Warmblood Import Nightmare

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

I do understand that this is a sad and terrible situation to read about. And my heart goes out to this horse, child, and family (who are no doubt experiencing a horrible financial hit). it sounds like an AWFUL experience to go through emotionally and financially. And the poor horse has been stalled for two months… only to likely be put down.

HOWEVER…

One quick glance at the trainer’s public FB posting today tells me that there is quite a bit to this whole story that is simply NOT readily apparent yet. I have no idea what - there are now some pretty serious allegations going back and forth now.

So before anyone piles on the USDA… pause. I’m not saying that their protocol might not need updating… however… it seems like there are other major issues going on that made this situation into the ultimate nightmare that it was for the horse, young rider, and her family. I don’t know why all this went so terribly wrong, but it seems like the trainer, jetpets and horseflight all had roles in it. It’s unclear as to what role each played… but something has gone way off track here.

[CanteringCarrot]

@ladyj79

it is, it is mandatory. the horse was tested using the euro approved more accurate test before export. he was negative.

Well, that’s a head scratcher. So, he contracted Glanders in flight? Or…

And why can’t they use the same rest on both ends. Or, simply, why can’t the US use this more accurate test?

I know the answers to these questions aren’t so straight forward.

[firecracker]

I have been silently following this since the initial post, and I was really hoping for a positive outcome. My heart goes out to all involved - especially poor Waffles and Gabby.

Initially, I had sympathy for Jet Pets. It appeared they were caught in the middle, stuck holding a suspect horse since the family would not ship the horse back and the horse could not be released. That said, out of curiosity I started reading through the public posts on the trainer’s Facebook page, and I was somewhat shocked to see a post by a Jet Pets representative denying the prices quoted by the trainer and accusing the trainer of lying. The trainer then responded with a screenshot of an email from Jet Pets confirming a day rate of $1,250 (screenshots attached with names blurred, although everything is public on Facebook for anyone that cares to see more details).

Seems like Jet Pets really needs to bring in a lawyer and/or a PR agency as this is story is gaining publicity. What a mess!!

[MHM]

Firecracker, that’s interesting in a bad way.

The whole situation is a disaster for everyone involved.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@firecracker

I have been silently following this since the initial post, and I was really hoping for a positive outcome. My heart goes out to all involved - especially poor Waffles and Gabby.

Initially, I had sympathy for Jet Pets. It appeared they were caught in the middle, stuck holding a suspect horse since the family would not ship the horse back and the horse could not be released. That said, out of curiosity I started reading through the public posts on the trainer’s Facebook page, and I was somewhat shocked to see a post by a Jet Pets representative denying the prices quoted by the trainer and accusing the trainer of lying. The trainer then responded with a screenshot of an email from Jet Pets confirming a day rate of $1,250 (screenshots attached with names blurred, although everything is public on Facebook for anyone that cares to see more details).

Seems like Jet Pets really needs to bring in a lawyer and/or a PR agency as this is story is gaining publicity. What a mess!!

Yeah… I’m seeing those posts as well. But the trainer’s posts raise lots of questions. The screenshots she is sharing are NOT detailed invoices. They are of e-mails. It does appear there was a discussion of raising rates… but we do not actually know what they have actually been charged at this time.

The trainer has alleged a lot of REALLY ugly things on the part of jet pets. Essentially, a conscious plan to overcharge everyone and essentially create this whole situation out of nothing, or conspire to gain ownership of this horse and resell it in Europe for personal profit. She’s alleged this multiple times in a variety of ways in multiple comments.

I have a hard time believing that they targeted this horse and this trainer and this family, and that this whole situation is some sort of shake down. It seems like if they wanted to run a scam like that… they would have targeted a higher priced horse or a higher net worth party involved as the owner of said horse.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@firecracker

The trainer also posted this comment within the last 24 hours as part of the discussion with Jet Pets about ongoing expenses and how this matter has been handled…

“ I will say right now, that I am willing to broker a deal with Jet Pets and Horseflight! If they would go in together and pay us 50k, we would sign the horse over to them, they can fly the horse back at cost and sell in Europe. My client and I can find an equitation horse stateside for the 50k. My client would be out 15k, and Jet Pets could make money. When Hireno flew in the entire plane, 22 horses total, were held at jet pets, which they invoiced over $100,000 for the 15 days…just an idea! My kid gets something, Hireno gets to live, and Jet Pets and Horseflight really don’t lose, but potentially make more money! Thoughts???”

I am unclear as to what Jet Pets did right or wrong… but this post just blows me away. We are not aware of the whole story about what is going on here, and in my opinion, there is a reason the USDA vet and staff requested no more contact from this trainer. Maybe her heart is in the right place… but this is not a professional way to handle this situation.

In the end… the horse and the clients will pay the biggest price for everyone who was supposed to be a “professional” watching out for them doing a questionable job of that. I’m not sure where the fault lies, but there is obviously a lot of blame to go around.

[firecracker]

@Virginia Horse Mom

Wow, that post from the trainer seems insane to me. I completely agree that it is unclear where the fault lies - it seems that mistakes have been made by many of the parties involved.

[cloudyandcallie]

I will boycott JetPets and tell everyone else to do so. That company also imports and exports dogs and other animals

Sonny Perdue is not your friend or the friend of any animals. The b*****d defeated my friend, the sitting governor, by promising to put the rebel flag back on the state flag. As his redneck voters said later, “Sonny lied .” And Sonny’s cousin David is the same. Don’t expect anyone in the USDA to help horse owners who haven’t donated big bucks to their Pacs.

Poor horse is going to die because our government is incompetent and doesn’t give a damn. His owners should be all over TV and filing in federalcourt for a TRO.

I’m in for a dribble if the owners can stop the killing.

[MHM]

@cloudyandcallie

Poor horse is going to die because our government is incompetent and doesn’t give a damn. His owners should be all over TV and filing in federalcourt for a TRO.

The Facebook post said they have been unable to get any interest from the local TV news, if anyone has any contacts there.

[Coanteen]

@firecracker

@Virginia Horse Mom
Wow, that post from the trainer seems insane to me. I completely agree that it is unclear where the fault lies - it seems that mistakes have been made by many of the parties involved.

I don’t think the trainer is helping in this case. This offer to have Jet Pets pay them for the horse seems weird. The GFM she started has next to no traction, FB friends are re-posting the GFM link in the comments on the trainer’s post which is like… ummm, useless, re-post it on your wall for crying out loud! So new people see it! But for the family of a 30 yr veteran, and an active military member, it ought to be getting more traction, and someone should be actively managing it (posting updates on it etc). There’s been no movement on it for 5 days.

But the comment from the Jet Pets rep is suspicious to me. The trainer, for all their social media-management faults, did post the email screenshot about the rates. I don’t think they’re lying about the increased day rates. I’ve seen company reps on social media post stuff like “give us a call/email us, we’ll fix this” when people post complaints, and in the very rare cases there’s follow-up from the complaining customer they say the company pretty much did nothing. It’s just to look good in a public setting.

[Bristol_Bay]

@cloudyandcallie

I will boycott JetPets and tell everyone else to do so. That company also imports and exports dogs and other animals

Sonny Perdue is not your friend or the friend of any animals. The b*****d defeated my friend, the sitting governor, by promising to put the rebel flag back on the state flag. As his redneck voters said later, “Sonny lied .” And Sonny’s cousin David is the same. Don’t expect anyone in the USDA to help horse owners who haven’t donated big bucks to their Pacs.

Poor horse is going to die because our government is incompetent and doesn’t give a damn. His owners should be all over TV and filing in federalcourt for a TRO.

I’m in for a dribble if the owners can stop the killing.

I’m making popcorn right now.

(and I agree with the sentiments expressed here)

[Denali6298]

I guess I don’t get the animosity towards JetPets. They received emails stating the day rates were going up and they agreed to them by during further testing.

I think the agent and trainer dropped the ball as it seems the family was unprepared for this rare possibility.

[Garythesquirrel]

@firecracker

I have been silently following this since the initial post, and I was really hoping for a positive outcome. My heart goes out to all involved - especially poor Waffles and Gabby.

Initially, I had sympathy for Jet Pets. It appeared they were caught in the middle, stuck holding a suspect horse since the family would not ship the horse back and the horse could not be released. That said, out of curiosity I started reading through the public posts on the trainer’s Facebook page, and I was somewhat shocked to see a post by a Jet Pets representative denying the prices quoted by the trainer and accusing the trainer of lying. The trainer then responded with a screenshot of an email from Jet Pets confirming a day rate of $1,250 (screenshots attached with names blurred, although everything is public on Facebook for anyone that cares to see more details).

Seems like Jet Pets really needs to bring in a lawyer and/or a PR agency as this is story is gaining publicity. What a mess!!

The screenshot of the Facebook post you attached has a different profile picture than the one Jetpets uses?

[firecracker]

@Garythesquirrel

The screenshot of the Facebook post you attached has a different user photo than the one Jetpets uses?

The comment came from the personal account of a woman that appears to be the wife of the owner of Jet Pets. I looked up her name real quick to verify her tie to Jet Pets and she is a Jet Pets corporate secretary, according to LinkedIn.

[Garythesquirrel]

@firecracker

The comment came from the personal account of a woman that appears to be the wife of the owner of Jet Pets. I looked up her name real quick to verify her tie to Jet Pets and she is a Jet Pets corporate secretary, according to LinkedIn.

Wow, that’s a very unprofessional post of hers.

[MHM]

Is there a Jet Pets Facebook page? I’m not seeing it.

[Jenerationx]

@MHM

Is there a Jet Pets Facebook page? I’m not seeing it.

https://www.facebook.com/Jetpets/

[Denali6298]

It appears they have shut down the page for LAX.

[Peggy]

@Jenerationx

https://www.facebook.com/Jetpets/

That may or may not be the correct page for the LAX one. Here’s the website for the LAX one - https://www.jetpets.com/

The logo is different. But I think the founders may be Australian and the link that Jenerationx posted was to one in Australia so maybe there’s a connection.

[Jenerationx]

Yeah. I can’t find any page for a US based Jet Pets on facebook. If you click on equine on the website Peggy posted, that is the person that commented on the trainer’s FB post claiming the extra charges is a lie, so that is the correct company on the website.