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Last Updated 07.07.09 by | Total Entries [0] | Total Comments [87]
Post 35 of 36
ATTENTION PLEASE -- INFORMATION REGARDING FORMER TRAINING PARTNER
Kelly Gaunce is no longer approved as a trainer by Best Friends Animal Society. She is no longer part of the Best Friends Training Partners program. Best Friends does not recommend any person, shelter or rescue group place dogs with Kelly Gaunce. We have reports she does not meet basic standards for care and placement of dogs and does not screen applicants or provide information necessary for the care and management of the dogs. Kelly Gaunce has been uncooperative in providing information regarding dogs we have sent to her. You may be placing dogs in danger by sending them to Kelly Gaunce.
Comments
Posted 28 Nov 2007 6:04 PM by Kathy_g
Thank you for letting us know.

Posted 28 Nov 2007 6:05 PM by cattees
Thanks for the heads up.

Posted 28 Nov 2007 6:52 PM by carrie_fosters
Oh man . . . this is sad to see. People all over the network have been sending her dogs for quite some time. I hope that they are okay! Is there anyone trying to track them down?

Posted 29 Nov 2007 11:06 AM by Kathy_g
I've no doubt, Carrie that they're trying to follow up.
But I'll tell you one thing- this news is being spread around like a wildfire on a dry day

Posted 29 Nov 2007 4:51 PM by MLM
Sorry........wasn't sure

Posted 30 Nov 2007 12:26 PM by ChrisB
Do you have any idea what happened to Tinker and Hayden and Toby and Oracle and Tug and Big Mo and Chopper and all the other from Dr. Dashfield's and Tara's Babies? Some of these were tough dogs and I worry so about their fate....

Posted 1 Dec 2007 12:11 AM by mklitt
I am always impressed by the integrity of this organization, they truly do put the animals first - even at the possible expense of their reputation.

I know BF will be doing everything possible to find out what has happened.

Posted 1 Dec 2007 8:27 AM by PitRow
I applaud Mary K for having the guts to take a van full of Pits that she had driven accross the country and turning back around with them . She had no idea what she was going to do , but she knew this was not the place for them . She has had alot of grief about this and I think a few people owe her a huge apology and a huge thank you for doing what was in the best interest of the dogs.
I don't know too many transporters who would have done such a brave thing.
I hope everyone who has put out DNA's and tarnished her reputation has 1/2 the guts she has and apologize to her.
Jenn

Posted 3 Dec 2007 4:41 PM by Edward
Hello all,

For the record, I am the person that deleted all of the bickering comments that were previously posted. I understand that this topic is very difficult for some to understand, however, this forum did not seem to me to be an appropriate venue.

Best Friends recieved an email containing some fair questions regarding Kelly Gaunce and our efforts going forward. I left the name out, but will answer the questions to the best of my ability.

"Are you guys trying to find out what happened to the pets that did go to this woman?"

We are doing our very best to find out were our dogs are. If in the course of our work, we come across information on dogs from other groups, we will be happy to pass that along. The difficulty we have run into is that Kelly has been less than honest, and very uncooperative. By her own admission she does not keep records.

"Is there some sort of follow up?" Best Friends Animal Society always follows up on the status of the animals. All of our animals are microchipped and registered to the sanctuary. We had been attempting to follow up with Kelly for months. After recieving ambiguous and open ended replies we pressed harder and found it more difficult to contact her. After recieving three similar complaints from independent sources, we decided to travel to Kelly's home with one of our Dog Trainers and one of our Attorneys. Shortly there after we posted the above notice.

"This is so sad to hear. What do you think happened to the pets sent to her?" This has been very sad for a good many people and a good number of innocent dogs. We suspect that some of the dogs went into good homes. We know that some of them did not. The process was very hit or miss. Some of the reports suggest that if some one showed interest in a dog, Kelly would just hand them the leash and be on her way. We know that she advertised dogs "free to good homes" on the internet. We know that a couple of the dogs were adopted into inappropriate homes and when local Animal Control called on Kelly, she refused to take any responsibilty or make any effort to provide information that may have saved the dogs lives.

Posted 3 Dec 2007 4:59 PM by MLM
Edward

Thank for bringing to light the real Kelly as we have come to know her by her actions or lack of. This will never bring our dogs back, sad to say. It is also known that she charged some rescues a dowry of as much as $250.00 per dog. Great way to make a living.

Posted 4 Dec 2007 10:18 PM by jenneesue
My friend and I drove 16 hours there and back from Massachusetts to bring one of our rescued pit bulls to Kelly for training. We returned WITH the dog after what we saw. I still wake up having nightmares about the dogs we left behind. FINALLY people listened. Feel free to email me off list to hear about our experience there. I would love to hear others' as well. jenneesue@gmail.com.

Posted 7 Dec 2007 9:01 PM by securitasdiving
could someone please provide me with some more details in regards to Kelly Guance. you can contact me at pmelanson0527@rogers.com
this should be looked at more closely if not investigated from the bit I have read
Paul

Posted 12 Dec 2007 4:54 PM by jo_shh
Is there any update on this? Is there any effort being made to follow-up on the dogs sent to Kelly Gaunce? Has Kelly Gaunce been stopped from receiving any more dogs? Any updates at all on this alert, and on the dogs sent to this woman, would be appreciated!

Posted 12 Dec 2007 9:57 PM by Kathy_g
I have all the confidence in Best Friends doing whatever they need to do.
Also, since notices were sent to everywhere on the internet-I highly doubt that anyone is sending any dogs

Posted 5 Feb 2008 7:53 PM by tinkerbell007
I'm posting in response to Chris B's question about Tinkerbell (Katrina rescue dog), and in complete defence of Kelly Gaunce. I adopted Tinkerbell from Kelly last February. She was the second dog that I have adopted from Kelly and both dogs were treated extremely well while in Kelly's care. Kelly knew our family background and had complete confidence in our ability to both train and raise these dogs. After we adopted Tinkerbell Kelly made numerous phone calls and visits to check up on her and still a year later keeps in touch to monitar Tinkerbell's (now called Bella) progress. Bella has come a long way since living in our home and has made best friends with our other two dogs. She is an amazing dog, with the exception of a few accidents on the floor. If you are interested in knowing more about Bella I would be happy to send along some pictures of her playing with her new friends. I am 100% sure that all of the other dogs from Kelly are receiving the same treatment, and I appreciate her decision to keep our personal contact information private.

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