Complaint Review: Ashley Laary / Hodges

I am a former foster home for Ashley Hodges (as I knew her to be at the time). I was brand new as a foster for West Coast Giant rescue when 4 Great Dane Mix pups (sibling group), were transferred to Ashley from another rescue organization. The other rescue group only had foster homes for small to med size dogs. So they reached out to Ashley because she was a large breed "rescue" and had fosters for large and giant breed dogs. 

I’m writing regarding two matters

#1. Two of the puppies were sold/adopted to me as Pure Great Danes. All documents and correspondence between myself and Ashley show her describing the pups as pure Great Dane.  Her rescue website (which I have printed for legal purposes) describes all four pups as pure breed Great Danes. When I asked why she was asking an adoption fee of $800 when adoption fees are typically between $300-$500, She replied with two explanations;

 #1. The cost she incurred to bring the pups to Vancouver Island. (Ashley didn't pay for any expenses in relation to the sibling group. She sent a cheque but the funds did not come from her pocket. I found out after the fact that the money was given to her.. but that's another story.)

 #2. Because they’re pure bred pups.

Here’s where the problem begins;

After I adopted two of the brothers. Ashley contacted me that a 3rd brother had been returned to her after one week in care because he was left in a crate all day while the foster home was at work. The brother had separation anxiety and would chew his way out of the crate. I have photos of the brother a week before he came into Ashley's care. He was a healhy and robust, 5 month old great dane pup. After two weeks in Ashley's care, she contacted me. She had seen how successful I was in training my two brothers. She expressed frustration with the 3rd brother's separation anxiety and complained that she needed to get rid of him. As I was already juggling two fiesty pups. I told Ashley I would find a foster home near me (in Victoria, two hours away for him to stay with who could with with me along side my pups. ) It took just over a month for me to find him a home. During the time I was in contact with Ashley she sent me photos to show me the damage the pup did to his crate while being left along. I was shocked and sickened. What I saw was the dirty floor of a shed or barn with liquid bowel movement surrounding the crate. I began to suspect that the pup was being isolated in an exterior building on the property. 

Ashley also represented a second rescue organization who was based outside of BC. When I became concerned I began to ask questions about her history with the second rescue group. I found out that Ashley was taking surrender fees from people surrendering their dog, requesting donations from the public for the same dogs which she had already received funds for AND was selling them as pure breeds online. I also found out that YOUNG female Dane had be seized from her care just a few weeks earlier because her health was deteriorating in Ashley's care. Once the female was place in a new foster home, her health, appearance and fear improved quickly.

6 weeks had passed and the new foster mom and I drove from Victoria up to Coombs to pick up the brother. We were speechless and so sad when he saw him. If you know Danes as a breed, you know they are a slim breed when they are young. But this pup was so malnurished that every bone in his body was protruding, including the vertebra. He was Bleeding from behind both ears and from a wound on his ear. He smelled strongly of urine. He was covered in dandruff and suffered from GI issues presenting as liquid bowel movements. His testicles were even covered in scabs!  The vet describes this as being caused from lack of bedding on a cold and hard surface. His body was covered in wounds, new and old. His ear would not stop bleeding. *after reading the vet report about his testicles, I looked at the photo of the half eaten crate again and sure enough. No bedding...* During the time we were talking to Aslhey during the pickup. She commented that she had to "put her hoody up to go outside to feed him because it was raining. He freaked out while the hoody was up and was fine when she put it back down"... indicating that he was in fact being kept outside.

Question... how does a puppy eat a hole in their crate, large enough to get out of if they are not being isolated for long periods of time. If he was being kept in a home with a family nearby, would someone not notice and stop him before he hurt himself....?

 After obtaining the brother bringing him to Victoria to place him in foster.  I was contacted by the volunteers from the rescue who signed the 4 sibling pups over to Ashley's care. They were upset about his condition. They saw his photos on facebook. This started a dialogue between myself and a representative from the initial rescue. She was shocked to hear how much Ashley was asking for the pups and that she was advertising them as pure bred Great Danes. As it turns out, Ashley and the volunteer had a few conversations (BEFORE THEY WERE POSTED AS PURE BREEDS) agreeing that they were not pure because of facial features and curled tails or they likely had different fathers. Mom was found as a stray near a train station and gave birth the day after she was rescued. 

That's when I began preparation for legal action. #1. to sue for my money back with the intention of giving to the initial rescue to go towards legal fees. They were going to begin legal action to seize back legal guardianship of all 4 pups. I notified both Ashley and the initial rescue group of my intentions. I recived an interesting reply from the initial rescue group. They noted that the name I was calling Ashley was not the name she used to sign the cheque sent to them for the shipping fees. Thank you Ashley... her fraudulent actions voided not only the guardianship transfer but also her contract with me. Ashley signed legal guardianship back over to the initial rescue group quietly. All new owners signed new contracts with the new rescue and Ashley tried to make me promise to keep it between the three parties involved and not include media because it would hurt not only her "Rescue" but her back yard puppy breeding business as well....  as you can see. I did not agree. Any person who would knowingly cause harm to such beautiful creatures will not find a place to hide behind me.

Ashley is welcome to post a rebuttle and claim slander, but she knows that she is still open to legal action. I have no fears of defending a slander suit as it would turn around as soon as it hit a court room. Please know who you are buying and adopting animals from. Check their licence, documents, references and the PROPERTY. Most of Ashley's fosters have no idea what is happening. However, the few I have spoken with found it interesting that they have never been allowed to go to her property. They have always been made to meet at a local business.... interesting.