Heaven Scent Paws Lawsuit Update

From Service Dog Training

Some time back, I posted about the lawsuit that the Missouri attorney general had filed against the diabetic alert dog school Heaven Scent Paws and its owner, Michele Reinkemeyer. A variety of charges were brought in the lawsuit, most notably that many of the dogs could not alert to diabetic lows as advertised, and many of the dogs were unsuitable as service dogs due to temperament problems ranging from aggression and biting to extreme fearfulness. The recipients of these dogs were not given refunds when their dogs proved to be unsuitable, unsafe, or too poorly trained for service dog work, because Heaven Scent Paws claimed that the money that exchanged hands was a donation to the school and not a fee to purchase the dog. Heaven Scent Paws also claimed that all of the problems with the dogs were caused by poor handling on the part of the new handlers, despite outside experts confirming the dogs had no chance of becoming effective service dogs. You can see the text of the attorney general’s complaint here: http://ago.mo.gov/newsreleases/2008/pdf/HSP.pdf

After dragging on for over two years, the case was finally heard in court. It came as no surprise to those following the case that the attorney general won the lawsuit, and Heaven Scent Paws is now out of business permanently. The results of the case were, in summary:

• Heaven Scent Paws and Michele Reinkemeyer are permanently prohibited from working with diabetic alert dogs in the future.
• They are prohibited from trying to reclaim or claim ownership of dogs they have already placed.
• They must pay restitution in the amount of $192,216.56 to repay those who filed complaints against the school.
• They must pay the state of Missouri $5,000.00 for attorney fees and costs.

Hopefully this case will serve as a warning for other schools that may try to operate in the manner Heaven Scent Paws did. I’m working on getting a copy of the full judgment, and I will update again when I have read over the entire document.

--Tiffany Huggard-Lee 14:19, 22 August 2010 (CDT)