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 Linda Thomas
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Taking a puppy away from an autistic girl

February 20, 2012 @ 4:24 pm (Updated: 11:02 am - 2/21/12 )

Faith Creighton of Silverdale, Washington has a lot to deal with.

Faith The eight-year-old girl has mild Cerebral Palsy, Autism, multiple life-threatening allergies, left ventricle hardening of her heart, reduced kidney function, and Familial Mediterranean Fever Syndrome.

Faith tires easily and has difficulty navigating uneven terrain and stairs. She also gets unnerved by anything that's out of her routine, so it's challenging for her to make transitions from one activity to the next.

Faith's mom and dad thought a service dog would help and her in several ways.

A dog could give her stability while trying to move around and retrieve a dropped item. The animal could provide emotional support by interrupting self-harming behavior and alerting others of wandering.

Companionship and a constant calming presence would be the greatest benefits of all. So, one year ago the Creightons started searching for a dog for Faith.

They came across the Animals for Autism program run by Siberian Snow Babies based in Illinois. The fees required by this organization were significantly less than that of many of the other larger national service dog training organizations out there.

"This seemed to be the break we needed," says James Creighton, Faith's father. "Their web site made a point that there would be continuous contact throughout the training process, with trainers calling regularly to learn more about the specific needs of the recipient. They claimed to work almost exclusively with Siberian Huskies from AKC championship bloodlines that were donated from contacts they had made during their show dog days."

The Creighton's submitted an application on April 11, 2011 and were "very happy to hear" they were accepted into the program."

"We received our initial training plan and our payment," says Creighton, "We made our first payment of $750 according to their payment schedule on April 19, 2011."

The Creighton's continued their payments, and were told to expect the typical cost of this kind of service animal adoption would run around $15,000. They asked the Animals for Autism program to send pictures and video of the service dog in training, so they could use that as part of a personal fundraiser to raise money for Faith's dog. The organization told the family their computer was hit by a virus, and as a result they would not be able to send photos.

"Our requests for more detailed updates on training status and pictures were met with 'we are too busy working on the Pepsi grant at the moment, maybe later,'" Creighton says.

Bella By mid-July of last year, they finally received some high-resolution photos of their puppy "Bella."

Creighton, who is a U.S. Navy electronics technician chief based at Bangor, noticed something wasn't right. The electronic imprint on all three photos showed that they were taken in May of 2007. They were told the puppy was born in 2011 and was about six months old.

He contacted Lea Kaydus about the possibility of a visit to see the new facility they are constructing and meet "our" service dog in training. We were informed that our visit might be possible after the new facility is completed but not before.

His heart sank. That was one red flag too many.

He checked with the Illinois Secretary of State web site to verify the business. They were not listed.

He called the IRS to check the tax ID number. It did not belong to Animals for Autism or Siberian Snow Babies. Neither organization had applied for non-profit status, and their websites have since been taken down.

Although Animals for Autism claimed 25 years of experience in training service dogs, other parents who started to ask about the animals could only find one family in possession of a trained dog.

The Creightons had made $2,250 in payments already. Trying to cut their losses, they requested a refund. The Animals for Autism owner, Lea Kaydus, told them any refund would be up to Pepsi because their grant sponsored the program.

Creighton has done everything to try to track down his money, and more importantly, the service animal he hoped would help his daughter.

He filed a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General of Illinois, and with their local Better Business Bureau. Lea Kaydus has been served with a subpoena to appear and provide information, and has not returned my calls for information on this case.

GlobalGiving.org administers a $50,000 grant Kaydus received to train service animals. They admit there have been "communications problems" but they do not believe the program she is running is a "scam."

"I do believe that they are out to defraud those who can least afford it," Creighton says.

By Linda Thomas

Photos courtesy James Creighton

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (17)


  • Add A Comment

  • messiah101 wrote...
    When you called Pepsi
    February 20, 2012 4:04 pm
    What did they tell you about this organization?How did the family "come accross the animals for autism program"?Has the family showed you the cancelled checks to Siberian Snow Babies?It sounds as if Mr Creighton has a good job why is it he expects other to pay for his childs dog?
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  • TheNewsChick wrote...
    Messiah
    February 20, 2012 4:10 pm
    Pepsi passes this off to GivingGlobal and I'm waiting for a return call/email from them. I'll pursue that in the morning. Tough to get anyone on the holiday. As for Mr. Creighton, he is not asking for others to pay for his child's dog. He went through what he thought was a legitimate organization to get a service dog for his little girl. All of his claims have been documented.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • AutumGirl wrote...
    The continued story
    February 20, 2012 4:19 pm
    Please take a few minutes to read these blogs, links, and news articles because there is alot to this story that is not here! http://www.mommyrambles.com/2012/02/08/all-in-one-place-animals-for-autism-the-pepsi-mess/
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  • Kirsten07734 wrote...
    the parents didn't ask for a handout
    February 21, 2012 12:08 pm
    They were making payments, which this person kept and yet is not providing the service promised in return for the money paid. Why should the Creighton family fund this person on top of the $50,000 Pepsi donated for just sitting on her butt and defrauding people with faked documentation and a bunch of lies? A friend of mine was ripped off by her too. In fact, I know of at least four families in the same position as the Creighton family, all with the same scammer. This is not typical behavior for a real service dog program.
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  • SnoqualmiePhil wrote...
    Messiah...
    February 21, 2012 1:03 pm
    Have you ever calculated the amount of money it takes to raise an disabled child? You might want to do your homework before insinuating that the "family" may not have the right to raise money. How about you know what you are talking about if you want to talk.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Phil
    February 21, 2012 2:23 pm
    The Father has a good job with the US Government and his job includes excellent insurance which I would guess covers the child.
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  • CH wrote...
    * Taking a puppy away from an autistic girl . . . .
    February 20, 2012 6:25 pm
    how do you take away something you never got? She has a dog now. Get Jesse King 5 all over the story!
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  • Momistired wrote...
    We got Jesse. :)
    February 20, 2012 7:47 pm
    Faith does have a dog, she has an emotional support dog, but her dog does not have public access rights that are granted to service dogs. We are still pursuing the possibility of getting her a fully trained service dog, but we can not move forward with that until we get our money back. And yes, we got Jesse. The segment ran on January 17th. http://www.king5.com/news/get-jesse/Family-promised--137486668.html
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • MmMerrifield wrote...
    what does a dog need?
    February 21, 2012 3:39 pm
    buy a service dog vest for your dog, as long as they are very well behaved who's gonna stop you from bringing your dog along?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nickatnyt wrote...
    How about a personal visit?
    February 20, 2012 8:57 pm
    With the local sheriff, local TV news crew, or lawyer in tow? I would think that the scumbags would gladly give back the $2,250 to avoid that kind of embarrassment. I'm also a little amazed that a local (as in WA) group could not come up with a recognized service animal for $15k.
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  • Momistired wrote...
    @nickatnyt
    February 20, 2012 9:46 pm
    Two news crew have attempted. The Chicago Tribune got a couple shots of a dog in a yucky kennel before they were chased off the property. Here is the link that includes the picture. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-autism-service-dogs-20120208,0,7343554.story
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    A special place in hell thar be,
    February 20, 2012 9:16 pm
    for scalliwags and soulless bandits who prey upon the weakest and most vulnerable.

    The people behind this scam would have to climb a long ladder to get a good look at whale poop. What happened here is painfully simple- some con fool realized that the Creighton's were emotionally vulnerable with respect to their daughter's condition. He rode that vulnerability to a $2,250 payday, from this family alone. Who knows how many families, in how many states, have been swindled by the same operator. Some would defend his actions as "the free market at work, caveat emptor". Screw the free market, to the degree that it enables any black-hearted opportunist to steal from unsuspecting victims.

    Bob Dylan had a good thought, in "Masters of War"....he wrote, "And I want you to know, when your death takes its toll, all the money you've made will not buy back your soul."

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  • vashonmatt wrote...
    Linda
    February 20, 2012 9:56 pm
    I doubted you in the beginning, but I really believe that you, and only you will save this site from It's own downfall.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Town&country wrote...
    Puppymill
    February 21, 2012 5:18 am
    Unfortunately not only were the families scammed by Lea Kaydus, but Pepsi and Global Giving have been scammed as well. A quick internet search shows that Lea is NOT a dog trainer. According to her LinkedIn account she is an unemployed bookkeeper (unemployed since 2009). More internet searching shows that she advertises her puppies on PuppyFind. Everyone in the dog world knows that PuppyFind is where all of the back yard breeders and puppymillers sell their dogs. Global Giving claims that the money is going to build a "facility". GG just helped to build a puppymiller a bigger and better facility to breed more and more dogs. Pepsi is now involved in the puppymill business. Great job.
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  • hpygolkyone wrote...
    Matt..........
    February 21, 2012 7:02 am
    It took me about 30 seconds to process your post......and then the 25Watt bulb went off in my head!

    I agree completely.

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  • CH wrote...
    * Scammers take puppy dream away from autistic girl . . . .
    February 21, 2012 12:38 pm
    Wait till they tell her about Santa Claws.
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  • MmMerrifield wrote...
    Here's who they need to go to.
    February 21, 2012 3:51 pm
    This guy is one of the best for raising Rottweilers(an admirable dog IMO) http://www.redwoodkrest.com/services/center/index.html He's pricey but you get your money's worth and his facility can be driven to ;)
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