PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR BEAR COUNTRY SPRINGER SPANIELS
This is a Consumer Alert! Scroll down the page to read the complaint sampler of "anti-testimonials" showing a wide array of health and temperament issues being bred and sold by this kennel, or report one yourself. If Montana had a puppy lemon law, this breeder would almost certainly be OUT OF BUSINESS.
This "family owned and operated" Montana English Springer Spaniel, Clumber/Springer Hybrid (mixed breed) and Clumber Spaniel breeder mass producing puppies is located in FRENCHTOWN but using an online selling address in MISSOULA. They are now using the english-springer-spaniels.net web domain as their primary selling site. It is owned and operated by James (Jim) and Deanna Lamphier.
Be aware that this is not a reputable, ethical or responsible spaniel breeding facility of any kind:
They have a terrible reputation within the reputable springer and clumber spaniel communities. Just ask!
Check out the Humane Society's DEFINITION OF A PUPPY MILL.
By all definitions used across this country this business is a COMMERCIAL kennel. They are a high volume, low quality, for profit backyard breeder raising lots of puppies out of every room in their house, en masse, for quick sale to the public through the internet. Move them in, move them out...like a hogs to market.
INTERNET PUPPY MILLING: Don't just take our word for it, Click these links to see their endless ads on puppyfind.com and nextdaypets.com Three (3)-six(6) litters are available every month, month after month. Both of these horrible websites attract high volume, low quality, backyard, European puppy millers and USDA breeders that offer credit card payment options on puppies that a consumer never sees in person prior to purchase. They prey on people using cute pictures and lots of marketing BS, but these online purchase sites are really worse than pet stores, and should be approached with extreme caution. At least 95% of the breeders that advertise on these sites are puppy mills, backyard breeders and people breeding for profit and not breeding for the best of the breed. Bear Country is one of the highest volume breeders of backyard bred springers on puppyfind and nextday pets in the country. There is no breeding "program" other than cranking out as many pups as they can for money.
SPRINGER RESCUEPUPPY MILL DOGS: ESRA recently seized almost 200 springers from two puppy mills in Kansas Deweys Springers) and Missouri (River Valley) that mainly used these website to sell to the public. Bear Country actually produces more puppies a year than some of these!! Here is an excellent CAPS article called "Why you shouldn't buy that puppy on the internet."Why would anybody who loves this breed buy a puppy from a breeder exploiting dogs in this way?
The ESSFTA, the AKC Parent Club for the English Springer Spaniel has published RESPONSIBLE BREEDER GUIDELINES to help a person who is looking for a puppy, learn to ask the right questions and buy one from a responsible breeder with reputable integrity. Ask Judy (longtime ESSFTA member, show breeder, pro-groomer and co-founder of Springer Rescue) for a Bear Country breeder reference and see what happens.
AKC COMPLIANCE INSPECTION: Think this is a GOOD thing? Bear Country undergoes annual records inspections by the AKC. Annual records inspections are ONLY given to pet brokers, pet stores, breeders with complaints, and high volume breeders producing 25 or more litters a year. Unfortunately, the AKC registers thousands of puppy milled dogs every year. The AKC has no authority with any state to enforce pet laws and only in cases of extreme squalor, with prodding by outside groups, have they intervened by reporting breeders to authorities. Their business is to register as many purebred puppies as possible, regardless of the breeder's ethics or litter's quality.
BEAR COUNTRY CLUMBER SPANIELS: The Clumbers they claim to have searched hard for were reallypurchased from a puppy miller named John Henry Miller out of Oklahoma who sells through online pet auctions that sell hundreds of dogs at a time, and was investigated by CAPS in 2007. Read the report about this scumbag. It is very common for dog auction houses and USDA breeders to buy large numbers of puppies and adult breeders from Europe and use popular puppy selling web sites to market them at vastly elevated prices. Same as pet stores.
CLUMBER/SPRINGER HYBRIDS (mixed breed puppies): Considering a hybrid? You have got to be kidding! It was probably just a matter of time before this Jimmy/Dean couple figured out how to further exploit their springers for profit and they are now breeding Clumber Spaniels and Clumber Spaniel/English Springer Spaniel mixed breeds and calling them Cluminger Spaniel "hybrids" and "Designer Dogs". This has allowed them to breed a bitch twice a year and only one litter is documented by the AKC and subject to their records inspections. Double the profit and no paper trail. 2009 Update: Several Bear Country Clumber/Springer hybrids have appeared in shelters and rescue services.
The AKC Clumber Spaniel Parent Club has an excellent breeder referral program for REPUTABLE Clumber Spaniel breeders that participate within the breed. These spaniel enthusiasts are a very close knit, experienced, dedicated group and devoted protector of this noble, ancient breed. There is a Clumber Rescue contact at the above site, for those who'd like to adopt a Clumber. They are well aware of the Spaniels being mixed and milled in Bear Country. As a rare breed dealing with a limited gene pool, Clumber Spaniels have many health, hygiene and temperament issues to evaluate...mixing them with poorly bred springers (especially those that are known to produce serious health and temperament issues) is a scary combination!!!!
BEAR COUNTRY BABY DRUGS: If your puppy doesn't get coccidia, giardia, parvo or distemper at Bear Country, it may have permanent immune system or organ damage from too much doggy doping. The "vaccination schedule" this breeder uses is scary stuff that is identical to raising pups like livestock. Some of these drugs aren't even approved for canines.
Reputable breeders who raise their pups in a clean environment, with well maintained and fully vetted adult dogs, do NOT give puppies these kinds of drugs as a "preventative". If they are convinced they have these kinds of germs in and around their puppy raising areas, and in their house-- YOU should be too.
MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF DOGS: Even animal control in Missoula has no idea of how many dogs this breeder really has. Whatever you see on their website--multiply that by 3-4 and that will give a realistic number of how many "breeders" they have. We now have an interesting email from Deanna herself stating she cannot afford to feed and properly vet her dogs if she stops breeding them. In her words: "There is no way in hell I can afford to keep all my dogs not breed them but yet afford food and vet care." Folks, this is a classic hallmark of a dog breeder in way over her head.
The Washington 9:Toward the end of December, nine dogs being called the "Washington 9" from Western Washington were confiscated by ESRA Rescue Volunteers from a backyard dog breeder (in over her head) located on Whidbey Island --with a Bear Country connection. READ HERE. The dogs were heavily infested with worms, stunk, had sores, were filthy, matted and living in an unlivable, asbestos contaminated building with no heat, no electricity, no water, and no well.
One has to wonder why these related dog pimps can't hold a decent day job.
THANK YOU to all the people who have sent in or filed complaints about this unbelievably ignorant dog breeder. Keep sending them in!
BEAR COUNTRY PUPPY COMPLAINTS: Over 150 documented complaints have been received to date varying from severe worm infestations all the way to small children being maimed and attacked.
We started this page in 2006 when we were alerted that this kennel was claiming to have made a fake show champion on the front page of their website, and within months quite unexpectedly collected dozens of complaints about puppies coming out of this Frenchtown spaniel kennel regarding very serious health disorders including life threatening EPILEPSY, THYROID DISORDERS, GIARDIA, KENNEL COUGH, SEVERE ALLERGIES, joint and eye diseases including TOTAL BLINDNESS, and temperament issues including aggression and timidity.
We have received MANY complaints about severe ROUNDWORM infestations, GIARDIA, FLEAS and COPRAPHAGIA (puppies that eat feces) which is disgusting behavior peoduced from bad breeding (it is genetic), but can sometimes be symptomatic of malnutrition. FOOTNOTE: Giardia, Cocci bacterial infections, kennel cough and heavy roundworm infestations are NOT normal in puppies that are well cared for. They are directly related to exposure to other contaminated animals, unclean water sources, unsanitary and overcrowded living conditions.
- JoAnn reported a sick puppy with psycho temperament
- Julie reported Two blind puppies
- Karen reported Worms, bad bite, UT infections
- Leah reported Kennel Cough, fleas, aggressive temperament
- Paula reported Sick, thin puppies with severe giardia
- John reported Severe allergies, thyroid problems, bad health
- K reported Fatal epilepsy (this is one of three epilepsy complaints)
- Ashley reported Two dogs with allergies, health issues, one shipped too young
- Eileen reported Annies' story, attacked people and other dogs
And there are many, many MORE...
REPORT A COMPLAINT: Unfortunately, the complaints about this breeder grow on a regular basis. If you have some concerns over a puppy purchased from this kennel that you'd like to share, or would like to file an English Springer Spaniel Breeder complaint, please contact: bear.country@rocketmail.com and somebody will get back to you as soon as possible. We can help you hold this puppy mill accountable and possibly prevent another consumer from buying a sick or genetically unsound puppy.
HYBRID REALITY CHECK:FYI, Hybrid vigor is a myth. The OFA has recorded that mixed breed hybrids are currently ranked #30 on the joint dysplasia list. The Cluminger Hybrid is high risk for dysplasia since the Clumber Spaniel is breed ranked #7 for hip dysplasia on this list. Add the poorly bred springer genes, and you could really end up with a genetic Frankenstein. What time and $$$$ you think you save from not buying from a reputable breeder/source, you will pay ten fold in vet bills later on.
What isn't a myth, is that mixed breed dogs are #1 at risk for ending up in shelters and being put to sleep.
Most hybrids or designer dogs being sold online as a cute novelty "pet rock" are so poorly bred you could find a better dog at the POUND. A shelter dog costs less and the adoption fees go to a good cause as opposed to lining the pockets of a breed for greed breeder.
The AKC has 150 breeds of purebred dogs to choose from (there is a breed for everyone) and animal shelters are filled with mixed breed "hybrids". If you choose to research a mixed breed dog as a pet, consider a shelter dog first.
LIARS WITH SILVER TONGUES: The people who run this "kennel" will say anything to sell a dog (see reality check below). Any moron can whelp a litter, but in truth, the only thing they are knowledgeable about is online puppy advertising. Using gimmicks to sell and re-home their dogs is common and they have pretty much used every gimmick in the book-from "family illness" kennel clearance sales to fabricated show champions, to self proclaimed "therapy dogs", (which in truth need training and certifications.) They have taken Internet backyard breeding to an entire new level of high volume "gross", and morphed it into something that turns the stomachs of every responsible breeder that has been made aware of them.
Dishonesty is commonplace with breeders of this ilk. (It seems to be contagious for there is even a Springer breeder in Arizona using a Bear Country bred stud that says they have trial and show prospects!) With some research on your part, you will see the red flags flying everywhere.
FAKE SHOW CHAMPION: An important reality FACT Check:
In July of 2006, Bear Country Springer Spaniels, a super high volume English Springer Spaniel breeder, located in Frenchtown, Montana was exposed by a group of concerned springer spaniel fanciers, for making up FAKE SHOW CHAMPIONS (this appeared on the front page of their website in 07/06) and fabricated testimonials. When asked to remove their fake show champion, they created and published a FRAUDULENT LETTER on the front page of their website, pretending to be from the Canadian Kennel Club --full of typos and spelling errors!
When the CKC was informed of this they were not amused.
Read the official CKC response below.
From: Sonny Allinson
Friday, July 21, 2006 9:33 AM
To: bearcountryspringers@hughes.net
Cc: Diane Draper; Leila Bahorie; Laura Colangelo
Subject: CANADIAN KENNEL CLUB COMMUNICATION
Good Day, It has been brought to our attention that, without permission, the Canadian Kennel Club logo appears on your website www.bearcountrymt.com at the bottom of the home page. The logo is considered proprietary and we respectfully request that it be removed immediately. There is also some serious concern that the letter associated with the logo which claims to be a Canadian Kennel Club correspondence is in fact not an official document from the Canadian Kennel Club and is therefore by appearing on this website, considered by the Canadian Kennel Club to be a fraudulent use and misrepresentation of our organization. With regards to your claim that the dog Bearcountry SLV Pine Tri Gift is a Canadian Champion, our official records indicate that in fact this is not the case and no dog by this name is registered with our organization. We are seriously concerned over fraudulent misrepresentation of our records. Return correspondence on this issue is requested as is immediate corrective action.
Regards,
Sonny Allinson
Manager, Communications Division
The Canadian Kennel Club.
(The original email is available for review)
As a result, this kennel was reported to the Montana BBB (Better Business Bureau) for fraudulent advertising, a report was submitted to the American Kennel Club, and a call was made to the County Attorney's office to alert them of potential consumer internet fraud.
Despite 150 witnesses who saw it there, Bear Country denies they ever placed this info on their website, or that they received a email from the Canadian Kennel Club accusing them of fabricating the fake Bear Country show champion and misrepresenting the CKC in anyway. (PS: Being the proven liars they are-of course they did!)
