Women connected to fraudulent dog training business plead guilty to theft charges
Feb. 28—Two women who were charged connected to a scheme involving a fraudulent dog training business that abused and neglected animals have pleaded guilty in agreements filed Friday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
Tabatha Taverna, 48, and Jennifer Long, 40, both pleaded no contest to indicted theft charges, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office. Taverna was charged with three counts of theft, while Long was charged with four counts.
Additional charges of cruelty to companion animals, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and theft from an elderly or disabled person were dismissed, the prosecutor's office said.
The pair were charged along with Jason Thomas Jones, 45, connected to Dayton Dog Trainer, a business owned and operated by Jones that claimed to provide obedience training for dogs and support animal training.
A lengthy investigation by the Miamisburg Police Department found that after owners paid thousands of dollars, the animals were returned untrained, often covered in feces and with obvious signs of neglect and maltreatment, according to Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr.
The investigation started after Randy Reed of Miamisburg hired Jones to train his two 6-month-old bernedoodles, Emmy and Bailey, at the cost of $4,000. Two weeks into a contracted month of training, Reed said that he found the dogs at Jones' property staked out in a field, filthy with a rash and clear weight loss. He didn't bring the dogs back for a second two-week session and didn't get his money back for the second two weeks.
He then took to social media and found a dozen people with similar experiences, then took that information to the Miamisburg Police Department.
In all, police found more than 65 dog owners who paid the business more than $200,000.
Victims include Melissa McClure of Springfield and her French bulldog Tater, who spent five weeks with the business because the dog had an issue with small children and other dogs.
When the dog was returned, McClure said that he was dirty, stank, had hair missing in patches, was noticeably thinner and appeared to have had his teeth filed down.
They also include Dale and Mary Beth Kidd of Washington Twp., who left their 2-year-old European German shepherd Nico with the business due to a problem with barking at other dogs.
After weeks at the training business, the dog's behavior worsened, and he snapped at the couple's niece. They sent the dog back for more training, and he became even worse, becoming frightened and aggressive and attacking the niece again.
Jones pleaded guilty last month to a total of 181 charges, including theft, theft from the elderly/disabled, cruelty to companion animals, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and failure to file state income tax. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 14.
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