Tom,

You sound like a nice person yet I'm not sure why you feel that you are not entitled to a refund? I know that you say that Gayle has produced a lot of pet GSDs yet quite frankly, $2000 - $3000 is a lot of money to spend for a pet that has genetic issues therefore needing ongoing expensive vet treatment.

I don't believe that there is anyone that I know of who would pay that kind of money with full disclosures of illness and the commitment that they must now make to a new $2000.00-$3000.00 pet. I've seen a lot of rescues where owners knew this going in and the owner paid a lot less for their pets. I strongly feel that this was not the case with Gayle and that she deliberately led her victims to believe that they had top quality and healthy show/sport dogs.

Please remember that there are a significant amount of other issues with victims and their loss... not only loosing hopes of having an active sport GSD but issues with receiving a dog and NO PAPERS or sending money for a deposit and receiving absolutely nothing. Not even a phone call.

You do say that you are not defending Gayle and I commend you for this. I understand that she hides behind 'illnesses' with herself and her family yet she should get out of this business if her health does not allow her to execute a business of honesty and integrity.

I know individuals who are far more handicapped than Gayle yet they are individuals of integrity and are honest businessmen and women. And.. They never ever fall back on their limitations when dealing with creditability.

As far as your statement of 'casting the first stone', please remember that she is the one who has ignored all of us. If she is not guilty, than why not pick up the phone... give these people a call.... work out some payment arrangement. Why cut off all communications except through white boards, web pages, etc... Therefore forcing the victims to pursue justice through law enforcement and expensive lawyers? Why... because she does not care.

Why do you feel shameful or feel that you are responsible for what happened? You entered into an honest business arrangement with someone who did not show the same respect.

patricia,

1. the dog was 13 weeks old when purchased and i confered with moorbeck kennels germany and dogs lineage had good history of healthy dogs. gayle somehow got in middle of this pups import process. i would not buy dog for that price with known health issues ...xrayed at 22 mos.

2. I DO NOT FEEL SHAMEFUL..

you are right on about ms barnes integrity..she is a schmuck A atty in kankakee ill ken leshen may know of her whereabouts..and if you believe she is still cheating honest people get me some dough. Better YET put her out of business Good luck

Hello everyone. I have to say that reading this thread and the information on the internet about Gayle has made me feel sick this afternoon. I purchased a puppy from Ravenwolf Shepherds 2 years ago (Safi von Ravenwolf). What a difference 2 years makes!

Contrary to what others have reported, I had absolutely no problems dealing with Gayle. I talked to her on the phone several times before sending in a deposit. I got an email when whelping started, and she sent me an email later that day telling me all about the puppies that were born. She sent me pictures of the litter every week until I came to choose my puppy. Gayle encouraged me to visit if I wanted, and we spoke on the phone several times about how the puppies were doing. When I came to her house in July 2004, she let me spend several hours playing with the puppies before I picked one out. Gayle then gave me all the paperwork to register Safi--before I left, I had all the paperwork I needed. For several weeks afterward, she called me to see how Safi and I were doing. For the first year, I emailed her pictures of Safi monthly (there were pictures of him on her website and some emails of mine were posted as well).

You can imagine my surprise when I got a call this winter asking about my experience with Gayle. I thought they just wanted a reference, and I was shocked when I was told of the problems with Ravenwolf. It was then that I learned that Gayle didn't even live in Momence!

I am shocked and surprised by what has happened to so many people. So far, my dog has been fine--very healthy and happy. I am still waiting on OFA for his hip evaluation. He is a good looking dog--he has even been used as a model in some of my company's ads.

It is a little scary to think that I still would have been happily recommended Ravenwolf and Gayle if I hadn't received that phone call.

I just thought I should write to let you know that you have my sympathy. I also thought that you might like to know that all of her dogs don't have problems.


Best of luck as you continue your fight!

Julie,

Consider yourself very very lucky. You're experience with Gayle was probably at the height of her dog career since soon after that, she seemed to make a serious shift in morals, integrity and dishonest transactions.

I just received a reply from a woman who did not purchase a dog from her yet she was taken for more than $800.00 for a cell phone that Gayle talked her into getting for her. I'm confident that Gayle's illegal activities and her con-artist tactics go much deeper than German Shepherds.

I hope your dog's xrays come clean since many of her victims have not.

Good luck to you and thank you for sharing.

Patty

The Victims of Ravenwolf Shepherds just received this email asking for help:

I am not like all of you that have been taken by someone you barely know. I was a friend with Gayle for 5 years. My daughter, Gaby, was the little girl that was on her website that had a brain tumor when she was a baby. I may not have been taken as severely as all of the dog breeders she has hurt, but I would like to help you in any way I can. I put Gayle under my cell phone plan so she could have a cell when she moved to Tennessee from Illinois. She paid for her own phone, but we signed an agreement that if she didn't pay her bill I was responsible. She swore she would never do that to me but SUPRISE, she did. I had to pay $802.05 so they wouldn't shut off my phone also. To a lot of you that may not be much compared to what she took you for, but my husband and I are raising two kids on his salary alone, which is not a lot since he is self-employed doing construction. I don't know how I could help or if there is a way to get back the money I had to pay, if there is please let me know. Thank you

hi pat sorry about what happened to you with gayle but for some reason something dont seem right.I have known gayle for 9 yrs and i have never known her to be a con artist.have you ever seen her?im not trying to be rude but you see i got a disturbing tex message from what i thought was her around the time all of this was happening and well i havent herd from her in over 2 yrs almost 3 yrs

From all the stories , maybe it is a good thing that you don't hear from her..........

hello Angelique maybe its good but we were friends for 10 yrs shes my 6 yr old sons god mother and if everyone knew the gayle i knew they wouldnt believe she was doing this i think shes bed ridden (she was and is very ill)and who ever shes with is ruining her name because gayles motto has always been to have healthy puppies and to always stand behind your doogs so you see i think she doesnt have control of what happened

ps you have a beautiful dog

Thanks Michelle
I understand how you feel.Maybe you're right she might be getting used by others who are not as dedicated to the breed as she was at one time and are abusing her name.Very possible when you are ill like that, it's easy for others to take advantage.It's a shame...