It is important to check breeders carefully before buying a puppy from them because import brokers often disguise themselves as loving and caring legitimate breeders of AKC pure bred French and English Bulldogs. We would like to cite the following example;

Trisha and Steven Slack, who imported puppies into southern California, advertised on their web site that “Our dogs are not raised in kennels. We strive for quality of health and sound temperament. Our dogs are bred to be non-aggressive. Our dogs come with an outstanding pedigree with emphasis on quality of health and sound temperament. Our dogs are  great with children & all other animals. Also, possessing awesome personalities. They make great companions & loving family dogs. We put health first, above all, when raising our dogs.” Keaton's Kennels. This website has since been removed from the Internet.   Sounds great, doesn't it?  As you read on the records tell a different story. Among other things, they didn't “raise” their dogs, they imported them, or at least an awful lot of them.

Disturbed and frustrated by the large volume of complaints received from heartbroken French Bulldog and Bulldog puppy buyers who purchased puppies from the Slacks, French Bulldog Rescue Network California State Contact, Rebecca Sazegar, reached out to animal control officer Willa Bagwell in the county where the Slacks resided and  respected animal advocate, Attorney John Hoffman for help.

We are quite certain John Hoffman had no idea that he would spend  the next few months and over 500 hours reviewing files, interviewing witnesses, and preparing statements for them to sign, writing to governmental authorities and speaking with them by telephone, and writing to newspapers and Internet web sites on which the Slacks were advertising, asking that the newspapers and Internet web sites stop running the Slacks’ ads because the Slacks were providing buyers with sick puppies, but he did, and he offered his services pro bono. 
 

During his initial investigation, John compiled station records from Los Angeles Airport that had been forwarded to Willa Bagwell that show the couple had been importing large numbers of young puppies and having them shipped on long flights from Eastern Europe.  Below are copies of the quarantine records:

We have found 8 court actions filed in Temecula, California against this couple since the beginning of 2004, all relating to their puppy sales. According to the online Court records, (a) the breeders settled one case by agreeing to pay the buyers $1,000 and to provide AKC papers, (b) judgment was entered against the breeders in 3 cases in the sums of $850, 1,577.50, and $3,310 respectively, plus court costs in each case. The remaining 4 cases had not yet come to trial when this piece was written.  

As a result of a unusual break, in December 2004, the Slacks’ former bookkeeper (a) provided Officer Bagwell with extensive computer records concerning the Slacks’ puppy business and their financial affairs, (b) allowed John Hoffman to interview her, and (c) provided us with a detailed sworn statement concerning the Slacks’ business and business practices.  But no one was prepared for what that interview would reveal. 

The information provided by the Slacks’ former bookkeeper indicated that they alone imported more than 300 puppies during the one year period from June 2003 through May 2004. The bookkeeper also provided email exchanges between broker and importer, and pictures of dead and dying puppies, all victims of the Slacks import puppy business.  The photos and email exchanges were necessary documentation in order to get free replacement puppies for the puppies that died shortly before or after arriving to the United States from the broker in Russia.