[nagdu] FIDELCO ownership rights and other things.

Thu Feb 3 17:36:04 UTC 2011

Dear All,
I will only say that we have attempted to get Fidelco's side of the story 
and, in spite of a signed release of information, Mr. Russman refused to 
talk to us about it. As this message so astutely stated, it makes us wonder 
what they are hiding. A great deal, we have come to find out, as more 
consumer come forward with similar stories. If it were an isolated incident, 
I would question the details. As a pattern evolves and we find credible 
information with physical evidence, it supports our action.

Fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brenda" <bjnite at windstream.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 11:45 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] FIDELCO ownership rights and other things.

> Brian
> Well said.
> I have asked what the person who had her dog removed from Fidelco was 
> actually told with no response - makes me wonder.  I do not think the 
> whole story has been relayed about the incidents at Leader either.  I find 
> it amazing that a dog could be removed with little warning and no cause - 
> something is missing OR at least it would be nice to hear from the school 
> and the handler  (both sides of the story) so an informed opinion could be 
> made about a certain school.
>
> Maybe in the survey that is being prepared there could be an entry of how 
> many dogs have been repo'd by the school and the reason the school gave 
> for the forced return.
>
> Another survey question would be what is the reason for your ownership 
> policy?  Why do you require a handler to wait two years before awarding 
> ownership?
>
> Brenda
> Brenda
>
> On 2/3/2011 11:04 AM, Bryan Brown wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>>    The day after Marion posted       the message about the woman who had 
>> their dog
>> repossessed by FIDELCO for no reason... I received a call from a FIDELCO 
>> trainer. She was
>> calling to find out if she could meet with me for a follow up visit. I
>> scheduled a time to meet with her on the seventeenth of February, since I 
>> am
>> not in what you might say is FIDELCO's traditional service area this will 
>> be
>> the first follow up visit that I have had.  They have offered, but I 
>> haven't had any
>> problems that I thought needed a trainers help with so I declined. Any 
>> time
>> I have ever had an issue or question I just call out to FIDELCO and I get
>> put right through to someone who can help. I've never had to request 
>> follow
>> up, I guess I've been lucky and not had any issues as a working team
>> that I couldn't deal with myself. I'd be comfortable if FIDELCO called 
>> and
>> said hey we're five minutes from your house and we want to see your dog. 
>> That would be great, I don't have any reasons to be anything other than 
>> proud of my dog. They were however nice enough to give me more than two 
>> weeks notice and make sure that it worked with my schedule. I'm far from 
>> intimidated, in fact I'm
>> excited, I know that I have nothing to worry about, my dog is healthy, he 
>> is in great shape , we are a great working team and I'll be proud to show
>> off our teamwork to someone who knows how much it takes to develop that 
>> type
>> of relationship with a dog. My only concern is that the trainer might not 
>> be
>> able to stick around and have dinner with myself and my family.
>>
>> It's unfortunate that anyone would ever have their dog unjustly removed 
>> from
>> them and I'm not sure how that would benefit the program, imagine the 
>> implications if a person could prove those allegations, for instance in 
>> front of a jury? Why aren't the people who have supposedly had their dogs 
>> removed
>> making a public show of such an unjust action? I know if that happened to 
>> me
>> I'd be the first to call the sheriff, my vet, my attorney  and the media, 
>> I'd make a
>> huge stink of it, but I am confident that I have done nothing to bring 
>> such
>> action on myself. , maybe the parties in question are not quite so
>> confident? Is it possible that the inflammatory comments that Marion  has 
>> made about FIDELCO and Mr. Russman are rooted in limited information and 
>> Mr. Russman's reservations to bow down to the big bad NFB?
>>
>> as far as I know... I own Tarik, do I think I have that right, "yes" at 
>> this
>> point after five years it would be cruel to remove him from me, I am as 
>> much
>> his life as he is mine. Do I think I deserved to own him upon graduation, 
>> my
>> answer is no. I feel as though having a dog is a wonderful privilege in 
>> the
>> case of a FIDELCO dog it's a 45,000 dollar privilege   and I am the
>> custodian of that privilege. It is my responsibility to hold up my end of
>> the bargain. I knew what it was when I got the dog and I was confident in 
>> my
>> ability to hold up my end of the bargain throughout his working life. 
>> That's
>> why I signed my name on the line.
>>
>> I think making negative comments about any given program in a public 
>> forum
>> without first hand experience is wrong and only serves to tarnish the
>> program. If people have complaints so be it, but unless the complaints 
>> are coming directly from the people making them, the information has 
>> probably been spun and is most certainly one sided.
>>
>> I'm not sure why  anyone  sees fit to vilify any guide dog program. all 
>> the people that work so hard to provide us with these wonderful animals 
>> aren't doing it for the money. I'm fairly sure that the puppy raisers 
>> aren't pulling down huge salaries, and that  the trainers surely aren't 
>> earning six figures, I see that they are doing it because they are 
>> genuinely good people, and that they either have a passion for helping, 
>> or dogs, or both!
>>
>> Why is it that I see such a militant attitude with so much of the NFB? I 
>> know it's a strong advocacy group, but I personally don't want to be 
>> advocated for by a group that comes across so negatively. We've become a 
>> society of victims,  everything is always somebody else's fault and there 
>> is always someone out to get you, I see it in strangers and people I know 
>> and love. People have to start standing up for themselves again and 
>> taking responsibility for their own actions.
>>
>>    Bryan
>> -----
>>
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