Ahmet Tekeci’s Complaint

The Owner of Luca

My dog, bred by Staffturk Kennel, does not match the descriptions presented in videos or face-to-face meetings with the kennel owners. The misinformation regarding the breed sold by this kennel and the breeding of these dogs leads to the suffering of both the dogs and their owners.

On October 1, 2022, I adopted an English Staff puppy from Staffturk Kennel. For over a year, I had been following the videos and content shared on this company’s YouTube and Instagram accounts. However, during the first month of bringing the dog home, I realized that my experience was quite different from what was shown in the videos.

When I picked up the dog, they handed us 4-5 pills, saying, “It looks like it has sunstroke,” and suggested we give them to the dog. Additionally, when we received the dog, there were hairless patches and wounds on its tail, back, and neck. I immediately messaged Staffturk Kennel and was told to buy Oceral Spray and apply it. Trusting them (which was a mistake), I bought and started using it without questioning. I later found out that Oceral Spray is a medication used for treating fungal infections. The owners of Staffturk knowingly handed over the dog to us, fully aware that it had a fungal infection. Had this not been my first experience owning a dog, things could have turned out very differently.

About the Training and Health of English Staffordshire

Although the kennel claimed all their dogs were pad-trained, my dog had no such training. After spending a month with my dog, I realized something was wrong and messaged Staffturk Kennel. I informed them that my dog had severe itching, stool-eating, hair shedding, aggression, and urination problems. They responded with, “We understand your issues. Bring your dog to our kennel for a week, and we’ll try to solve the problems.”

I entrusted my Staffordshire, along with his food, toys, and bed, to Staffturk Kennel for a week. However, when I returned, I couldn’t get back the bed or toys, as they told me everything had been destroyed by my dog. When I asked why, they said that, as explained in the videos, my dog should be calm and well-behaved, and they suggested I hire a trainer to address the issues.

I later realized that the only reason for keeping my dog for a week was to reduce my stress, not to find a solution for my dog. Not only was there no improvement, but his issues became worse after returning home. During this time, no veterinarian had seen my dog, and the kennel owner had merely consulted a vet remotely to suggest some solutions.

In the following months, I tried to discuss the problems with Staffturk Kennel. Sometimes they didn’t answer my calls or respond to my messages. They dismissed me with excuses like, “We don’t have much time for the phone, we’re very busy, we’re not phone people.” Yet they didn’t hesitate to post statements on their Instagram page like, “Our job begins after we rehome the dog.” When they did respond, they offered generic replies rather than actual solutions.

I tried to help my dog improve by giving him extra attention. I hoped he would get better as he grew older, but things only got worse day by day. Finally, on August 23, 2023, I called them and said, “The English Staff dog I bought from you is nothing like what you described in the videos, and I’ve tried every possible solution for a year since he was a puppy.”

Staffturk Kennel realized the seriousness of the situation and, as before, offered, “Bring your dog to us for a week, and we’ll try to solve the problems.” I didn’t want this because I knew it wouldn’t lead to any solution, and my dog would be kept in a cage for a week and then returned to us with no improvement. However, when the kennel owner replied, “We’ll have a vet see the dog and solve the issues,” I agreed, solely for the sake of my dog’s health. When I went to pick up my dog after a week, his ears and the area around his eyes were bleeding from excessive scratching. The moment he saw us, he jumped on my 10-year-old cousin and scratched his face.

When I asked about the bleeding in my dog’s ears, they told me the vet hadn’t come. Yet, I had been promised that a vet would examine my dog. They said, “We’ll give you the vet’s address, you take him there, and we’ll talk to them so they won’t charge you.” We took the dog to the vet, who said he had a serious condition and quoted a cost of 7,500TL. Since my dog’s health was at stake, I paid the fee and began the treatment. We were already taking him to the vet every two weeks, so this wasn’t surprising to us.

By this point, I had lost all hope in this English Staffordshire kennel. They mislead people by showing 2-3 well-trained, award-winning dogs on camera and conveying the message that all their dogs are like that. They don’t care about the condition or behavior of the other 800 dogs they’ve bred. To placate dog owners, they say, “Bring your dog to our kennel, we’ll find a solution,” but they end up returning your dog in an even worse state. And when you confront them, they say things like, “Our legal responsibility ends 15 days after we hand over the dog.” In this way, they not only victimize dog owners but, more importantly, they victimize the dogs as well.

My English Staff has a completely independent personality. Contrary to what is said in the videos, he doesn’t enjoy spending time with his owner. He doesn’t get along with children as claimed. He is not a dog that can be safely kept around children because his sudden movements could harm someone at any moment. They claim he only sheds twice a year, but that’s far from the truth. Since I got him, the floors have been constantly covered in hair. I asked them, “Are the other dogs you’ve rehomed like this as well?” and they replied, “No, only yours is like this.”

The kennel owners have offered me several times to “rehoming the dog.” You might think this offer is absurd. While I was explaining the series of issues with my dog, the kennel owners seemed to assume that rehoming would solve all the problems. In reality, their only goal wasn’t to restore my dog’s health but to rid the dissatisfied owner of the problem. In this case, is the real aim to help the dog or to relieve the dog owner?

Date: September 11, 2023