Chapman Kennels vs Gail Benoit & Dana Bailey

There's an article in today's Chronicle Herald where Noemi Chapman says she wasn't responsible for the sick puppies that the Benoit's sold to unsuspecting customers in the last week - and on CTV news Dana Bailey said that they had 12 of the puppies die on themselves as well - so that's 18 puppies of the 37 puppies died. Noemi Chapman said she couldn't guarantee the puppies because the Benoit's were taking them without taking the mothers as well - and the puppies still needed them.

So obviously the puppies were as young as 3 - and I hope not, but maybe 2 weeks old. But probably about 3-4 weeks old.

So this is what I think happened. The Benoits knew that Chapman kennels was having a sale on puppies - so they figured they could have a landfall payout this summer. As I said in a previous post they paid $100 for each of those 37 puppies - and they stood to make at a minimum $20,500 if they had all lived.

But I don't think that even the Benoit's were used to taking 37 puppies all at once. That's a lot of product to get rid of - and probably the way that the Benoit's treat their product before they sell it isn't very good - they were probably just putting kibble, or at best - soft food - in the box where they kept the puppies - and were expecting them to eat it. No formula like they promised, no bottle feeding - that's too much work.

So now we're 2 weeks into the debacle - 2 weeks away from their Mom's that they were taken from way too soon - and they're starting to die like flies - they're dehydrated, they're starving to death - they're doing what any baby would do when they've been separated from the only source of nutrition that they can metabolize at this point in their life - die.

And so here we are today with the circus that has become Dana Bailey and Gail Benoit's lovely professional life. They got very greedy - and hopefully this will finally have some impact on their bottom line. And also affect the professional business of "Chapman's Kennels" as well.

I'd be willing to bet money that as each of those dying puppies were sold, the minute the doors to their van shut - the Benoit's were wiping their foreheads going - thank God we got rid of that one - another couple of hours and that thing would've been dead and we wouldn't of gotten any money out of it!"

If that couple are anything - they are master salespeople - they've been in this business since 1992 some people have told me - so they've had 16 years to hone their skills - they have an answer for every sign of illness that a puppy could possibly present themselves with.

I'm not sure how we can change people's minds like the Benoit's about companion animals. We say that the way to stop puppy mills and brokers is by legislation and not buying their product - but maybe we should also try and change their minds too - wonder why they can't see the suffering they cause, and try to find some way to show them how to be more humane. It would be a lot easier to have treated those puppies in a healthy way, and kept them healthy - so why didn't they? That's a question only the Benoit's can answer.

Here's the Chronicle Herald article:

N.B. breeder: Not my fault puppies died

By KRISTEN LIPSCOMBE Staff Reporter
Mon. Jul 28 - 5:23 AM

New Brunswick breeder Noemi Chapman says finding out that several of her puppies died shortly after selling them to someone she thought ran a legitimate business was "a terrible surprise."

She defended her business, Chapman Kennels, over the phone from her Kilburn, N.B. home on Sunday night, saying she wasn’t responsible for the sick pups recently sold to a Nova Scotia woman, who in turn charged residents here several hundred dollars each for the animals.

Within the last couple of weeks, at least a half dozen puppies have died within hours of being sold by Gail Benoit of the Digby area.

Ms. Benoit recently blamed the New Brunswick business for the puppies’ poor health.

Ms. Chapman, however, said it "broke my heart" to hear about the deaths of the puppies. She said she was sure Ms. Benoit would care for the dogs and that they were healthy when she sold them.

"When she left here she left me a phone number because I want to keep track of my babies," she said. "When I tried to phone her, after a week . . . the phone number she gave me was the wrong one."

Ms. Chapman said she initially promised to make a deal with Ms. Benoit as long as the puppy seller also bought the puppies’ mother, because they weren’t ready to be separated at that time.

"She said, ‘look, I can’t take the mother’ and I said ‘no, that’s not a deal because the babies still need them,’ " she said. "So she turns around and makes me another offer."

Although she was at first unsure whether to accept the new offer, Ms. Chapman said she trusted Ms. Benoit, who assured her she had decades of experience with dogs and promised to buy formula and other necessary supplies on her way back to Nova Scotia.

"I said ‘look, if that is the case, you know what you’re doing,’ " Ms. Chapman said. "‘But one thing — I can’t guarantee those babies. You take the responsibility.’ "

Ms. Benoit, meanwhile, claims she was "roped in" by Chapman Kennels of Perth-Andover, N.B., telling The Chronicle Herald last Friday that she "had no indication" they were sick when she sold them.

Ms. Benoit said that the New Brunswick breeder was selling "tons of dogs" for "good deals." She also told CTV News she would reimburse the families who had lost their puppies — after getting her own cash back from Chapman Kennels.