Discovering and Disclosing The Truth About
Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions
(Norco, CA)
TESTIMONIALS

Below are Adoption Experiences from actual
Gentle Giant Adopters.

I personally believe the truth is best told by those that have experienced and lived it themselves. Read what real people have to say about their adoption experience with Gentle Giants Rescue.

These testimonies have been posted with the permission of the author.
Copyright © 2006 - 2009
All Rights Reserved
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* A few people have chosen to remain anonymous or just use their online user name,
in fear of losing their adopted dog to Gentle Giants.
However, their testimonies are just as valid and just as important as the others.
The following are comments and message board posts that are from individual people voicing their opinions and warnings about Gentle Giants, based on what they have previously read about or have personally encountered with Gentle Giants. Some of these individuals have actually been to Gentle Giants to adopt and had decided NOT to adopt for various different reasons.


Rescue Watchdog's Adoption Testimonies


To read other people's adoption experiences with
Gentle Giants, visit Rescue Watchdogs
Gentle Giant News has received numerous
other testimonials and have been requested
to NOT post publicly.   However, these
testimonies are available to Government
Agencies, Attornies, and Investigative
Reporters, upon their request.
Parvo Puppy
December 209
By:  Ken

...  The entire time we were with her and the
puppy, she never allowed him to walk (for
protection against germs and disease, we were
told).  We got him home and carried him into the
house and put him on his new bed.  He looked a
little thin and at nine weeks old he had not yet
been neutered (against the laws regarding
rescues, we later found out).  We had been with
him for about three hours by this time and I
assumed he probably needed to pee.  I tried to
coax him to stand up and come to me, but he just
lay there.  Finally, I picked him up and stood him
up.  He stood for a moment, peed, then lay back
down, and crawled to his bed.  All of his
movements that night consisted of crawling.  We
were concerned, but made excuses (he’s tired,
scared, new surroundings, etc.). ...
Distemper took our puppy's life
December 2009
By: Autumn

...The next day I took him to our vet. He said "it's
probably just a cold. If you see any green
discharge from his nose, call immediately!". The
next day, I scream for my husband to come see
the green stuff running out of Hurley's nose. Back
to the vet to hear horrible news... His bet was that
Hurley has distemper. A rare and most of the time
deadly disease that ended up taking our puppies
life.
A Nightmare from the First Day
June 19, 2009
By: Kelley H.

... We finally decided on a six month old female
fawn Dane who seemed very sweet but shy and
skittish.  We had to wait three days because she
had to be spayed (which made me suspicious as
I thought rescue dogs had to be spayed/neutered
after a certain age).  We picked her up at Tracy's
vet clinic and when we finally got her home it was
an absolute nightmare right from the minute we
walked her into our backyard.
I just wanted a family friendly Labradoodle
June 7, 2009
By: A.J. Johnson

I was very clear with Tracy that above all we were
looking for a dog that would be extremely kid and
family friendly and that I had seen a labradoodle
on the petfinder site.  After seeing a series of
dogs that weren’t right for our family, I again
reminded Tracy that we were looking for a
labradoodle or similar dog that would be family
friendly.  She finally took us back to her
mysterious barn/kennel in the back of the property
and brought out what she said was a labradoodle
that she received a week prior from an animal
shelter.   She said the dog was currently
quarantined to the kennel suffering from “kennel
cough” and that if we wanted to come back in two
weeks he would be ready.

Adopted a dog with Mange and Giardia
March 2, 2009
By: The FF Family

We adopted a four-month old puppy last year
(2008) from Gentle Giants.  We were told he was
a Mastiff mix (because I had wanted a Tibetan
Mastiff and Tracy knew it)---Newfoundland and
Chow.  Now that he is grown, it looks like he has
no Mastiff in him at all!

Over $4,000 and only 10 months of life
January 10, 2009
By: Michelle

The dog of the Day" we picked out a "4 Year old
Dane"  very under weight.  Tracy told us he had an
elderly owner who could no longer walk him.  We
took him home.  Our vet is a great dane
specialist.  At 97 pounds she took one look at him
and said he was more like eight years old.

I was told he was about 10 months old, but
was actually 4 or 5 years old!
By: Kimberely Morrison
January 3, 2009

Memphis (the name I gave him), was brought out
next.  I was told he was 10 months old.  He was
thin like the rest, but was affectionate and
seemed happy so I said I’d take him on the spot,
despite the fact that he smelled awful.  Really
awful.  I just couldn’t go through having dogs
brought out one at a time and rejecting them to
see what would come out next.  To be honest it
was so dark that I really didn’t even get a good
look at him until I got him home.

...On that first vet’s visit I was told that he was AT
LEAST 2 years old, but the vet suspected he was
actually 4-5 years old.
A Near Adoption Experience
By: Kimberly Cavanaugh
Sept. 17, 2008

I contacted Tracy through email and described
what I was looking for. After corresponding
through email for several days, I made an
appointment to see her 8 week old Dane cross
puppies that were available.

My husband and I drove for 9 hours to reach
Norco. ....  She seems irritated when you remind
her what type of dog you came to see. She
informs us that there are no puppies and that she
never said there were. I, of course, am in
disbelief. I'm shocked, stunned, sad,
disappointed and angry. We've traveled a long
way and spent a considerable amount of money
that we didn't have to burn. If I was going to go on
a mini vacation, I wouldn't have chosen Norco,
CA!
A Family Afraid for their own Safety
March 19, 2008
By: Kim

In September we decided to look for a Great
Dane to rescue. We looked into the local rescues
and craigslist for a couple weeks. Not finding
what we were looking for we broadened our
search and discovered Gentle Giants Rescue in
So. Cal. We e-mailed them for more info and
were suckered into traveling down there to find
our 'dream dog'. They really paint a pretty picture.
Worst Place in the World for dogs
March 15, 2008
By: Terri

When she (Tracy) started nringing out the Great
Danes one of them was shaking with his tail
between his legs. She finally got one out that we
wanted. When I asked her how much she needed
she said 900.00 . She also said we couldn't take
the dog because he had to go to their Vet.We
were told to wait there in Norco for 3 days.
He was infested with worms, had a yeast
infection, inner ear infection, dehydrated &
malnurished
February 15, 2008
By: Saint Lover (Real Name on File)

Never being one to follow bad advice, my baby
had a visit with my vet the following day, and less
than 24 hours after being “cleared” by the GGR
vet, he had to be treated for worms, yeast, for a
deep inner ear infection, and for dehydration and
malnutrition.  They also gave him a bath, and I
was amazed to see his fur was actually white!
My "Healthy" Dog had Giardia and
Hookworm when adopted
February 13, 2008
By: Anonymous Author  (Real Name on file)

"X" turned out to be so fearful of people that she
cowered and ran away from everyone except me
and my boyfriend. No one else could get within
ten feet of her without her cowering, pacing or
hiding behind one of us. She consistently had
extremely soft and even runny stools.  I called
Tracy after a week or two about the stool problem,
seeking advice, and her response was defensive
and practically hostile. She insisted there was
nothing wrong with my dog, she was just nervous
over her new environment, and generally made
me feel like a first-time mother calling the
pediatrician every time her child sneezed. It
continued and we took X to a local vet, who found
that X had giardia and hookworm. We had been
taking X to a local dog park, and there's no way to
know if she got the parasites there or at GG.  I
called Tracy again to talk to her about these
problems, and her response on my voicemail was
openly hostile and defensive.

Sandy's Testimony
February 10, 2008

I explained to Tracey that we were interested in a
Great Dane. She proceeded to show me about 7
or 8 dogs. All of them were filthy, obviously sick by
the green snot oozing from their ears, eyes, and
nose, and the skinniest dogs I've ever seen. I
never got to see "the herd."  She finally showed
me a couple Danes, 2 were hers, one was so sick
it looked like it was about to die and the last one
we took home. As much as I just wanted to get the
hell out of there, this last dog came to me and put
her head in my lap and I couldn't leave her there.

Green Backs Only
February 8, 2008
By: Karol Vladovich

We were scammed with half truths and flat out
misrepresentation, lack of paperwork and records
for the animal, no receipt for the $1000 I was
asked to pay (called while in route to the Ward’s
home) GREEN BACKS ONLY!
Testimony by: Capt. John Scott, USAF
January 18, 2008

Over the Christmas holiday, we adopted two dogs
from a dog rescue (Gentle Giants Rescue and
Adoptions) in Norco, CA.  They charged us an
adoption fee of $1,307.50 cash for two dogs that
were supposed to be of a specific breed, healthy,
and with full veterinary records to include a vet
check, shots, and dental records.

The old dog was the breed they said he was but
was terminally ill.  He had a massive, virtually
inoperable tumor in his throat that made it almost
impossible for him to breathe.  His teeth were
rotted down to the bone, his gums horribly
abscessed, and infected, his white blood cell
count high and his thyroids off.

Yet another adoption gone bad
By:  Author remains anonymous (real names on file)
November 1, 2007

My long story will be kept to the short side.  After
many, many hours of looking at dogs that were in
less than healthy shape, i.e., no energy, scared,
filthy coats, diseased eyes,  Or, not the breed that
I asked for.  I settled on a Newfoundland that I told
was one years old and had just come to them one
week ago.  This dog was taken to their vet, and
given a clean bill of health:  "perfectly healthy!".
Our Million Dollar Dog
By:  Aerie (real names on file)
November 5, 2007

We called GGR as we intended to adopt a
smaller dog, Italian Greyhound or whippet and
were told by Burt that we were in luck they had a
lot of IG's right now ....

....We were not shown any IG's or whippets, after
saying that is what we wanted, not sure if there
were any available. One of the dogs we were
considering needed to be neutered before we
could take him; we were told he was about 1 yr
old. We decided on a Borzoi puppy.
Just trying to find a good home for my dog
By:  MyMastiff (user name) (real names on file)
October 13, 2007

"My husband and I traveled 3 hours to take our
dog to them. Once we got to the locked gate we
were told to stay in our car until they came out. 1
hour later I finally called them and said my dog
really had to pee! Tracy finally came out with a
contract and told us that to insure our dog got a
good home it would be good for us to make a
donation. "
Definately not what it looks like on their
website.
By:  Author remains anonymous (real names on
file)
September 27, 2007

"My wife is not the kind of person who waits
patiently so after 25 minutes she got out of the car
to look around.  Less than a minute later she
returned to the car and said “Let’s get out of
here!”  I agreed.  We could not believe the
conditions we’d seen.

God, were we fortunate.  All we could talk about
on the ride home (only 30 minutes) were the
difference between what we’d seen on the web
and the actual."
Adoption Testimony of Lisa Baumgardner
February 8, 2007

I asked Tracy to bring out one of the Wolfhound
mixed pups, Georgie.  She brought him out,
actually she carried him out because he ran away
from her all the time. We knew that because he
was in the front yard when we showed up and
when she tried to get him to come inside he would
run away.  I figured it was a puppy thing after all he
was only 5 months old.  Once she would catch him
she would pick him up and carry him to where she
wanted him to go.  I remember my Husband
laughing and asking her how much he weighed
since he was such a big pup she said over 80
lbs!!

She brought him outside and flopped him down in
the visiting area and my two little ones sat next to
him and he just laid there with them. I looked at my
Husband and told him "we are taking this one."  
We were petting him and my middle Daughter
said to me "Mom why can I feel every bone in
him?"  You could not have noticed this from just
looking at him since he had a Wolfhound looking
coat but once you felt that poor guy he was THIN!

I was again informed that he was not fixed and
that he was going to be fixed in a few days
because she caught him "Humping" another
unfixed dog. I believe, she said it was one of his
sister's. I once again looked at my Husband this
time I must have made a funny look at him
because she said "OH do not worry you can have
him fixed here OR you can sign a contract to get
him fixed and I will reimbursed you the cost of his
neuter.   Well, actually the amount we would get
back would be the cost that HER vet would have
charged her not what our vet charged us.

Fine, no problem we asked what his adoption fee
was it was over $700.00 for him.
Parasites & Misrepresentation of Breed
By:  Anonymous Author by request  (real name on
file)
January 27, 2007

The day after our ER trip, I took our girl into our
regular vet for a follow up and had them run a ton
of tests. Luckily all her blood work came back
normal but she had a ton of parasites in her
intestines which were causing the diarrhea. They
were amazed that her supposed “vet check” from
GGR’s vet came back clean considering the
amount of parasites she had in her tummy. We
then found out later that our dog was most likely
not a Neapolitan Mastiff, but a Cane Corso (Italian
Mastiff) who was extremely malnourished.
Testimony of Kimberly Gomez
January 15, 2007

RUN, DON'T WALK - AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

When we arrived at GGR we were shocked.  The
place was filthy, as were Burt and Tracy.  We
were there for 8 hours, along with 9 other people
also hoping to adopt dogs.  Each dog Tracy
brought out looked dirty, matted and skinny. 
Within 8 hours, she only showed us 4 Great
Danes, one being their own, one looking more
like a mastiff.

Bad News for Dogs and Adoptors
By:  Shana Kerr
December 15, 2006

....... the best thing that could ever happen for
them or for her would be for Gentle Giants to be
shut down and her to receive some type of
therapy!
$2,500.00 later and NO DOG
By: Ash and Charlie
November 15, 2006

We did not get our money back and we were out
at least $2500 in training classes, Vet checks,
spaying, shots, not counting the adoption fee and
the time it took to try to fix this dog.
All I wanted was a Blue Dane
By: Andrea
August 18, 2006

So she starts bringing these dogs out. If I thought
the place was bad, I was in for an even bigger
shock. Dogs that were underweight, broken legs,
really bad bad bad shape. I felt bad for them.
Their heads hung low and they were clearly not
well. One of them had a leg that kinked in. I asked
what happened and she said that the dog had
been hit by a car but was fine. The dog hardly
looked fine. So then she brings out this cute black
female. I thought ‘oh she is nice’ but I told her I
really wanted a blue. So they turn this dog around
and tons of worms are falling out of her rear end.

Rabies Cert a fake?
By: Anonymous  (Real Name on File)
July 12, 2006

I adopted a Great Dane from Gentle Giant
Rescue a little over a year ago. When I adopted
my Great Dane, I was promised medical
documentation that I never received except for a
rabies vaccination record which I received only
months after continually pleading with Tracy to
send me the records. ...

I decided to look closely at the vaccination record
and lookup the veterinarian ..... To my surprise I
was unable to find any information about the vet,
as if it didn't exist. Could the Rabies certificate be
a fake?
Why is it?
By:  Linda E.
May 28, 2006

If GG is doing such a great job as a rescue then
WHY IS IT there is a group called Gentle Giant
News with plenty of adopters with horror stories to
tell???
Kelly's Three-Peat
April 21, 2006

Well, our 1st trip to the Gentle Giant Rescue was
in 2002. We adopted a Great Dane puppy ... so
we thought. He is now fully grown at 87 Ibs. It
doesn't take a dog breed specifics brain, to take
one look at him & know he's NOT even 1/2 Dane.

Then we adopted Angus a beautiful Onyx Brindle.
He was missing 1/2 an ear on one side & had
scars all over his chest. We where told he came
from a family of 9 kids & the family's other dog
attacked him. We had him in our home for less
than 5 months. We learned ... he HATED black &
mexican MEN.

Then it was a white Dane, she was blind, deaf &
dumb. I had watched Tracy's mobile Vet do
surgery on her eye, while she laid on a dirty
blanket in the middle of her drive-way.
I would never adopt from a "rescue" group
that operated in that manner
By:  onyx   (User Name on Gentle Giants News
Message Board)
April 14, 2006

I am new to this message board. I once
considered adopting a dog from GGR, but once I
looked closely at the information on the GGR
website and called the recording to find out what
their adoptions conditions were, I knew it was out
of the question--I would never adopt from a
"rescue" group that operated in that manner.
Misrepresentation of Breed
By:  Jaime Garcia
Phoenix, AZ
March 31, 2006

My deepest concern is her high disregard not only
for my breed safety but the safety of innocent
people whom only get to meet their dog when they
come to get it coupled with absolutely no breed
info on the Fila Brasileiro puts my breed at high
risk to be the next Headline News.
"...Just hit her with a paper towel roll"
By:  dg5842   (User Name on Gentle Giants News
Message Board)
(Real Name on File)
March 7, 2006

I recently adopted a dog from GGR, and was told
she was 4 months old, and in good health.
Waiting in a HOT car
By:  Gadget (User Name on Gentle Giants News
Message Board)
January 12, 2006

..... part of my story also involved bringing with us
on the 3 hour trip to GGR our other 2 dogs. One
was a 14 year old lab with very bad arthritis. The
other a 1 year old Rat Terrier. We also leave the
dogs with a friend when we go out of town who
has a German Shepherd so we asked him to
meet us there. She insisted that all 3 dogs
needed to be introduced to the potential new
puppy. Needless to say the 3 other dogs sat for 5
hours in the car with the A/C on as it was Summer
time, she never offered them water, we being
responsible dog owners had bought water with
us.
What can one say???
By: BLEUSMOMMA  (User Name on Gentle
Giants News Message Board)  (Real Name on
File)
Posted: Jan 01, 2006

I am shocked to learn that this rescue REQUIRED
the feeding of Pedigree Dog food. I am active in a
local rescue here in Phoenix and while upon
ocassion we have had a new Dane in rescue
being fed Pedigree it was a transitional food used
for a VERY short time, usually to help an
emaciated dane gain weight and was a decent
food that would help maintain stool firmness while
switching the Dane from an inappropriate diet
(like that "gud" stuff they call Ol' Roy and other
garbage foods)
Kennel Cough Nightmare
By: Madelyn F. Berson
Winchester,  CA
December 27, 2005

I adopted a 10 week old Dane mix from Gentle
Giants Rescue in Norco, California on Dec. 4,
2005.  When my son and I were introduced to
their "herd" as they call it, I was shocked at how
shabby the dogs looked and how disobedient
they were (jumping up, etc.) as Tracy Ward claims
to be a "dog trainer".  ....  My first reservation of
the facility was when we pulled up and saw how
dirty and unkempt it is.  There was a decrepit
Dane eating and I thought that must be the ancient
one they talk about that is invincible because of
their wonderful dog food.  None of us were ever
allowed to enter the facility.  It was very surreal,
almost like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain.  I
just chalked it up to them being highly eccentric.
Not A Rescue
By:  Sally Keefe
December 14, 2005

This is a place that needs to be closed. Bad
NEWS! Avoid like the plague!
Things not quite what they seem
By:  Orla  (User Name on Gentle Giants News Message
Board. Real Name on file)
December 11, 2005

I had a relatively benign encounter with Burt Ward,
but enough to have grave misgivings about his
operation....
I saw a charming half-grown male named Casey
on their website, and called to make sure he was
available. Yes!

The day before the visit I still hadn't gotten
directions so I called again, and was told Casey
had been adopted out that very day, but there
were lots of other breeds so come on down.

Then I started to think something was up, and I
asked a friend in Missouri to call Burt and say that
before she filled out the whole application she
wanted to make sure Casey was still available.
"Certainly!" Burt said!
Name withheld on request of the Adopter
November 24, 2005


"We adopted a 7 week old male great dane from
Tracy Ward a couples years ago. We had wanted
to adopt a rescue and heard that sometimes they
have babies if we were willing to wait, which we
were. The story was that sometimes they rescue a
female who ends up being pregnant and that's the
only circumstance in which they'd have young
puppies. Maybe we were gullible or maybe we
just wanted to believe-in any case, I doubt that's
true.
Gentle Giant's Danes goes to Arizona Rescues
By:  Sharon
November 21, 2005

... The Wards were not licensed for that many and
had to get rid of some of them.  The area rescues
took some, and about half a dozen ended up in
Phoenix.

I ended up adopting one of them, a female who
was most decidedly not a purebred dane and had
some serious health problems.  She passed last
May.  She was a sweet girl and I shudder to think
what would have happened to her if she stayed
there.
Adopted Sick Dogs
By: Giantlover (User Name on Gentle Giants News
Message Board. Real name on file)
November 20, 2005

I was told they were alot younger and that they
were checked by "Giant Breed experts" They
were, in fact, very sick dogs w/ multiple medical
probs and much older.

I spent a couple thousand getting my dogs
healthy.

Testimony of Kim Coxwell
(former volunteer for Gentle Giants Rescue)
November 19, 2005

During the time I spent on the Ward's property, I
can report that the grounds, dogs, and the family
themselves had a distinct, foul, odor.  During the
heat of the season, flies were out of control.  Dogs
were filthy, many very thin and unhealthy in
appearance. Many had toenails so long, it would
affect their ability to walk comfortably.  Many dogs
had green discharge coming from the eyes and or
nose. The house was kept clean the times I saw it,
though Tracy had me touch up any photos she
sent me so that no one would be able to see the
urine puddles and feces all over the floor.
Flesh on leg eaten away
By:  engelhlywd   (User Name on Gentle Giants
News Message Board)
November 18, 2005

I adopted my sweet Tasia back in 2001. They told
me she wasn't quite 3 (really, she was probably
alot older). According to the Wards, she had been
bitten by a brown recluse spider which had eaten
away the flesh in her leg.
He Can't Climb Stairs
By: Lineover (User Name on Gentle Giants News
Message Board)
(Real name on file)
November 18, 2005

I adopted a wonderful dane from Gentle Giants.
He was beautiful, but had a bit of a hip problem. I
asked Tracy Ward if he could climb stairs (as I
lived on the 2nd floor it was imperative that a
125lb dog could climb) and she told me that he
has climbed stairs and would climb stairs "no
problem."

Wrong, there was a BIG problem.

He wouldn't and more importantly couldn't climb
stairs more than 1-2 stairs in height.
Name withheld on request
November 7, 2005

Upon arriving at Gentle Giants Rescue we found
that of the 6 male Great Danes that were shown to
us were:

1. Dull and dopey
2. Lethargic
3. Emaciated
4. Nails were not trimmed
5. Ears were full of mites!
6. More than half of the dogs needed surgical
attention (not including spay or neutering)
7. A number of the dogs WERE NOT spayed or
neutered (a concern - since they are housed
together - unwanted litters a strong possibility)
Name withheld on request
Nov. 2005

She had a little diarrhea in the beginning but that
was straight from bringing her home from Gentle
Giants. She was also EXTREMELY underweight
(as was all most of the other dogs that had been
shown to us) and had an infection in her teats (she
had given birth at a very young age before we
adopted her at 11 months old).
"Gentle Giants is Repossessing my dog
because I switched food"
By: Barbara Laird
October 21, 2005


Burt Ward sent me via e-mail a "Notice of
Violation of Adoption Agreement and Notice of
Intent to Repossess Samson.  I told the Wards
that there was no clause in the adoption
agreement which required that I feed Samson a
particular brand of food. Nonetheless, on April 13,
2005, I received another e-mail from Burt Ward
stating their intention to repossess Samson,
because I had changed his food. The Wards gave
me 24 hours to return Samson or they would take
legal action against me.

This was then followed by a letter from the Wards'
attorney reiterating their demand that I confirm
that I had switched Samson back to Pedigree
food, and their intention to take action to
repossess Samson if I did not comply.
Julie Klingsberg Testimony about a Gentle
Giant Adoped Dog
By: Julie Klingsberg

So the day of the bite, my son accidently let Lucy
and Rex out of the guest suite by opening the
door. My nanny was able to get Lucy to come right
back and in her gentlest voice, with hot dog in
hand, tried to get Rex back in. He went after her
and she escaped through my boys' bedroom
window. She attempted to get back in the house
through the three doors, but each time he would
attack the door up on his rears and she was
scared... this is when I got home.

To get to the point, of course, I contacted Tracy
Ward ....  "we caused the dog to bite". She said I
was wrong in getting him to submit and that in 11
years she's NEVER been bit by one of her dogs.
Rob's Adoption Testimony
By: Rob Weiss, Los Angeles, CA

Last spring, my Dane died and after some
mourning, I went to Gentle Giants in mid-summer
(late July, early August) thinking that it would be a
rewarding and helpful experience.  Unfortunately it
was neither and I ended up taking home and
returning a sick and very, very aggressive Great
Dane to them after many hateful emails from
Tracy Ward blaming me for the problems I had
from my first day animal.

I wrote to the mayor, the animal control people,
the parks and rec. folks … in Norco and whatever
county it is in, trying to get someone out there to
witness the problems, the illness I saw, etc… and
help.  No one responded to my calls and emails. I
even wrote their local paper.

When the Wards somehow heard about my
complaints about them, their lawyer called and
wrote to me threatening lawsuit if I didn't stop
stating my concerns to others.
Andi & Ari's Adoption Testimony
By: Andi Leigh-Morhaime


...he was home about an hour and started
coughing and vomiting, and coughing, and when I
took his temp, he was running 105. I contacted the
rescue before I took him to the vet, as I was pretty
upset, and was assured it was probably nothing
but a reaction to moving. I ran him to the ER vet
and found that his cough wasn't just an average
kennel cough, his lungs sounded " slushy".

X-rays, injections of antibiotics, steroids for his
lungs, blood work, and a vet bill way over what I
paid for him.
Cheryl McCorckle's Adoption Testimony
By: Cheryl McCorckle
July 5, 2005


I first adopted an adult male, I was told he was
great with cats, but he walked in the door and
went after my cat, trying to kill him. I decided that
was not going to work out and brought him back
to Tracy.

Then I adopted a "rescue" puppy, but from what I
have heard she wasn't a rescue, but a dog bred
by Tracy. I was told this puppy would cost 600.00,
but I wouldn't get any money back.
Unsanitary Conditions
By: Richard Hallam
June 1, 2005

Richard Hallam, a Norco Parks and Recreations
commissioner and owner of a local plumbing
company, said one of his employees refused to
install a toilet this week because of unsanitary
conditions, including dog fecal matter on the floor.
Jim McNutt's Adoption Testimony
By: Jim McNutt
May 27, 2005


... then one day,  in Aug 2004, my wife was laying
on the couch watching TV and Lucy came over
and layed down next to her.  Lucy lifted her head
and put it under Kathie's hand, like she was
saying come on and pet me.  So Kathie did and
Lucy bit her rigth hand.  ... I noticed some red
streaks on her arm, so we went right to her doctor
and was told to go right to the emergency room
she had blood poisoning.

I called Gentle Giants and got the answering
machine of course and left a message.  That day I
got a call from Tracy and she said bring her back, 
that we did something to the dog.


So all and all, the dog cost me approx $
30,750.00.

Jane & "Maddie's" Adoption Story
By: Jane Marckstadt


We, my daughter and I, adopted "Maddie" a 1 yr.
old spayed female Merlequin Dane from Gentle
Giants in Nov of 2003. Maddie though a beautiful
and loving dog to my daughter, vehemently hated
my 10yr old English Setter to the point that she
attacked her (totally without cause) and actually
went out of her way to do so (went though a door
to get to her) inflicting deep bite wounds on her
neck and hindquarters (requiring stitches) before I
could rescue "Phoebe". This happened after
introductions from separate fenced areas and
hands on. After 4 months of trying to cope with
this situation, I made the decision to return
Maddie, saddened but resolute that this was best
for all concerned. This was a very stressful
experience to say the least for all of us, dogs
included.
Adopted a stolen dog
by: Roni Gilles

I have adopted 4 danes from Gentle Giants. The
first was so old, sick and in pain. We had to put
him down two weeks after bringing him home.
The second had several medical problems that
had to be taken care of right away, and he was
aggressive and a biter. We had to put him down
within the first year.

We now have two danes we got at Gentle Giants
and low and behold we found out one of them was
stolen. His chip lead us to his rightful owner who
could not take him back... lucky for us.
Julie's Adoption Testimony with Gentle Giants
By: Julie Hydro

Every dog that was seen was thin to bordering on
malnourished. Ribs, vertebrae, pelvic bones
showing on all of them. Various excuses were
given, from the ridiculous, "the veterinarian
recommends this dog be kept thin", to the
plausible, "we just got it in". They all smelled
horrible, and had various wounds on them.

When we came home with the dog and into the
house, he immediately picked up my 16-year-old
cat in his mouth. He didn't attack him or shake
him but went down to sniff and came up with the
cat in his mouth. He finally learned to co-exist with
my cat, however he did attack another cat and
sent it to the vet for sutures. I called Tracy Ward to
question her about this and the first of many (what
I can only assume were) lies began.  She had
originally said the dog was turned into rescue for
knocking down an old frail grandfather in the
home. The story now turned to the dog had fixated
on a pregnant goat in his previous house and
that's why he was turned in.

He was also very aggressive with my other dogs
and sent one for several major lacerations
requiring multiple sutures and gave him a
permanent cervical vertebra injury.

Name Withheld Upon Request

Several years ago myself and two other people
active in the Dane community went to the Wards
with myself posing as a newbie to Danes and
future owner.  We wanted to see if they were
breeding litters as well as trafficking in Danes. 
What we found made us sick.  No screening of
either dog nor possible future owner was done.

If you have also adopted a dog from Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions, in Norco, CA  and would like to share your story, we would love to hear it.

If you have had any other type of working relationship with Gentle Giants, what was that experience like?
(For example:  Did you release a dog you could no longer keep?  Are you an County or City Animal Control Agency?  Would you release dogs to Gentle Giants?  Do you  or have you transported for Gentle Giants?  Do you foster for Gentle Giants? Have you ever applied to adopt a dog from Gentle Giants and been denied?)

We would love to hear your story.  Please contact us.
Other Sources of Unsatisfied Adopters; those that may have personal experience with Gentle Giants Rescue; or just general comments from the public
•  http://www.bigdogsporch.com/showthread.php?t=5816

•  http://www.mastiffonlinecommunity.net/viewtopic.php?t=10243

•  http://www.tribe.net -- DO NOT go to Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions in CA!!

•  http://www.tribe.net - Gentle Giants Rescue

•  http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=50131

•  http://www.reviewstream.com/reviews/?p=10599

•  http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/219/RipOff0219835.htm

•  http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/219/RipOff0219723.htm

•  http://www.globalpaw.com - Gentle Giants Rescue- question about their dog food

•  http://www.pitbull-chat.com/showthread.php?t=13091

•  http://dogblog.dogster.com