Stolen Dog Resold by a Profane Horseback Rider

Another day goes by and another stolen dog ends up surfacing in a 'rescue' flipped for quick and easy resale. Yesterday I covered the stolen dogs being resold in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Today it's Houston, Texas. 

A year ago, a beautiful little Malti-poo named Byron was stolen out of his owner's yard. Like most innocent American pet owners, they thought he 'escaped.' Think again. With Retail Rescue's on every corner desperate for profit, the chance that a highly resellable dog like Byron magically escaped by accident is not high. The odds that he would even WANT to leave his home is even less. While he's only half-poodle, poodles are notorious for their bond with their owners. He wouldn't have wanted to leave on his own.  What more than likely happened is one of the many #Woke Social Justice Warriors plaguing our society was casing their yard and took him because they didn't think a dog should be alone outside.  It happens every day.   Think I'm joking?   Read yesterday's article about Parker the Golden Retriever and the neighbor who caught a jogger casing and photographing his home shortly before he was stolen out of their yard.

Like many responsible pet owners, sisters Savannah and Brianna Marino fell for the marketing hype that a 'microchip' would protect their pet. They are now devastated to find out that was a scam as well. The sisters told the media that at all times they kept his information current with the microchip company. They reported him as missing to the company as well as posting everywhere in their neighborhood and on social media.

After a year of sleepless nights, never giving up on their search for their dog, one of the sisters had a dream about him and checked their microchip account. What they found shocked them to their core. Without notifying them, the microchip company had simply transferred Byron's chip account to another owner.

Investigating further they found out that this was routine. Any time this microchip company received notification from any 'rescue' that they had sold off a dog, they automatically transferred the chip accounts without ever checking with the original owners.

The family refused to give up on their beloved dog and kept digging. They found out that Poodle Rescue of Houston had sold him. When KPRC 2 contacted the rescue, they claimed the dog was 'lost' and the owners were 'unreachable.' They deemed Byron to be abandoned and sold him.  As a private organization, they had no authority to do this.  They should have reported their custody of Byron to the local animal control authorities.  

The Marinos dispute the rescues story and claim their information was always up to date and they were never contacted. After being stonewalled by the Poodle Rescue, they went to the media begging anyone to tell them the whereabouts of their dog and to return him. The family now has a Facebook page, Help Us Bring Byron Home, dedicated to their fight to get their dog back.

As you can expect, Poodle Rescue of Houston does not have a good reputation. Hundreds of people claim to have spoken to a rude, nasty, vicious woman named Guinnette Peebles, who regularly gets irritated if you call and interrupt her while she's boozing it up and continuously drops the F-bomb on total strangers.  Oh, and if you are a 52 year old woman with a job you are not responsible enough for a dog.  You are too OLD and broken down to be able to handle pet ownership.  Nice words from an older woman who operates a boarding kennel. 

Another huge red flag is that Guinnette Peebles changed Byron's name to "Burt" when she resold him.  A name very similar to his original name.  Dirty rescue's frequently change dog's names in order to hide their true histories.  It's not uncommon for the new name to be similar to the old name so the dog will answer to it and appear to a new owner as if that is truly his name. 

Poodle Rescue of Houston also has a pretty extensive test you have to pass to qualify to purchase one of their special dogs and get grilled by a woman who thinks she's better than you.  

After all these questions and being grilled on the phone, funny enough they don't tell you who THEY are.  You are just supposed to trust them because they are a RESKQUE.  

Let's look at their finances.  Peebles charges anywhere from $400 to $2,000 for a supposedly 'rescued' dog. 

The most current IRS 990's available for "Poodle Rescue of Houston" is 2018.  Sadly, Peebles ended that year with only $35,324 left over in her pocket after selling dogs.  That's chump change in the Retail Rescue world.  She added that to rollover assets of $199,433.  This is what she has left over AFTER selling dogs and deducting all she can.  The woman who can't get out of bed and is too busy to talk to potential adoptive families claims to spend 60 hours a week working at her rescue gig.   Now she claims to not make a salary doing this.  They have no declared employees or independent contractors but yet she's claiming she paid $89,304 in wages and payroll taxes of $4,819.  The "rescue" allegedly owns land, buildings or equipment worth $124,688 which she is generously depreciating.  She also has $115,449 in a cash - non-interest bearing account.  

It's an interesting twist but it appears from Texas corporation records that Poodle Rescue of Houston owns Prestonwoods Kennels, a public boarding kennel, not the other way around.   It's more common for a kennel to rent space to a rescue.  These mysterious wages she's paid to employees she hasn't declared on her tax returns are more than likely kennel workers. 

This is the same woman who asks potential adopters if they would like a 'new or used' poodle. Now that's a pretty unusual question. The first thing that comes to my mind is.... is "Poodle Rescue of Houston" breeding dogs to be deliberately sold off as 'rescued' just like the allegations from yesterday's article? 

You should not be shocked to find out that yes, Guinnette Peebles is a dog breeder. Sadly, she's giving a huge black eye to purebred dog breeders everywhere.

She's not the first unethical, vicious or nasty dog show person to be exposed.  I've written extensively about the three poodle breeders who tried to destroy me over ten years ago.  You can read about how they sold me out to a Retail Rescue run by an animal rights terrorist and how they framed me for crimes I did not commit, starting here.  Just like any Retail Rescue, the goal of their campaign was to get their hands on my valuable and highly resellable purebred poodles.

YOU can act to stop these situations.  Research the background and finances of ANY rescue before you buy a dog from them.  Don't fall for the sob stories and cute tear jerking pictures.   Look at the facts.  Does anything not add up?   Look at their reviews, ALL of them.  Does anything give you a red flag?   Lastly, when you find unethical situations like Byron's report it!  If it was your dog involved, file a police report for stolen property.  Call animal control and tell them that the rescue is reselling 'lost' dogs with out reporting them.  Contact local lawyers and see if you can find one willing to sue the rescue.  Contact the media and demand action.  Report the rescue to all local, state and federal authorities.  Many organizations over see these situations.  Look at which ones oversee them in your community.  

The only way to stop fraudulent rescues is to STOP SUPPORTING THEM.   If adopters dry up and go elsewhere, they won't make big $$$ anymore.  It's all about the greenbacks to people like Peebles.  Stop putting it in her pocket.