I have to admit I was shocked when Tom's pride and joy had her first litter months before she was 2 years old, but the reason given was that the sire was off back to Germany so it was now or never. Well never for me, but we all have our own ideas. Tom moved up the ranks quickly, he got friendly with the "big people" in the breed and most people seem to like him. I have to say that even early on some found him dodgy and his smutty humour offensive - again I take as I find.
I was shocked to discover that his bitch had had a litter to her son, but accidents happen, the pups were cared for and sold as pets. Ok I was a little judgmental, but it could happen to any of us, I just feel it should have been handled differently. There is an injection, a morning after injection - why wasn't it used? I guess I was willing to forgive and forget - until the next blunder - a nine month old puppy becomes pregnant to her brother, no one hears anything about it, but a litter is registered from the first older bitch and an import male. Of course the shit was going to hit the fan, of course the truth would out. It was fraud .. and what if those puppies, the product of a brother and sister mating, had gone on to be bred from, after all their pedigree was completely false. Tom was also the guy I mentioned at the beginning of the year who was selling his Fransisco pups for £2,500 - why were they worth twice as much as mine? Simply they weren't!
Tom died last week, he wasn't much older than me. Following a short illness he was found dead in his home. He wasn't a bad man, he was a silly man who made terrible decisions which had huge negative consequences on the people who had welcomed him into their lives, on his breeding and on the breed. I had hoped for justice for the people that were conned, and for the damage done to the breed .. but I wished him no harm, and I'm sad for his family and friends. Nos Da Tom!
