Parents of autistic children feel duped by puppy trainer

Frustrated by the lack of communication, the families started looking more closely at Animals for Autism (now based in Glenarm, Ill., near Springfield) and began sharing information. Among their discoveries:

The non-profit tax number Kaydus supplied to families for use at fundraisers is invalid. According to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Animals for Autism submitted an incomplete application in November and is not a registered non-profit.

Although Animals for Autism claimed 25 years of experience in training service dogs, parents could find only one family in possession of such a dog. When the Tribune asked to contact that family, Pepsi Refresh’s grant manager, Global Giving, said it couldn’t share their information.

The Pepsi Refresh voting site stated the grant would go to “train and place free service dogs with autistic kids,” but the terms of the grant do not require delivery of the dogs. According to Pepsi and Global Giving, the grant money may be spent on items that go “toward realizing the spirit of the grant,” such as building kennels, caring for the dogs and buying training tools.

Siberian Huskies are not ideal service dogs for young children. “They tend to be independent and were bred to pull sleds, not to please people like, for instance, golden retrievers,” said Toni Eames, president of the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners, a consumer advocacy group for people with service dogs.

Eams also said that only about 50 percent of the best-bred and -selected dogs graduate from service dog training. “You cannot possibly take 10 puppies and promise them as service dogs to 10 people,” she said. “It doesn’t work that way.”

Seeking explanations for these irregularities, parents say they called and wrote to Kaydus repeatedly in the summer and fall without any solid response. When they posted complaints on her Animals for Autism Facebook page, the site was taken offline, then restored in December without the comments. At press time it was unavailable again.

Kaydus did not respond to multiple requests from the Tribune to see the dogs or speak with her or her attorney.

Some parents involved said that, in retrospect, they felt they should have been more skeptical from the start. But they also wonder why Global Giving apparently didn’t detect or act upon the same red flags that parents found in a few hours on the Internet. Pepsi referred most of the Tribune’s questions to Global Giving.

“I really am struggling to understand why Global Giving is not demonstrating true corporate responsibility in this case and advocating for the families and most importantly the children involved,” said Ken Ristau of Ohio, whose family paid money to Kaydus for a pup named Hiro but later became one of the contest winners. “It is shameful.”

Global Giving says Kaydus has not violated any terms of their agreement.

“The way the program works is that people articulate their idea in one sentence. We then work with the winners to articulate a workplan and budget that supports achieving this goal,” said chief business officer Donna Callejon. “The goal was, and remains, delivering 10 service dogs at no cost to families with autistic members.”

Last month Global Giving representatives paid a site visit to Kaydus’ facility and urged her to reach out to the families. On Jan. 26, Kaydus posted an update letter on Facebook and emailed it to some families.

In the letter, Kaydus apologized for the long communication blackout, attributing it to bad Internet service, and said she still intends “to place the dogs beginning this spring.”

In Mount Orab, Ohio, contest winners Elizabeth and David Dewitt have tried to keep the faith even as their hopes faded that their son would ever meet Shadow the puppy.

“Samuel would walk around with that picture saying ‘my shadow, my shadow,’ ” Elizabeth Dewitt said, “but we have nothing to prove that Shadow exists. The same picture we have has shown up a couple of times on the Internet as another dog and we even saw his picture on a site for sale over the summer.”

Although another organization offered to sell the Dewitts a service dog that could be ready in about a year, they say they will remain in the Animals for Autism program, as did most other parents who spoke to the Tribune.

Still, Dewitt said she was disturbed that Kaydus did not address many of the families’ questions. “If she can’t answer a few questions, then it’s hard to believe she would be able to train a dog for our child,” Dewitt said.

In her Facebook post, Kaydus said she welcomed questions. But parents told the Tribune they have heard nothing from Kaydus since, despite submitting specific questions by telephone and email.

The Creightons decided in August to pull out of the program, telling Faith, now 8, that Bella needed to stay in school a while longer.

They also asked for their money back. After the Creightons were named winners in the Pepsi Refresh project, they had agreed to let Kaydus put the thousands of dollars in their account toward training a dog for a family that didn’t win.

According to the Creightons, Kaydus refused to refund the money, saying Pepsi would not allow it and that Bella would be unsuitable as a service dog for any other family because she was being specifically trained for them. Global Giving said Kaydus may not use grant money to pay the family back but could use other funds.

Asked what they think has been going on behind the scenes at Animals for Autism, most parents said they hope Kaydus had good intentions and got in over her head — but a part of them wonders if the project was a ploy.

Ristau of Ohio is among the strongest critics.

“Lea Kaydus has deceived at least 11 families in one of the worst possible ways, by taking advantage of our collective desire to help our children lead safe, healthy, and productive lives through a valuable and recognized therapeutic service,” he wrote in a message to the Tribune.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office says it is looking into several complaints about Kaydus. Eams, who said she has received calls about many similar operations, hopes the office will take action.

“Unfortunately people are desperate for a service dog and they don’t always want to wait or do all of their homework on an organization or a breed,” Eams said.

Another winner of a free dog, Candice Williams of Missouri, wrote in an email that “the hardest, most heart-wrenching part of this situation is telling my daughter whose disability already makes it difficult for her to cope that she isn’t going to get that four-legged best friend … that constant companion to stick by her side in the tough times as well as the joyous. It’s not fair. It’s not right.”