9th May 2008

 

What an upsetting couple of weeks we have had, and therefore unfortunately not a happy news item, but some very important issues have to be addressed:-

 

Firstly; The link to our website has been removed from the LCGB website. Why? …. We don’t exactly know why…. and what’s worse the LCGB won’t tell us why!

They would only state that “there have been several complaints from members that you do not portray the Leonberger in a favourable light”.

No committee meeting has taken place before our link was removed, and worse we were not even informed that it was to be removed!!. We discovered by chance when a friend called us to tell us the link had disappeared from the LCGB website …. what an unprofessional way to conduct matters.

There has been a serious breakdown in due process here. Surely if we have done wrong then the LCGB should write to us stating the problem giving us a chance to rectify it? Surely the LCGB committee needs to sit and discuss the matter first and then issue the letter detailing the complaint? If the problem has not been rectified in a given time scale then action should be taken after another committee meeting has agreed this.

There are 12 members on the committee, and it was admitted to us that they will be meeting this Sunday 11th May to discuss this matter....in other words they have not met before to discuss it but still removed the link!

Have we been fairly treated? …. We don’t think so; and from the emails and phone calls of support we have received over the past week nor does anyone else!

What could we have done that was so bad that the LCGB committee decided to take this action? Again, we don’t know because they refuse to tell us until the committee has met this Sunday 11th May! What a crazy and disturbing position we find ourselves in. It could easily happen to anyone in this club as there appears to be no procedure to follow.

Even more crazy, we have not broken any rules or code of ethics since joining the club over 5 years ago.

The members who complained obviously have a powerful voice amongst our committee, and you have to ask yourself is this healthy? The worry of course is if you upset this group, and we have no idea if we have or not with other issues, then things happen without a proper formula or procedure and with no way to defend yourself.

Dictatorship and not democracy springs to mind and it has to stop.

The LCGB committee needs to rewind and start again using due process with this complaint. You never know ….. We may actually rectify the problem to everyone’s satisfaction with just a little phone call or email or letter ….. But first you have to tell us what the problem is because we have now asked over 15 independent people going back the past year on our website and they cannot see the problem ….. In fact they state that it is in their opinion one of the best Leonberger websites around and we are extremely grateful for their very kind words and support that they have given us.

 

And Secondly; …. And in someway more disturbing than the above, there have been several vicious rumours circulating that we are a “puppy farm”. We have evidence that potential owners who were interested in one of our puppies have been put off us by the nasty allegations of other particular breeders they spoke to. As we are all aware this is the most damaging and derogatory of phrases in the breeding world and conjures up images of dogs being relentlessly bred from every 6 months, caged all day long in horrendous conditions, bitches & puppies in poor condition and health, no health screening, etc etc the list is endless.

 

We will be investigating this further and find the nasty minded people who are spreading these vicious rumours and if they continue they will be sued for slander. This is not an idle threat, we will not stand by and have our good name slated for no good reason whatsoever. We have received numerous testaments from all our puppy owners who are very proud to own a Leonmoor puppy and cannot believe the situation we have been put in at this moment in time.  They have contacted us regarding these rumours to offer their full support as they know these allegations are completely unfounded, as they have all visited Leonmoor several times and still continue to do so, unlike the people spreading these rumours who have never met us!

 

Are points one and two above linked in someway? We wonder.

 

As has been mentioned many times to us by other breeders, we do not show our dogs.  Let’s set the record straight!  We have tried showing and the show scene and personally do not enjoy or feel comfortable with it.  We wish people all the best that do enjoy it and to our puppy owners who also wish to show. We just wish certain other breeders/show people would wish us well with what we do with our dogs without feeling threatened and therefore wanting to hurt, pick holes, disrupt and be downright nasty. Another reason we avoid the show scene.  The Leonberger dog is as good as it gets and really does not deserve to be associated with such behaviour.

 

Thanks again to all those breeders and Leonmoor puppy owners who have shown us their support and kind words during this time we are very grateful.