will also add to say that we have a 100% compliance rate with this requirement.
All "reputable" rescues do the same thing for the dogs/puppys in their care. Reputable rescues do not take on hundreds of dogs unless they can provide proper vet care and housing for them.

WOW! What an argument you two groups have going...I've got a question though...if all these complaints are just one group of people out re-posting complaints...WHY? Why lash out a completely bogus complaint and then take the time to make up 10's of 20's of stories just to shut someone down...To be mean, to take her animals...why? Why, unless, maybe it's true...I happen to know for a fact that all of these stories are not from the same group...I have spoken with 3 people who registered complaints that have no connection to eachother. As for the parvo...and the question that rose about why all the complaints were cases of parvo...because it is deadly, because it is highly contageous...maybe a lot of the dogs weren't dying because the little ones were being moved so quickly...maybe they didn't die at the Ranch, maybe they went to their new homes and died...parvo can take 7-14 days to develop into visual symptoms, then another 3-5 days to kill an animal. It's a horrible death! I KNOW because we got puppies from Jennifer that died from parvo. It certainly did not come from our home...Our vet had contact with 2 other people who also purchased puppies from her and they also died within days of ours. Weather or not she's just in denial or truely doesn't care doesn't dismiss the fact that she has had parvo exposure on her premesis...That in itself should prompt her to clear her facilities completely until she can bleach down every last inch of them and also her yard...once parvo is in the ground, it can take years to clear it. As for the comment made about how she can't possibly be out for the money because the rescue offered 250 and she turned them down...she's getting in upwards of 300-400 for some of her pups (that's what we paid and another couple that was there buying a puppy when we arrived)...I can see why she would turn down 250 if someone else was willing to pay more...Bottom line, this is not a group of one just posting aimlessly to ruin a completely innocent individual. There is a reason for these postings. If Jennifer really did care, she would do what is right, clear her facilities...she obviously cannot handle the load. I am curious to know...of the 88 dogs placed by the other rescue...how many reports of parvo death or other un-natural death have there been?...I'd be willing to bet there is a much higher percentage on death rate by parvo and other disease/pain and suffering in the ratio of 427 to now living that came from the Ranch.

Oh please, , , we took animals that had been there a long time that were suggested to us by her (some were fear aggressive and had not been handled and needed one on one attention which is what we gave them). I can go on our website happy tails and pick out each dog that came from there and I guarantee that there were way more lg breeds than small. In fact we remember saying that we would take a dog named Reba a lg breed because she had been there awhile and we were told she was already going to someone...but then months later she was still there...as I see Dobber and Dee Dee are and Violet and Blue...all dogs which we told her we would take. Now its almost a year later and they are still there when they couldve been in our program, rehabilitated and placed.
The reason we were there 4-6 hours was to try and figure out which dogs would work in which foster homes. Not all our foster homes can take every type of dog (being that some have kids in them and we dont want anyone getting bit) so obviously we have to play on the safe side if we are pulling a dog for one of those homes.
As for pits and hounds or any other mix...we take them too. We take any size, sex, color or breed of dog as we have room and as owners or other overfull shelters/rescues call us. We do not however buy puppies from the mills or amish and support their pocketbooks.

I myself am just hoping that anyone adopting a dog/puppy from ANY rescue gets vet papers showing that the animal has been seen by a vet, is spayed or neutered, and has its rabies vaccination if its old enough (which by the way is required by law to transfer a dog to another person or rescue).

That is not the whole email...

You have been out to T&S at great lengths-sometimes upto 4-6hours picking and choosing what you want...

Her father even had to catch a dog that got away from you.

Look at your Happy Tails...cute and fluffy again

You are a group that has placed 88 dogs-Well Done!

Jennifer has placed 427 since April with a handful of complaints-Not Bad!

You see--there are various ways to rescue. She is more of a safe haven until they find better. I am sure she never advised you any of the animals you took were health checked and 100% good to go.

Your relationship ended when she would no longer work w/ you or your facility. She firmly believes animals that have been here the longest or need additional one on one care should get transferred out first. You disagreed with this and were a pick and choose operation.

Best of luck to you and your organization...

But why the bashing of two other rescues...my recommendation-help do not bash.

By the way-can you take in any Pits or hounds now?

Jennifer gets calls at all hours of animals outside, chained up-no shelter, not fed and takes them in at the drop of a hat.

Could you do the same? I am sure you are not that type of rescue. But do not judge as someone has to provide at least the basic's for these poor creatures.

You all seem to have a common goal-if she were not around, where would you suggest a high volume of animals go to be safe harbored?

Think before you type.

Ahem: May 21 Wisconsin State Journal headline reads: "Jennifer Petkus, owner and founder of the animal shelter where more than 300 dogs were seized, was charged with 11 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges in Richland County Circuit Court on Wednesday. According to a criminal complaint, Dr. Lisa Kerwin-Lucchi, a veterinarian with the Dane County Humane Society, used a hidden camera and temperature probe to record conditions at Thyme and Sage Ranch in rural Cazenovia in March. At that time, she found dogs without access to food and unfrozen water, dogs with severely matted fur and inadequate bedding for unheated buildings, in addition to other injuries and poor conditions."

I think the Bottom Line should be that all rescues take the time and money to have their dogs vaccinated and altered before placing them in a home. And if the rescue doesnt have money to take care of this, they certainly shouldt be buying animals from auctions.

I was considering adopting a puppy from Thyme and Sage Ranch but after reading the "beware" posts, I was concerned. Being a very experienced internet user and knowing that some people's compliment and complaint posts are less than genuine, we decided to drive down to the Ranch to see for ourselves. I think the first thing people who consider adopting a animal that was rescued from a puppy mill is that these are not premium health animals. There is a reason the mill was shut down and the animals were rescued...because the conditions were awful. Upon our arrival, we found our way into the house where the puppies are romping about. This is not a residential house but rather a house just to show the puppies to prospective adopting families. There is another kennel on-site and the adult dogs are kept in there but the "puppy house" is where the action is. When you first come in, Jennifer welcomes you and tells you a little about the different puppies and will help steer you to the right area to find what you might be looking for. There are 20 or so puppies in the house that are not housebroken so there is a urine smell. Jennifer and her volunteers try to keep up with all accidents but the puppies do walk through the pee and get it on their feet. As such, the puppies will smell a bit. And Jennifer makes it clear that these puppies have not been to a vet, she and her volunteers give the puppies their first shots and do their best to adopt out only animals that are healthy enough to be adopted. She tells everyone that their first step is to get a vet appt. She also tells people that if the vet finds anything wrong that is serious, you can get a full refund or exchange. I've adopted 7 rescued animals before and there are no guarantees that you have an animal in perfect health. Bottom line is that if you can't afford or don't want vet bills, you really shouldn't own any pets...they go hand-in-hand. Anyway, after about an hour playing with 6 or so different puppies, we settled on a very shy Lhasa-poo male. I suspect he has some kennel cough and needs a good vet check, something we have scheduled for tomorrow. I hope he is well but as I think I've made clear, I cannot be certain. I could never expect Jennifer or her volunteers to be certain. She rescues so many animals that there is no way she could afford to have a vet staff, not ideal for certain but what is the worse? Do you let the mills continue to treat animals the way they do or do you dedicate your life to rescue and do the best you can. There is no inhumane treatment at the Ranch. Sure, I'd like a pet store setting and my puppy to be vet checked prior to adoption, but think of that expense. Many pet stores buy from mills, either knowingly or not so is that a good option? There is a ton of info on the internet about adopting a rescued animal, it is not for everyone and it is your responsibility to go in armed with knowledge. Here is the best analogy I can think of: would you buy a car, 1000 miles away, without having seen the vehicle on eBay? This works for some people, and doesn't for many others. There are responsible breeders out there and if you are uneasy about adopting a rescued dog, then find one of those. You may very well still have a puppy with a medical condition that you are responsible to treat.

Bottom line: Jennifer has a personal conviction to shut down puppy mills. To do this, she needs to adopt out as many rescued animals as possible. If you consider adopting one of these animals, do your homework and know exactly what you are doing. Know your responsibilities and consider giving Jennifer and the Ranch volunteers a break. They really are trying hard and I bet none of us volunteer more hours towards our favorite charity or cause. I'll keep you updated on my puppy’s health.

Hello-

See my name is posted-notice yours is not. I was with Jennifer at that auction and your set-up backfired. She took 5 dogs and sat back watching other rescues bid as high as $800 on a dog? Who is calling the kettle back. Have you ever been to her facility-there is nothing filthy about it. She was cornered while loading the 5 dogs she saved by your nonesense and lies. Thus, no comment as she has nothing to defend as many of you rant and raved like people w/ serious mental challenges. Some rescue groups were so embarrassed by your actions, they called Jennifer to apologize the next day. I understand that people post on here, as they get upset if something happens to their dog or puppy-these are rescues. She is not a breeder or broker...however, her adoptions and goodness is being spread through word of mouth by people that actually come out and that reputation prevails all the lies. I must say, since April, 457 dogs have been adopted, so a hand full of complaints and nonsense is part of the business. As long as it makes the poster feel better. We will have to see the outcome of the atty who is sueing Craiglist for the postings they allowed. I would be very careful by what one posts as fact vs opinion...as that is most likely why no real names are being posted? Right Dog lover-puppy lver2 etc. Hide away w/ you jealousy and nonesense of what she has accomplished that you wish you could...I am a firm believer that what comes around, goes around. Last week 42 adoptions-mostly adults-but you do not focus on that. Why is it ok for your rescue and or others to goto dog auction and pay big $$$$ that the Amish laugh all the way to the bank about, or make a dent and relation the way she has. Please think about it and put your support and focus back into what you are striving to accomplish, because it must be failing as so much energy spread elsewhere.

PLEASE report stuff like this to the Better Business Bureau so others can avoid suporting bad businesses!