"Luke"/"Tiergan" was in a shelter in Northern California . Just about
every Great Dane Rescue group in Northern California was called by this
shelter and not one even responded to take him. Finally, the shelter
called Gentle Giants in Southern California. The shelter described his
condition at the time he was turned in as having a leg that had limited
functionality though he did use it and it did help him get around.
Gentle Giants was the only group who would take him out of the shelter.
Gentle Giants transports Great Danes from Northern California at a high
cost regularly because no other Northern CA rescues will take them, just
like no other rescue was willing to take "Luke"/"Tiergan" out of the
shelter. Because "Luke" was very ill with kennel cough and near
pneumonia at the time, he was waived for surgery, per California law, by
the veterinarian at the shelter. Gentle Giants sent a driver to get
"Luke," and he was brought back to Gentle Giants where he was
immediately examined by several vets, heartworm tested, etc. One of
their expert vets was voted "BEST Veterinarian in the Inland Empire for
2004." "Luke" then spent a month at Gentle Giants being cared for and
treated while he recovered. Further exams were done and Luke"/"Tiergan"
spent a week to ten days at the hospital for an orthopedic evaluation
regarding his leg. It was determined that sometimes the foot could find
the ground, sometimes it couldn't, but it was altogether a better
prognosis for "Luke" to keep his leg. After "Luke" completely recovered,
he was neutered and reexamined, and it was the final decision of the
vets involved that "Luke"/"Tiergan" would be better off keeping his leg
than having it removed. He was healthy and happy, and was given a little
shoe to protect his toes for those times the nerves could not perceive
the ground and they dragged ever so slightly. He was so capable with his
leg that he was able to use it to stand up on both legs and put his paws
on people's shoulders. He jumped around and played like a puppy. He was
adopted from Gentle Giants and was in perfect health and looking and
feeling happy and healthy. Gentle Giants is the only rescue that came
through to save him, and they were prepared to pay whatever was
necessary to help him. And they did have significant expenses! When they
saw this happy puppy with his adoptive family, nothing else matters!
Here is an email from Luke/Tiergan's adopters saying how he is strong
and doing great when they first adopted him from Gentle Giants:
Hi Tracy!
Well, Day One and "Luke" is doing wonderful!
We are thinking of renaming him "Donovan" which means 'dark warrior' or
"Tiergan" which means 'strong' (because he IS strong!). You can tell
he's unsure of his surroundings, at the moment, but he's settling in
quickly.
I emailed the general adoptions addy, but figured you might give a
quicker response to this address. What was "Snuffy" the Saint's,
adoption fee? Just curious- my husband really enjoyed playing with him.
Thank you so much for all of your time last night- I have never seen
such a beautiful group of furkids in one area!
We had a ton of fun playing with the dogs and meeting you and Burt.
Hope to get pics to you soon of Luke settling in here in Vegas.
Trish & Jeremy
Sadly, the story, however did not have a happy ending: Luke/Tiergan was
healthy and beautiful at the time of adoption and it is clear from their
own emails written above that the family adopting him was very happy
too. He was a confident and outgoing dog who loved everyone and who was
never handicapped in his heart and got around wonderfully! While his leg
did not have full function, he used it and was fast and agile. And the
way he used his leg at the time was in a manner that it rarely ever was
in a position to hinder him and in fact only made him stronger. He was
so capable with his leg that he was able to use it to stand and put his
paws on people's shoulders and jumped around and played like a puppy. He
was adopted April 11th from Gentle Giants and was in perfect health and
looking and feeling happy and healthy. Unfortunately the family who
adopted him seems to have committed true abuse and neglect to let a
sweet healthy young dog fall into such disrepair and worse yet, to then
try to blame it on the rescue that they got him from is ludicrous. The
vet who examined and x-rayed and neutered him for Gentle Giants was
voted one of the top vets that year. The family called and talked to
Gentle Giants for weeks after the adoption saying how happy they were
and what a wonderful dog he was. As can be seen from the emails above,
they thought the Gentle Giants dogs were so beautiful and healthy and
happy and they were so happy with Luke/Tiergan that just the day after
adopting him , they were already considering driving back from Las Vegas
to adopt another Gentle Giants dog! They sent several more emails about
adopting this Saint Bernard that they met there as a friend for
Luke/Tiergan and Gentle Giants had begun discussions about that which
continued until the Saint Bernard was adopted along with another Great
Dane to a family who drove to Gentle Giants from Arizona and adopted two
dogs from them and both are doing great there, too. Not once were any
problems brought up ever about Luke /Tiergan. Several months later,
after getting an infection while in his Adopters' home and not being
treated for a whole month because of Marc Sayer, Tiergan lost his leg
and ultimately his life. Tiergan got infected at the Adopters' home and
the Adopters could not afford to care for him. Instead of calling GG for
help, they called Marc Sayer. Marc convinced the Adopters NOT to retun
Tiergan to GG, even though GG would have taken him back and cared for
him. Marc left him infected for a month while he plotted against GG and
"arranged a transport." He put Tiergan's life on hold for his own
selfish, self-serving purposes. Tiergan became septic in that month with
no care and that is why he had to lose his leg . . .
ALL BECAUSE OF MARC SAYER AND HIS ADOPTERS GIVING HIM
NO CARE FOR A MONTH, NOT BECAUSE OF GG!
This is why Rescues require that their dogs be returned to the rescue if
the adopters can't keep them. We at Idaho Great Dane Rescue apologize to
Gentle Giants for not givng them the chance to save the dog that they
cared for so well.
Tracy Ward begged repeatedly at the time to return Tiergan to them and
that they would fly him back to their vets at their own expense, and
that they would have paid for all of his medical needs and saved him
from whatever those people had done to him.
We were unable to return Tiergan due to his urgent need for medical care.
In addition we believed all the lies that Marc Sayer had told about
Gentle Giants and were not sure what to believe. Well, it has all been
verified now. Tiergan really was cared for and vet checked by GG, and we
have his medical records to prove it. This whole story was little more
than a lie with the victim being this sweet loving dog Tiergan and all
of us who believed in Marc. Though we all screen as well as we can, it
is sad when Adopters violate the contract and in this case with the aid
of a supposed "rescue," this poor dog paid with his life and all of us
followed Marc like sheep against a fellow rescuer who was only trying to
save the life of their dog.
Because Tiergan was prevented from getting any care for that critical month or more by Marc Sayer, poor Tiergan never had a chance! Because of Marc Sayer, Tiergan arrived here already too late to be saved! His death was caused by the same man who killed those four innocent puppies that he bred with his own hands! |