Michigan school teacher sues over therapy dog she thought she could keep
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- Опубліковано 26 тра 2024
- A Wines Elementary School teacher in Ann Arbor says she adopted a therapy dog for the school. Now, she's suing after she says they took the dog once she told them she'd be moving.
She paid for the dog, she’s responsible for its medical care, she’s legally her dog.
She didn't pay for the dog, the school did. She paid for it's food.
@@teddnagurski5583she was apparently paying pet fee to keep dog at her place. She may have been paying vet fees also.
Either way, if the school told her the dog is hers, it should be hers. The school may have had good intentions at first, but is treating the dog as a possession and not a living creature
The school paid for ineffective therapy training. She paid for everything else
@@lunerwerewolf they paid for the dog. It wasn’t free.
@@teddnagurski5583 SHE Adopted the dog. THe principal in black and white asked who wanted to "adopt" the dog. Not "care for" not "foster", ADOPT. When you ADOPT something, it becomes YOURS, in perpetuity. This combined with "This is YOUR dog" also in black and white clearly sets the legal boundary that the dog DOES NOT belong to the school. She paid for its food, its medical care, consented to the adoption herself, and invested the time-cost herself. The school does not own the dog. Full stop. She does.
Ok, but if it's in WRITING and she pays for everything, it's HER dog. It's in W R I T I N G, that makes it legal.
Yea so legally everyone will side with her and I really hope she gets her puppy back
So the principal stole her dog. She adopted it, she owned it, it wasn’t even working as a therapy animal! This is nuts.
*she/her
The principal should be ashamed. Give this woman HER dog back.
And the principal should be charged with theft
Dr. David DeYoung
Taking Gracie away from her home just shows the school cares nothing about her.
They don't care about the kids , So why would you think they would care about a dog. Peace and Love. 😊
Welcome to the world of Administrators.
Exactly right
Exactly!
If the principal said in writing "the district does not own this dog; she is your dog and you are responsible for her financially" then case closed, it's her dog, give it back.
The school principal stole the dog. If she has the evidence proving the dog is hers, then the school principal should be charged with theft.
Some years back, a disgruntled ex kidnapped my dog here in the Ann Arbor area. The cop asked me to prove ownership: he accepted vet bills in my name and photos, as proof enough.
This *should* be a quick and easy decision in the teacher's favor.
Call the cops on the principal, and charge him with theft.
I ran into the same problem over two years ago with my cat, in Ohio. I only got him back three months ago, and it cost me $11,000 in legal bills. He's also old, so who even knows how much time I have left with him now.
She already sued....
THAT PRINCIPAL IS A PR NIGHTMARE! PARENTS, IF THIS PRINCIPAL CAN'T MAKE THE COMPASSIONATE DECISION FOR THIS DOG, HOW DO YOU THINK SHE WILL TREAT YOUR CHILD???
I can’t believe there’s not more emphasis on this! What a horrible human being!
Dogs are not children, so the treatment of a dog has nothing to do with how that individual will treat a child.
@@AgentMercerhow a person cares for another living creature, and how they treat their staff, is a good indicator of how they may treat a child that is not their own.
@@makslargu5799 someone can very easily treat a dog poorly and still be very kind to children. Dogs themselves are a threat to children, so disliking dogs can easily make someone even more fit to raise children, because they won’t be keeping a dirty predatory mutant around kids like this teacher and the principal did
@@AgentMercer That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it? Just wow. 🤦♂️
If they asked someone to adopt a dog…it’s their dog. The principal wouldn’t have taken my dog anywhere!
Amen. Come and take it.
It sounds like he tricked the teacher by calling her to a meeting and then taking the dog. 😡
Give that lady her dog. She paid for the dogs meds. Sheesh.🙄 its like a child custody battle. At least let the lady have visitations with the dog.
It’s nothing like a child custody battle. It is just a vanity pet, a piece of property
@@AgentMercer No. Not a child AND not just property. Pets are a fuzzy middle ground and the owner's (and pet's)
emotional distress should be considered.
@@YSLRD they are just a piece of property, doesn’t matter how much you care for it, there are also people who are equally as passionate about other pieces of property, doesn’t change the facts.
@@AgentMercerThen your KIDS are just property.
@@AgentMercerit’s completely different. A piece of property like a car doesn’t have feelings and emotions, a pet does. They’re part of the family, don’t get one if you’re not going to treat them as such.
What scumbags!!!! Give that woman her Dog!!!!!
The woman owns the dog. End of.
An animal is property. File a police report for theft.
How disgusting, give her the dog. And why was a shock collar used to "train" a dog? Best way to freak it out and ruin it.
School is ab*sing that poor animal. I hope she saves him 😢
Lol there's nothing wrong with a shock collar. You watch too many cartoons.
Nothing wrong with using an e-collar if used appropriately! Not the right tool for training every dog but definitely has it's time and place!
@@EmmmaMTexactly. They’re trying to use inflammatory language to gain sympathy, but the reality is doodles are generally overexcited messes and it was ridiculous to even try to train one for this. I don’t think the trainer messes it up that badly since it still went to the school, but it sounds like the dog was never suitable for therapy.
Therapy Dog International won't certify dogs that have been "trained" with shock collars, there's a reason why a lot of European countries have banned them. if you can't train a dog without abuse, you shouldn't have a dog
This whole thing is bizarre. Schools being in volunteers with therapy dogs. It's really easy to do. Schools don't go out and adopt a therapy dog and then expect staff to raise it. She paid for the care AND after two years that dog is her baby. Let her have the dog and going forward make an arrangement with a therapy dog group.
That dog is hers, that dog belongs to her. Give her back!!!
If the Principal David DeYoung stipulated that ownership of the dog was the responsibility of the teacher in writing, then they have to honor that contract. Period. If Gracie failed the therapy dog training (and many dogs will, in fact the number of dogs that pass the Guide Dogs for The Blind tests is very low as well), then Gracie is not a therapy dog just a companion animal. If the Principal wanted a therapy dog, they should have gotten one thru a reputable organization that was already trained. By getting sued, Principal DeYoung has thrown his school and the district thru expensive litigation. Definitely not a smart move. Should have cut his losses and just given her the dog. This is a principal begging to be fired.
I agree. AND why was there not a contract stipulation all these terms from the beginning?
A therapy dog is not a service dog though, but yeah. The dog is that teacher’s plain and simple.
Shame on you. Give that dog back to the teacher.
I'm not a lawyer, but it seems pretty cut and dry to me- she's her dog.
She*
@@larastarmer4777 Thank you. Corrected.
The trainer that charged then $15,000 for therapy dog training is a scam artist. PERIOD. Service dog training may cost that much because it is much more involved and specific. Therapy dog training is nothing more than training a well socialized, non-fearful dog to have on point basic obedience (very good manners!) Shame on that trainer.
overbilling the taxpayers...the therapy training should have been donated, the school is a non-profit org
It was probably a relative of the principal’s.
So there are specially trained programs for therapy dogs in hospitals and I’m going to assume schools. They do cost this much. And I can only speak to my experience in a hospital, the dog doesn’t belong to the person assigned to them/ handler but they do go home with them and everything else that involves caring for a dog. However, I do think this poor lady was mislead and they never communicated well with her. She shouldn’t have paid for the medical care out of pocket. The school should have had medical insurance for the dog.
Well, dog obsessed lunatics will waste any quantity of money on pointless services for their mutts, including basic training. I have a hard time blaming the so-called trainer for simply taking advantage of the stupidity of dog lovers.
@@nancyd4250they told her point blank the dog doesn’t belong to them, she belongs to her. They kept telling her that until she said she was moving.
I’ve dealt with arrangements like this and there is almost always some form of financial help from the organization, especially with medical issues, and usually the org pays for pet insurance while the caretaker pays for food, toys, dog walks/day care when needed, pet deposits, and normal vet bills sometimes. The org doesn’t pay everything but they do finance some. The principle didn’t want to do that. So he made it clear. Using these exact words that the dog was hers. This isn’t a normal arrangement and it reeks of gaslighting (seriously, not using it as a buzzword) and dishonesty. It’s dodgy at best.
And that training bill is insane. Maybe if you go to a top trainer 15 to 20k isn’t unheard of but this trainer used a shock collar for therapy training. I’ve seen cases where a shock collar was used to train an aggressive dog who was close to being put down due to it or on an animal the obsessively escaped their home to chase cars due to a compulsion and while I have mixed feelings about it I get it. If it’s a safety issue for others or the dog and the longer it takes the higher chance someone, the dog or someone else, gets hurt.
But for therapy training? Should never be used. The training failed because of the trainer not the dog. I would bet the principal got a kickback from the trainer. No way a hack is worth that much. You can find good trainers to train therapy dogs for 1.5k to 8k. 15k to 25k is for the best of the best. I’m a dog trainer and I don’t offer anything like this but the above comment is correct. It’s mostly manners and obedience. There is some rigorous testing and the dog has to be non reactive in many more extreme environments than a normal dog being trained for obedience and that’s where the extra cost comes in.
Organizations over pay for stuff like this a lot because there is a lot of fraud and money exchanging hands.
She adopted the dog, she paid for the dog, told in writing the dog would be hers. They’d be prying that dog from my cold dead hands 🙌🏻
It blows my mind how cold and heartless people can be. Get this freaking dog back to her.
If this case was taken before Judge Judy , the teacher would have her dog back already . Sue the school district they stole your dog , press charges . Who knows how the dog is being taken of or who has her .
Well judge judy isn't a judge she's an arbitrator. Both parties have to agree to meet and be filmed by her
That " dog trainer " should be sued and arrested for using a shock collar that dog. That is no way to train a dog, especially a therapy dog. It's absolutely criminal!
The “trainer” was probably a friend of someone on the school board who approved using public funds.
Oh please. E collars are fine when used correctly. It’s a doodle. Probably wasn’t suitable for the job
I don't know about every organization that certifies therapy dogs, but at least Therapy Dog International won't accept any dogs that have been "trained" with a shock collar, so maybe that's the really reason the poor dog never got certified. there were doodles in my class that passed the test with flying colors
Absolutely! Those things cause seizures!!! Totally Bad!
@@stellangiosuntil your dog has seizures, be careful!
Shameful. That poor dog needs to be with her.
Her dog was stolen and the thieves need to be brought to justice. WTH??? 😮
A random group can’t own a living animal. A dog needs one stable owner and family.
I’m sorry if the kids would be sad, but this was a way for them to be cheap and literally use the teacher as a pawn.
You want a certified therapy dog? Hire one in a legit way, I’m sure the families would pitch in for the cost.
If not too bad, it’s a living creature and can’t be thrown around from home to home.
On top of that, you used and abused the teacher who provided a home, medical care, and food to the dog. Meaning that if you (the school) owns the dog, that means you are guilty of neglect and should be fined for animal abuse and neglect.
Ha true!
If she was paying to support and was caring for the dog outside of school, it’s HER DOG.
Taking that dog away from her human was cruel. (Edited gender)
Her human. The dog is a female.
@@quitaulla1569 C'mon mom ... we talked about this.
... and illegal.
@@quitaulla1569the female sex doesn’t exist apparently
@@larastarmer4777 I know, So stupid.
I most certainly would not trust such a cold hearted principal to care for or be responsible for children attending her school period!
Right!
We need a follow-up! This isn’t fair to Gracie either!
No real dog trainer would use a shock collar for training!
It's HER DOG! You told her it was HER DOG in writing! Taking and withholding Gracie is plain mean spirited petty vengefulness! The school superintendent needs to order that principal to immediately return Gracie to her OWNER and then promptly fire her @$$! I think she needs to report this to the police as theft of property!
And reported to HR as abuse of power.
Mean people Upsetting the dog
The school should have written up a contract spelling everything out.
It seems like the principal was being vague on purpose.
They did. The email sent stated that the dog was hers to keep.
@@JustMe-dn9fh yup
The term that was used was “adopt.” Not which teacher was willing to “foster” the dog. Plus they didn’t provide the stipend to feed the dog the vet food she needed to stay healthy. Very weird and vindictive behaviour on the part of the principal. Probably that useless trainer” was a friend of someone on the school board who approved the use of the funds. That seems to be the way these days - graft. I bet this young lady is an excellent teacher. I still remember my kindergarten teacher from 50 years ago.
Yes! It sounds like the principals job is on the line if she doesn't still have the dog around to try to justify the school's purchase. She gave a friend $15,000
Hope she gets her dog back, sooner rather than later.
She shouldn't have told the principal that she was leaving. Just take your dog and move. Then resign via e-mail.
That's what I was thinking. She didn't have to tell the school. She could have resigned to the district. Now she doesn't have possession of Gracie and her peace of mind is gone until this mess is over. So whatever plans she had to move on are now hampered by this ridiculousness.
Yes that waz a huge mistake, just take dog and move away. dont give them the chance to remove the dog from her!
I don’t suppose she expected them to do what they did. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
She didn't expect the principal to be such an asshole.
@@horsepanther exactly! In writing and all....
You can bet Gracie hasn't been given the correct food for her medical condition since she was abducted. This doesn't look good.
If that dog was taken from it’s family and caged alone in a shelter sue them for animal cruelty.
This is a very adorable dog....hope everything gets resolved. Dogs bond hard with the ones they love.
It doesn't really take much to train a therapy dog. I've trained a lot of them--and cats. A therapy animal just has to be shock proof and very social. Loud, sudden sounds shouldn't scare it. Various smells, usually associated with cleaning and perfumes shouldn't bother it. And the dog should want to interact gently with others even if they make what might appear to be aggressive moves such as pulling their hair or hitting it. It doesn't require thousands of dollars to train a therapy animal. They are either totally on board with offering therapy or they aren't. This dog isn't a therapy dog and should go with the woman who has been caring for it. The school can go to the pound and find dozens of dogs (or cats) that would make excellent therapy animals with little or no training. The staff, at the shelter, should be able to easily identify good candidates.
Exactly!
I hope and pray you get your dog back. That was a mean and spiteful thing the principal did by taking your dog away because you are moving away.
Why the heck was a shock collar being used for training at all?! Those don’t work, and they make a dog dangerous instead of friendly. Fear training does not work on animals.
It’s how it’s used. Some dogs don’t need that level of correction, while some do. Some trainers however use tools as if they are a bandage.
My service dog is trained to understand an ecollar, however I rarely use it for him, unless I need him off leash.
Get ur baby back. Sue the crap out of them.
This case involves a dog, a piece of property, not a baby.
@@AgentMercer I am sorry for you that you do not know the difference. Not a piece of property. A family member. Do us all a favor. Never get an animal. Ty
@@peggijames-fs9iu dog cultists such as yourself are the ones that do not know the difference between family and property. A dog is a vanity pet, this animal is property just like a houseplant
I would think any good judge is going to say where is the contract and hopefully give back her dog.
Going to the media is the second best thing she could have done. This puts IMMENSE pressure on the district to handle the situation, and appropriately because now there are thousands of eyes on this case at least now.
Get it ALL in writing! The liability this school put itself in front of allowing a dog that failed "therapy dog training" onto school ground's. This School District's insurer had NO IDEA they were insuring this liability. I have a magnificent Aussie service animal, I've never negotiated with anyone about his ownership, he is mine.
Give the dog back .
Thank you Sir for bringing that to America’s attention. I pray her attorney returns her dog ASAP with a HUGE apology from the school!
Give the dog to the owner. What a weird and cruel principal .
as a principal and dog parent- give this woman her DOG.
You aren’t a “dog parent”, you are just a mentally ill pet owner
The dog belongs to this teacher.
I hope she wins her suit. If she paid for everything that dog belongs to her.
I really hope she gets her dog back. Dogs are family. Losing one is very devastating
What the hell does the school want with a failed therapy trained dog anyway.
The school needs the dog to collect donations.
My wife was a teacher for many many years. And while she was still living she was always coming home telling me about problems with administrators in the school districts that she worked at. It didn’t matter where we lived. And she was an itinerant teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing so she would have multiple school districts that she would have to negotiate with because of the IEP‘s and any school issues which were nonstop. People complain about our education system but it’s not always the teachers it’s usually administration and implementation of school policies that are muddled up and create roadblocks for the students learning.
Give her her dog....they belong together. Don't be such a POS.😢
I’m glad this was made Public, so she has a better chance of getting her dog back. That dog belongs to her.
This might hint at whether it makes sense for the school to invest in a therapy dog in the first place.
Give the lady her damn dog back. 😠
What kind of therapy dog trainer uses a shock collar??? No one who actually knows how to train a therapy dog would do that. The school should have done their homework to get a reputable trainer.
Anyone who uses shock collars isn’t human…
I’m so glad she went to the news with this mess. I hope it’s enough for the dog to be returned. I’m sure the dog wants to be back with her owner!
That principals house would be ruined and continue to be until the dog is back with its owner if this happened where I live.
If that dog wasn't trained, that dog had no business being in the classroom. If it's not trained, why would the school want it? That's a liability, wouldn't ya think?
Holy crap! The principle came into her classroom and stole her dog?!?!? That's outrageous!
If he wanted to assert possession, he should have gone to court. Instead, he resorted to "self help" and courts do not like that.
Principal on a frickin power trip. Give the teacher the dog back.
where's the public / school parents on this?
-who paid for the failed training?
is this about power?
-has the dog been accounted for?
She’s trying so hard not to freak out I feel for her.
Go to court and see how happy the dog is to see her again ,…give her dog back
As an owner of Bernedoodles (several) I can say that they are more bonded to their human than other breeds. It’s wrong to separate any dog from its loving home, but especially traumatic to a doodle!!! I wouldn’t have such a cold, heartless person being principal over my kids!
That's her dog. They stole it from her. The principal should resign from their job and be charged with theft.
This school district is being ridiculous they asked someone to adopt the dog !
This dog must be heartbroken!
Low down and dirty!
Stop the greedyness and return the dog to the teacher.
Good thing that text exists “it’s YOUR dog” 🐶
Give this women HER dog back!! Poor Gracie was stolen from her family. 😢
Who purchased the dog? Also…shelter dogs make great therapy dogs. Too many schools purchasing these designer dogs.
This is such BS. Dogs have feelings. They bond with their person. She offered to pay for the dog. The school taking the dog away is totally wrong.
Please keep us updated! This was three weeks ago and it just popped up today. I hope the principal was forced to give back that dog. I’m calling Judge Judy if they don’t.
Two years?!?! That dog is going to be traumatized now.
That principal is a piece of psychopathic 💩💩💩. Trust him with a child? Nope!
If he can steal something that is clearly not his nor the school’s property, makes you wonder what else he’ll do. She did all the work and paid for his care, but he just takes it? Her attorney said it was all in writing that the dog was hers so, she cared for the dog, fed the dog. What gave him the right to just take this dog and make it disappear? I would have taken the dog to someone I trusted or left him home, resigned last minute and left town with the dog. I think she’s too sweet and sometimes mean people with psychopathic instincts just like to mess with people like her for fun. I’ve watched it before. They’re bullies until someone pushes back.
They are trying to steal the dog. Dog belongs to the teacher. No doubt about it. Give her the dog back.
They need to go to mediation. The school district spent 10 grand on training and adoption fees, this lady paid for food and care. They need an objective third party to work out the details.
They stole her dog
The principle of the school put it in writing.
That is a legal and binding agreement.
When your ready to sue over a dog, its your dog ..
That's staright up theft. Kidknapping a pet.
This is truly awful for both the dog and her rightful owner. I hope the school has to pay damages.
Sounds like the Principal has no principles.
Crazy the Principal made the teacher pay for everything to care for dog, then says it's not her dog?
If an adopted animal is loved, well cared for and part of a home and family it is the cruelest of acts for anyone to separate both dog and human. These therapy dogs are trained to within an inch of thrir lives. They have distressing existences devoid of nature, freedom and confidence.
Shame on that school shame on them
GIVE HER, HER DOG!!!!!!
Give that dog back to its family!!
If she has it in writing that the dog is hers, then the school and district have no case. That's not even going into the fact that the teacher paid for the dog's care and housing.
Shame on the principal