[nagdu] FIDELCO ownership rights and other things.

Thu Feb 3 18:26:22 UTC 2011

Could those individuals tell you or come on list themselves and say what 
the situation is from their prospective?  There is a lot of vagueness still.
Brenda

On 2/3/2011 12:36 PM, Marion Gwizdala wrote:
> 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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