Urgent! GSDCA and WDA members: Contact your organizations ASAP! - Page 1

Was surfing the Universal Sieger webpage, and came to the page where all the info on the judges & helpers was listed...and what do I find there?

Holy sh*t. One of the 'WUSV helper candidates' for this event was Ray Jeffers. This guy should NEVER be permitted to do helper work for ANY working dog event, be it USCA, WDA, Ringsport, PPD or anything else--he has a history of neglecting dogs of his own as well as those belonging to others that he had accepted for boarding & training, as well as losing client's dogs. He starved a dog of his own damn near to death before the breeder of the dog finally traveled from the West Coast to North Carolina to repossess the dog and save it's life. Don't believe me? Read the threads, and contact the parties involved. If GSDCA-WDA is so much as CONSIDERING letting this scum set foot on the trial field they need to be made aware of what baggage this individual carries with him, and they need to know that there are people who will contact the WUSV well in advance of the event to protest any involvement with that trial by Ray Jeffers. He's the training director of a WDA club, for f****s sake?!?!? What the hell?

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/classifieds/62106.html

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/forum.read?mnr=244964-yikes-dont-let-your-dog-get-into-this-guys-hands

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/forum.read?mnr=207345-tear-jerker

Now, the first link above still comes up when you do a search here for Ray Jeffers, but when you try to display it you get the '404 not found' message. BUT, thanks to the Internet Wayback Machine, if you copy that first link and enter it into the search box on the Wayback Machine, and voila! there it is, captured twice in 2008 and twice again in 2009. The only thing missing there is the photo that was part of the ad, but luckily Sunsilver pulled a copy of the picture and posted it in the thread found at the third link above.  And I'll repost it here for good measure, too; this is what a young GSD bitch that had been sent to Jeffers for boarding, training and titling looked like when her owners retrieved her from him.  They met up with Jeffers at a trial he'd entered this bitch in--in this condition--and were appalled. Ya think?



Since I saw the info on the Universal Sieger website, I've since been informed by another member here that Jeffers is no longer just a candidate for selection-- Jeffers has been selected as one of the individuals who will get the chance to try out for a helper assignment at the WUSV 2013.  For this individual to share the venue, in any capacity, with the handlers, owners, helpers and fans of the dogs is an insult to those who really DO live up to the responsibility of properly caring for these animals.

I contacted John Wilhendorf, as he's listed as the contact person for event info for the Universal Sieger competition, and advised him of this despicable history Jeffers carries, but given that it wasn't one of my dogs any of this happened to [thank goodness! said every dog I've ever owned], he gives no credence to my complaint, and as I'm not a member of the GSDCA or WDA, I can't petition those organizations to disassociate themselves from Jeffers and reverse his selection to participate in the WUSV 2013 helper try-outs, either.  I provided Wilhendorf with the links above, but he stated flat-out that he considers anything posted here to be suspect at best.  I have reached out to the three women who posted their experiences with Jeffers on this site, and asked them to contact Wilhendorf and the organizations directly and provide them with their first-hand information, and I am asking all GSDCA and WDA and SV members to contact those organizations as well, and register their opposition to Jeffers participating in that event or any other dog sport event. 

John Wilhendorf can be contacted at the email address shown for him on the Universal Sieger website, wilhendorf@aol.com.  The contact person for the GSDCA and WDA is the 2013 WUSV World Championship Chair, Dan Yee, who can be reached at  DanYee.WDA@gmail.com.  The Secretary General of the WUSV is Clemens Lux, and his email is wusv@schaeferhunde.de; additionally, Martina Haussmann handles WUSV General Affairs, and can be reached at that same email address:  wusv@schaeferhunde.de.  Lastly, the Secretariat for the SV is Heike Hietsch, email address sekretariat@schaeferhunde.de.  

If you feel that someone who has neglected both his own dog as well as dogs belonging to others that were entrusted to him does NOT deserve the honor of trying out to be a helper at the World Championships, please make your position clear to the above organizations as soon as possible. October will be here sooner than we realize, and this is not the sort of thing that should be left to the last minute.  Had I known Jeffers was training director with a WDA-affiliate club and was doing helper work for the organization's national level events prior to this, I would have voiced objections and encouraged others to do the same, because I will never forget the pictures of Kathy Moacanin's Dex when she rescued him from Jeffers, nor the photo shown above of another dog subjected to starvation. He should not be permitted to simply walk away from such actions and have them forgotten simply because he's become politically active.

hexe, thank you for posting this. I am no longer a member of GSDCA or WDA, but I will contact them.

And I also invite our resident GSDCA apologist to chime in on this.

Rik

Reading back on the threds from '08 supplied by Hexe (thanks!),
it seems that at least some of the Clubs were aware of this bloke
and what he had done AT THAT TIME and still did nothing to help.
What makes you think they will start listening / act now, 5 years
later ?  Especially if he has managed to keep his nose clean &
name out of the papers for those years ?   Did he ever get the
election or appointment in Pearson County ?  Did he ever pay up
on judgements against him ?  Never seen so many Bumps on one
post before !   But they stopped before we heard any results ...

Hundmutter, yep, he's a big shot in his county, and considered a 'rising star' among the young politicians.  Is elected or appointed to a multitude of councils, committees and so forth; the fact that his family has farmed their property for over 100 years would certainly suggest that the family name carries some inherited influence within that community, county and up to the state level. That was one of the problems from the start--he was cozied up to the local law enforcement so there wasn't going to be much aid from that quarter when it came to addressing what he subjected those dogs to.  While I know that the USCA and their affiliate clubs were made aware of the situation back then, I can't say the same as far as GSDCA-WDA is concerned; it's possible that they were not made aware of these incidents, as Wilhendorf's response was one of surprise, with the statement that he's 'not aware of anything but exemplary behavior from Mr. Jeffers in his capacity with the GSDCA-WDA'.   That wouldn't be unusual, as it's unlikely Jeffers would have made that information known himself.

As to why I think the organizations might care NOW is simple: this involves a very prestigious international venue, and his participation in the try-outs carries implicit with that selection the 'blessing' of the GSDCA-WDA and the working GSD enthusiasts in the US, since he will be trying out as one of the 'nationals level helpers for GSDCA-WDA'. In short, he would be representative of the organization as a whole, not just of himself--and how can the GSDCA or the WDA branch of it justify allowing someone who it can be proven has neglected dogs to the point of starvation to serve as a proxy for those groups?  What message would permitting this project to the other member clubs of the WUSV?  If it isn't addressed in advance, and he ends up being selected for the trial,  the potential for embarassment on a huge scale is created should the truth of his prior actions become known during the event itself.  And as we all know, the working dog community is a rather incestuously small pool, so the chances of the facts remaining undercover are slim, now that he's raising his profile. He'd been doing a good job of flying under the radar, but reaching for this particular brass ring was probably not the way to remain under that radar.

I'll ask one single question...was he ever convicted of any dog related criminal charge(s) anywhere?  If the answer is no then if I were him I would find a way to sue your ass for this shit...if the answer is yes then he should be barred.


Keith

I'll  talk to Hexe privately, RIK.

I don't believe that anyone abusing or neglecting dogs belonging to them or entrusted to them by owners for "training" should be allowed to participate in ANY event. Period. Unfortunately they do and will and also even have their own clubs. Right here in NC there's one just up the road from me who is in that category, that I found out his ways through personal experience. Some of their followers believe the end justifies the means, so their evil ways will be enabled by them.

Who would that be, Joan?

I'll pm the info to you if you want, Elkoorr. But, really, it's my experience and if you are happy with who you are with, what difference? My point is, there are abusers in the 'sport' that are hidden the way family abusers are hidden...a picture perfect, happy outward appearance, that disguises the 'other side'.

As far as Ray's helper work he is one of the best if not the best I have seen in person.  I have not had any bad experiences with him to date and he has been honest and reliable in his dealings with me.  Ray is a county commissioner in Person County.  Person County is not a political powerhouse in NC politics so I doubt Ray will be running for Governor anytime soon.   Ray got a young dog (11 months) from me and as far as I can tell he treats his dogs well and handles them without undue physical or mental pressure.  I may not be thrilled with everything he does as far as feeding or training but there are as many opinions on that as there are owners and trainers.  I would be happy to have Ray Jeffers catching any dog of mine regardless of what he may or may not have done in the past as he is a reliable and talented helper or decoy.  I am a member of the GSDCA and GSDCA-WDA and I have no problem with Ray.