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Copyright © Barron van Houten. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or use of any images or material
contained in this site without the express, written permission of Barron van Houten is prohibited.
contained in this site without the express, written permission of Barron van Houten is prohibited.
| Hall of Shame |
This page is dedicated to telling you some of my personal experiences with other breeders
over the years so you can avoid having the same thing happen to you.
Mastiff Breeders:
Clark Henderson in Valley Center, California (kennel name of Mystery Mountain) - I
purchased a fawn female pup from Mr. Henderson in 2002 for $2,000 USD. The pup had
an unknown type of disease and died shortly after I received it in my home. Mr. Henderson
refused to provide any type of refund and refused to replace the puppy. He only offered to
give me a discount (of a few hundred dollars) on a future purchase of another pup and
stated he would call me when he had another litter. Well, I am still waiting on the call
although Mr. Henderson frequently advertises mastiff puppies for sale on the Devine Farm
website. On April 25, 2005 I received an email from a visitor to my website telling me she
also had a poor experience with Mr. Henderson. She purchased a pup that had to be put to
sleep due to severe temperament problems associated with aggression. However, Mr.
Henderson did offer to replace her pup and told her he has never had problems with his
pups in the past. Really Mr. Henderson???
Neapolitan Mastiff Breeders:
Franco De Falco Iovane in Itlay (kennel name of Del Nolano) - I purchased a female pup
from him in 2004 for just under $2,000 USD after currency conversion from Euro's. The
pup always seemed to be slow to sit and get up almost like an athlete gets stiff after sitting
on the bench for a while. Well, I finally had her hips and elbows reviewed by the Orthopedic
Foundation for Animals after she was 12 months old only to learn that she had hip
dysplasia and Grade II elbow dysplasia. I contacted Mr. Iovane and he denied the parents
of my dog were affected with these problems solely on the basis that his dogs looked
beautiful and stated that he felt regret for me even though there is clear scientific evidence
that these disorders are genetically inherited, especially when the pup has both conditions.
He refused to replace the dog and only offered to give me a discount on a future purchase
of another pup. Mr. Iovane did not respond to my inquiries regarding testing of his dogs
and threatened me not to tell anyone about his dogs. He has no health testing information
on his website as of the time of this posting.
Tamarind (Tami) & James Baker in Lorida, Florida. I performed a stud service for them
on February 28, 2006 using fresh semen from my Deus after we signed a written contract.
A litter of 11 lives puppies were whelped on April 28, 2006. Mr. and Mrs. Baker were
supposed to pay the $2000 USD stud fee when the pups reached eight weeks of age as
agreed in the contract. The Bakers sold most of the puppies for thousands of dollars using
my dog's and my reputation in their advertisement but failed to pay me as required. I was
unsuccessful on numerous attempts to obtain due payment and filed a law suit against
them. I obtained a final court judgement in the amount of $3014.46 USD (18% annual
interest) on December 05, 2006 and instructed my attorney to file a lien against their home
under Florida law. If you have purchased one of those puppies from them you will not be
able to register them with the AKC because I will not sign the required paperwork. If the
Bakers have provided you with an AKC registration for the pups you need to contact me
immediately because it would be fraudulent and not valid. For those of you wondering why I
no longer perform stud service on contingency, and require payment in advance, this type
of behavior is why.
over the years so you can avoid having the same thing happen to you.
Mastiff Breeders:
Clark Henderson in Valley Center, California (kennel name of Mystery Mountain) - I
purchased a fawn female pup from Mr. Henderson in 2002 for $2,000 USD. The pup had
an unknown type of disease and died shortly after I received it in my home. Mr. Henderson
refused to provide any type of refund and refused to replace the puppy. He only offered to
give me a discount (of a few hundred dollars) on a future purchase of another pup and
stated he would call me when he had another litter. Well, I am still waiting on the call
although Mr. Henderson frequently advertises mastiff puppies for sale on the Devine Farm
website. On April 25, 2005 I received an email from a visitor to my website telling me she
also had a poor experience with Mr. Henderson. She purchased a pup that had to be put to
sleep due to severe temperament problems associated with aggression. However, Mr.
Henderson did offer to replace her pup and told her he has never had problems with his
pups in the past. Really Mr. Henderson???
Neapolitan Mastiff Breeders:
Franco De Falco Iovane in Itlay (kennel name of Del Nolano) - I purchased a female pup
from him in 2004 for just under $2,000 USD after currency conversion from Euro's. The
pup always seemed to be slow to sit and get up almost like an athlete gets stiff after sitting
on the bench for a while. Well, I finally had her hips and elbows reviewed by the Orthopedic
Foundation for Animals after she was 12 months old only to learn that she had hip
dysplasia and Grade II elbow dysplasia. I contacted Mr. Iovane and he denied the parents
of my dog were affected with these problems solely on the basis that his dogs looked
beautiful and stated that he felt regret for me even though there is clear scientific evidence
that these disorders are genetically inherited, especially when the pup has both conditions.
He refused to replace the dog and only offered to give me a discount on a future purchase
of another pup. Mr. Iovane did not respond to my inquiries regarding testing of his dogs
and threatened me not to tell anyone about his dogs. He has no health testing information
on his website as of the time of this posting.
Tamarind (Tami) & James Baker in Lorida, Florida. I performed a stud service for them
on February 28, 2006 using fresh semen from my Deus after we signed a written contract.
A litter of 11 lives puppies were whelped on April 28, 2006. Mr. and Mrs. Baker were
supposed to pay the $2000 USD stud fee when the pups reached eight weeks of age as
agreed in the contract. The Bakers sold most of the puppies for thousands of dollars using
my dog's and my reputation in their advertisement but failed to pay me as required. I was
unsuccessful on numerous attempts to obtain due payment and filed a law suit against
them. I obtained a final court judgement in the amount of $3014.46 USD (18% annual
interest) on December 05, 2006 and instructed my attorney to file a lien against their home
under Florida law. If you have purchased one of those puppies from them you will not be
able to register them with the AKC because I will not sign the required paperwork. If the
Bakers have provided you with an AKC registration for the pups you need to contact me
immediately because it would be fraudulent and not valid. For those of you wondering why I
no longer perform stud service on contingency, and require payment in advance, this type
of behavior is why.