{"id":1309860,"date":"2019-05-03T12:52:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T18:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=977401"},"modified":"2019-05-03T12:52:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T18:52:20","slug":"lawless-service-dog-training-industry-affecting-families-across-the-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/lawless-service-dog-training-industry-affecting-families-across-the-country\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Lawless\u2019 service dog training industry affecting families across the country"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sobie Cummings, 11, plays with her dog, Dallas, at the family’s home in Waxhaw, N.C., Friday, March 29, 2019. A psychiatrist suggested that a service dog might help to ease Sobie\u2019s crippling anxiety and feelings of isolation. But when they brought home a $14,500 Briard from Mark Mathis\u2019 Ry-Con Service Dogs, Okami broke from Glenn Cummings’ grasp and began mauling Dallas.<\/strong>
AP Photo\/Chuck Burton<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

APEX, N.C. (AP) \u2014 All the counseling, therapy and medication did little to ease 9-year-old Sobie Cummings\u2019 crippling anxiety and feelings of isolation. A psychiatrist suggested that a service dog might help.<\/p>\n

To Glenn and Rachel Cummings, Mark Mathis seemed like a dream come true. His kennel, Ry-Con Service Dogs, was just a couple of hours away, and he, too, had a child with autism. But what clinched the decision were Mathis\u2019 credentials.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2013, Mark was certified as a NC state approved service dog trainer with a specialty in autism service dogs for children,\u201d stated an online brochure.<\/p>\n

Ten months and $14,500 later, the family brought their \u201csavior\u201d home. But when they opened the front door, Okami broke from Glenn Cummings\u2019 grasp and began mauling one of the family\u2019s elderly dogs \u2014 all as Sobie watched.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cIt is a lawless area. The Wild West,\u201d says David Favre, a law professor at Michigan State University and editor of its Animal Legal and Historical Center website.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

It was only after they had returned Okami that the family learned that Mathis wasn\u2019t a state-certified dog trainer. In fact, no state has such a certification.<\/p>\n

Lawless industry<\/h3>\n
In this Nov. 18, 2018 photo provided by Nancy Evans, her daughter, Katie, snuggles with Bailey at a hotel in Cary, N.C. on the day they picked him up from Mark Mathis of Ry-Con Service Dogs. Nancy says her 19-year-old daughter had waited over a year for the dog. Katie suffered from PTSD and anxiety so severe that she could not even take the bus by herself. But when they got home to Toronto, the dog showed extreme aggression toward Katie\u2019s older brother. An expert who examined Bailey declared her unfit for service, and a rescue group took her away. About a month after losing Bailey, Katie committed suicide. (Nancy Evans via AP)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The service dog industry \u2014 particularly in the field of \u201cpsychiatric\u201d service dogs for people with autism and post-traumatic stress disorder \u2014 has exploded in recent years. But a near complete absence of regulation and oversight has left needy, desperate families vulnerable to incompetence and fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a lawless area. The Wild West,\u201d says David Favre, a law professor at Michigan State University and editor of its Animal Legal and Historical Center website.<\/p>\n

Properly training a service dog can take up to 1 \u00bd years and cost upward of $50,000. But the Americans with Disabilities Act does not require that a service dog be professionally trained.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s a very broad, wide-open barn door,\u201d says Lynette Hart, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of California, Davis, who studies the industry.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Noelle\u2019s Dogs Four Hope of Colorado Springs agreed to surrender its license after state inspectors confirmed the placement of sick, poorly trained, aggressive dogs.<\/p>\n

And last year, Virginia\u2019s attorney general filed suit against Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers Inc., which advertises dogs trained to help people suffering from diabetes, PTSD, seizure disorders and autism. The lawsuit alleges that the diabetes alert dogs, for which Warren charged up to $27,000, were \u201clittle more than incredibly expensive pets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorneys for owner Charles D. Warren Jr. say the state\u2019s case is based on the complaints of \u201ca few disgruntled and fanatical consumers\u201d who \u201ccannot be satisfied and refuse all attempts at accommodation and reason.\u201d A trial date has not been scheduled.<\/p>\n

Authorities in North Carolina are now investigating Mathis.<\/p>\n

The biotech engineer and his wife founded the nonprofit after their older son, who is autistic, was successfully paired with a service dog. In a May 2017 news release, Mathis claimed that Ry-Con \u2014 based in Apex, southwest of Raleigh \u2014 was the largest provider of autism service dogs on the East Coast and boasted a \u201c100% success rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Rachel Cummings, that state certification \u201cwas huge.\u201d She and her husband contacted Ry-Con in July 2017. Within days, Mathis called to say he had the perfect dog for Sobie, although he\u2019d not yet met her.<\/p>\n

The International Association of Assistance Dog Partners says a service animal must respond to basic commands \u2014 \u201cSit, Stay, Come, Down, Heel\u201d \u2014 and be able to work without exhibiting \u201caggressive behavior toward people or other animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

But during training trips to local stores, Okami pulled at her leash and refused to lie down. At a mall, the dog growled and lunged at people and defecated in a hallway. Still, Okami \u201cgraduated\u201d last May; the family brought her home Mother\u2019s Day weekend.<\/p>\n

Cummings says her two dogs were lying in the front hall when Okami attacked, unprovoked. When Mathis refused to refund their money, they sued. And then last November, he emailed clients announcing he was closing down, saying the operation was no longer sustainable. The following day, he filed for bankruptcy protection.<\/p>\n

Not long after, complaints began pouring into state Attorney General Josh Stein\u2019s office \u2014 more than four dozen in all.<\/p>\n

Nancy Evans says her 19-year-old daughter, Katie, had waited over a year for her dog, Bailey. But when they got home to Toronto, the dog showed extreme aggression toward Katie\u2019s older brother. About five weeks after giving up Bailey, Katie committed suicide, and her mother blames the loss of the dog.<\/p>\n

Mathis accuses clients of breaking their contracts, falling behind on payments or misrepresenting conditions in their homes. In an email to The Associated Press, he insisted that his troubles all stemmed from recent financial issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is \u2026 certainly not a willful act or scam,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Stein, however, alleges that Mathis falsified medical records and breeder information, and contends he may have \u201csiphoned\u201d as much as $240,000 of the nonprofit\u2019s money for personal expenses.<\/p>\n

Rachel Cummings says the experience left Sobie, now 11, with PTSD.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer life is not what it was,\u201d her mother says. \u201cThe light\u2019s not back in her eyes yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Okami, Mathis sold her to another family \u2014 with similar results. They have also filed a complaint.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow Breed at https:\/\/twitter.com\/AllenGBreed<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sobie Cummings, 11, plays with her dog, Dallas, at the family’s home in Waxhaw, N.C., Friday, March 29, 2019. A psychiatrist suggested that a service dog might help to ease Sobie\u2019s crippling anxiety and feelings of isolation. But when they brought home a $14,500 Briard from Mark Mathis\u2019 Ry-Con Service Dogs, Okami broke from Glenn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1309860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 11:27:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1309860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309860\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1309860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1309860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1309860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}