Golden Meadows Kennels

Re: Golden Meadows Kennel

datacan said:

its a puppy mill in CA. I clicked the ad and browsed through the site. Obviously, fake site with borrowed stolen pictures. I think I have seen one of the pictures on this site.
I am afraid the ad was tailored for this site exclusively.
http://www.goldenmeadowsretrievers.com/Vizsla Home.htm

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Not only is that a puppy mill, they breed using dogs that are ALSO from a puppy mill ("Evening Star Kennels").

Check out the picture (attached) of one of the sires. You can see stacked cages of goldens in the background! Disgusting!

Oh, and apparently you can pay $6,500 for a "professionally trained" Vizsla. ???

harrigab said:

Suliko said:

Hmmm.... maybe we should start keeping track of all the puppy mills we come across during different posts to warn others who seek information and help? Not links to their websites but just the names? I know, something like that could probably go both ways - attract attention in good and bad ways. But I can recall about three or four puppy mills from different posts where people had gotten their Vs from. Just an idea.

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personally I think that any publicity they receive (no doubt it will be negative from us guys) will put them on the map and make it easier for the not so well informed to seek them out and keep them in business. I don't think a "name and shame" policy is necessarily the right route to take.

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I propose the opposite. Can we start a list of breeders that are known NOT to be puppy mills? SO many people come on here looking for reputable breeders - it would be nice if we could point them in the right direction.

Re: Golden Meadows Kennel

datacan said:

Suliko said:

datacan, never seen this ad. But then again, I hardly ever pay attention to the adds here. What's with the vitamins?! And, of course, why would one ever mention that Vizsla is a hunting dog :

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its a puppy mill in CA. I clicked the ad and browsed through the site. Obviously, fake site with borrowed stolen pictures. I think I have seen one of the pictures on this site.
I am afraid the ad was tailored for this site exclusively.
http://www.goldenmeadowsretrievers.com/Vizsla Home.htm

The meds are there to go and make money for them... every day a pill, otherwise health warranty is not honored... I wonder how they can enforce that.
It is the worst I have seen so far. They market Golden retrievers and Vs ???

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Well lets see where to start with this lovely post.
My name is Tim Hoke.
I own Golden Meadows Retrievers. So I take this post rather personally.
We use Google Adword to advertise, so that is mostly likely the reason for you having seen the ad. The web site is obviously allowing google to place on the site in return for money.
The site is hardly fake! And if you are seeing any of the pictures from my site other places, that means that someone has stolen them from me NOT the other way around. The picture that someone attached was taken by one of my clients the dog's name is Manny. And because the client is rather well known I won't post his name. We respect our clients privacy.
We are not a puppy mill & I take great offence to that that label & all of its ugly connotations. We are in fact an AKC Breeder of Merit, and have been inspected yearly for over 10 by the AKC to insure that my facilities, dogs & records are all in order. I show my dogs both AKC & IABCA conformation. We have been breeding Vizslas for about 7 years & Golden for 20. So I know more than a little about the breeding, health, showing, conformation for both breeds. Yes I have some Evening Star Kennels in my lines, I also have Vadazfai & VonDerReithen kennels in my lines as well a quite a few other kennels from the U.S. We have a high quality breeding program. We remain in contact with the owners of Vasazfai & VonDerReithen kennels, both of them as well as other German & Hungarian breeders are VERY impressed with our program & the quality of dogs we are producing. We have been discussing with VonDerReithen the possibility of exporting a dog to Germany. Hardly the work of a puppy mill! We are scheduling a trip to Hungary next year for the Vizsla Field trails. We anticipate taking at least one & possibly 2 of dogs to show there.
To writer of this post before you write a post that is not based on first hand knowledge & only on your own since of superiority, it would behoove you to make certain of all of your facts. The style that you wrote your post makes it a libelous statement, since at no point is there a disclaimer that this is your opinion. You wrote as if you have first hand knowledge of our facility, dogs & breeding program. If that is so please by all means give me your name so I can check against our appointment calendar to see when you came out & meet us & our dogs. Or are you like so many people on the internet that only have the "courage of anonymity" when they attack some one.
You are welcome to schedule an appointment to come out meet us, our dogs & our puppies. I stand behind my lines, my breeding program, my dogs & my clients, and will always vehemently defend them from an unwarranted attack from any quarter.

Re: Golden Meadows Kennel

GMK said:

I stand behind my lines, my breeding program, my dogs & my clients, and will always vehemently defend them from an unwarranted attack from any quarter.

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"Kennel care at center of dog fight"


http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/jul/25/adfasdfasdfasdfasdf/

"The co-owner of a high-end Moorpark dog kennel and breeding facility was arrested Friday on suspicion of stealing a dog, cruelty to animals and filing a false police report.

The incident involving Golden Meadows Kennels co-owner Barbara Hoke comes after a month of back-and-forth accusations by the people involved, confusing tales of who owned the dog, and conflicting stories of how the dogs at the facility are treated.

Hoke, 51, said she has been wrongly accused and is a target of a disgruntled employee. But law enforcement officials say they believe she was abusing her golden retrievers and vizslas dogs — some of which cost $7,000 — with an electric cattle prod and shock collars[/color].

All this comes after a Ventura County agency issued a citation earlier this month to the Hokes for not having the needed permit to run a kennel.

“They are operating illegally,”[/color] said Gloria Goldman, senior code compliance officer with the Ventura County Code Compliance Division. She said the owners have a notice of violation to fix the problem, which would require them to remove the dogs from the property and then get the needed permit. Hoke declined to comment about the permit.

The case began earlier this month when employees at the kennel on Clinton Street called the Humane Society and other agencies complaining about how dogs were being treated at the facility.

Though officials did see some dogs in kennels that were too small and exposed to too much sun, none of the more than 100 animals[/color]’ lives were in immediate danger and the problems were correctable, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Will Hammer said at the time. It was after that Goldman issued the citation.

About a week later, Hoke called police and said five dogs had been stolen by some of the now former employees who had complained to authorities. Hammer said that a few days after that, Hoke went to the house of former employee Cathy Goldberg. When Hoke tried to take the dog by force, the police were called. Hoke showed papers that she said proved the dog was hers, so police gave Hoke the dog, Hammer said.

But a subsequent investigation found that the dog did not belong to Hoke, Hammer said. That also led to several former employees telling Hammer that an electronic cattle prod and shock collar were used on the dogs, he said.

While they can be used for legitimate reasons, Hammer said he saw pictures of burn marks on dogs, showing they were used in what he suspects was a cruel manner. The items were found at the kennel when officials recently executed a search warrant.

Hoke was arrested Friday and posted $10,000 bail.

She said when all the facts come out, she and her husband, Tim, who co-owns the facility, will be vindicated.

“We take extremely good care of our dogs and puppies, and they are in top-notch condition and we feed them top-notch food and groom them every two weeks,” she said. Hoke claims that a disgruntled employee is to blame for the accusations.

“These allegations are completely false,” Tim Hoke said."


Breeder In The Dog House
Accused Of Grand Theft, Animal Cruelty, Filing False Report
By: KVTA News
2009-07-24

http://www.kvta.com/content_page.php?pid=local_news (--> link is old, but I'm sure we could have them confirm)

"The Ventura County Sheriff's Department is accusing a Moorpark area dog breeder of grand theft, animal cruelty, and filing a false report of a crime.

They say it all started with some employees at the Golden Meadows Kennels complaining to the authorities about the treatment of dogs at the facility. That prompted the Sheriff's Department, Humane Society, and County Code Enforcement to visit the facility in the 12000 block of Clinton Street in the unincorporated area near Moorpark.

Deputies say they found puppies being housed in crates so small they could not stand or turn around and did not have access to water. They found grown dogs with open sores[/color] but were being cared for by employees.

Ultimately, the owners, Tim and Barbara Hoke of Moorpark were issued a citation by Code Enforcement because they did not have a conditional use permit for the facility. All that happened on July 2nd.

Deputies say that on July 7th Barbara Hoke filed a grand theft report claiming that several employees had stolen dogs from the kennel when they resigned after the July 2nd incident.

Deputies say an investigation determined the allegations were false and that Hoke had actually allowed the employees to take the dogs, in one case giving a puppy to an employee as a gift.

Deputies say on July 11th, Hoke went to Simi Valley to take that puppy back by force. Simi Valley Police responded and she showed them breeding paperwork and other information that convinced the officers to seize the puppy and give it to Hoke.

Later, Simi Valley Police say they determined the paperwork was false and that Hoke should not have been allowed to take the puppy, which is now missing.

The former kennel employee had also accused Hoke of using an electronic "cattle prod" and remote control "shock collar" as a training aid. Deputies say that while the shock collar can be used legitimately, an investigator felt it was being used to such an extent as to fall within the definition of cruelty to animals.[/color]

Deputies also say that the employees who reported the conditions at the kennel have been subject to accusatory emails from Hoke who say they say has made it difficult for them to find work in the animal training field. Deputies commended the employees for coming forward with their allegations."

This review comes directly from Yelp:


"ZERO STARS! Buyer beware - do not buy a dog from this breeder. Why?

1) Despite both contractual and verbal promises, our dog is not AKC registration eligible. Which means, despite having forked over big bucks, we have no way of ensuring that he is a purebred dog. HIGHLY unethical business practice, never mind breach of contract.

2) Despite promises of good health, our puppy arrived with fleas, giardia (= lots of diarrhea and vet visits), and skin allergies[/color] that had never been mentioned. They also failed to tell us he did not play well with soft toys, so two weeks after arriving in our home he managed to inhale a soft toy. To the vet (again) for a $2K visit to be sure he had not obstructed his bowel.

3) Despite promises, he did not have manners becoming almost $3K worth of professional training when he arrived. Our dog-walker had to muzzle him in the car to prevent him from eating the seats. He chewed his way out of two crates (with video evidence to boot). Their Cesar Milan method of training advised using a choke chain which did nothing but choke him....we remedied his pulling with a kind, gentle harness recommended by the SPCA. Jumping on people, growling at the neighbor and more. Completely fraudulent promises...he had some basic skills but this was not a well-trained, professionally schooled animal. Do not trust their web site promises ... they told us our puppy could be a therapy dog!

After trying to get help from them and also ask for fair business practice with regards to all these unexpected and unfair expenses, the breeder stopped replying to our calls or emails. It's only been with the threat of a law suit that we get one terse and litigious response.

Save yourself money and heartache - avoid this breeder. Sure, the pictures are cute on their web page and they are really nice when you're about to spend a lot of money. But once the check is in the bank, the tune changes and the song ain't pretty."

Good luck ever convincing us that you are a respectable breeder. You produced 3 LITTERS of Vizsla puppies this summer according to your website. Not a puppy mill? Try again.

Re: Golden Meadows Kennel

This thread makes me think of the classic movie "12 Angry Men." 11 juriors were "sure" the kid was guilty after the trial deliberations. Only Henry Fonda wasn't sure. Highly recommended movie to rent.

I know Ventura County as an almost "communist" county government. It is one of the craziest socialist county governments in the country.

HSUS and PETA are not above "blacklisting" a successful breeder using social media. Actually I'd expect them to use that tactic. Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" at work.

Mr. Hoke. I'll give you a fair shake. Look over my blog Redbirddog. You'll know I am no fan of commerical breeders but I also know that you would have a huge target on your back placed there by the animal rights nazis.

You might be full of BS or not. I shift BS for a living in my line of work.

Let me know if you'd like to extend that invite.

Rod aka RBD
http://redbirddog.blogspot.com

Re: Golden Meadows Kennel

Now, if you bothered to fully research that you would find that everything was dropped. The employee that leveled the allegations stole 3 puppies from us. We managed to recover one vizsla pup from her. She had 5 other dogs in a 2 bedroom house with 6 people living in it the house was a pig sty.
The D.A. dropped all charges after we produced 30 witnesses that testified at the preliminary hearing that the dog belonged to us & was never given to this employee. The other allegations were the result of this employee with ties HSUS trying to close us down. She convinced 2 other employees to stop doing their jobs correctly. These employees were written up for failure to follow protocol. They placed the puppies in crates that were too small in order to bolster their false allegations.
When the Humane society toured the property the ONLY problem they had was that they felt we needed more dog houses in a couple of runs & additional shade on 2 runs. If they felt the dogs were in danger or that we really were a "puppy mill" they were prepared to remove all of our dogs from the property. They didn't take a single animal, because my dogs are all in excellent health, well cared for & quite pampered. In fact one my employees remarked in an interview the Humane Society that we wished he ate half as well as the dogs did.
As to me being in this for the money. Yes I am a professional breeder, I am very proud of that fact. I have through the years, bettered my lines, produced healthier animals. I don't have a single dog with under a "good" ofa rating the majority of dogs have "excellent" hip scores. My rate of dogs that developed cancer, hip dysplasia, epilepsy is so far below the national average it amazes even me.
Our dogs are our life, they are our passion. We have spent years learning about genetics, health, animal husbandry, veterinary care. We have missed vacations, weddings, school plays because we needed to be with an animal that needed our undivided attention. I have hundreds of pictures of children & grandchildren however I have tens of thousand of pictures of my dogs. It's because of "hobby" breeders that we have plethora genetic defects in our pure bred dogs. People who mean well but have no experience or knowledge of standards, evaluation, genetics that have produced the poor quality animals that have caused such heart ache to so many.
And if you think that those kennels whose dogs are listed in the top ten in nation are not professional breeders you are sadly mistaken. In order to produce a champion it takes money, time, knowledge, quality lines. It doesn't happen because I have girl & my friend has a boy & lets have puppies. It is because of professional breeders that did testing before anyone required that it be done the average life span has increased, it is professional breeders that educate the general public on the pros & cons of their breed, it is professional breeders that supported the AKC for over 100 years. We are the reason that YOU are able to own a pure bred dog, that they are no longer solely the domain the wealthy. Without us the Vizsla's would be around today.
Again, you are more than welcome to call & make an appointment to meet us & our dogs.
Now back to the topic at hand ADVERTISEMENTS: If you are so offended by my advertisement appearing on this web site, then write to the web master/owner. The only way an advertisement can appear here is if the web master is accepting MONEY from Google for them to appear. Do you understand that? The owner of this web site is making MONEY on it! OMG they must be a horrible person for accepting money for their time, knowledge & experience. Could it be that they are a professional? (just is case you missed it that is call rhetoric)
I am done with this topic, go ahead flame away, vent your spleen, call me all the names in the book. At the end of the day, I took the high road, I don't need to be vitriolic, mean or disparaging to any member on this board (unlike others) in order to get my point across. I KNOW what I am doing in my breeding program has produced higher quality animals than I started with, you are welcome to believe me or not, you are welcome to come out & meet us or not. However I have found that the self righteous don't like to have their point of view rebuked or questioned at all. It is so much easier to throw mud than have a reasoned discussion. I generally refrain from posting on boards like this because of those few persons who tend to hijack a discussion & turn it into elementary school fight right down to the name calling. (hmm maybe I should have stated this whole post with "I'm rubber you're glue what bounces off of me sticks on you")
In closing I will paraphrase the old adage, Those who can: do, those can't: teach, those who can't teach: spend way too much time posting on chat forums. (OK so that last statement was a bit nasty but I couldn't resist)

PS Redbirddog,please send me an email or give me a call you would be most welcome to come out here, I will give you access to the whole facility. I would only ask that refrain from interacting with other animals on the day of your appointment until after your visit. (I know too many breeders that have had infections brought in by outsiders) We are available Mon-Sat between 11-4. And I do thank you for open mindedness it can be a rare commodity on a chat forum.