Trainer accused of charging thousands for ‘service dogs’ that fought dogs and bit people
Families who bought service dogs for thousands of dollars complained the dogs were fighting and biting. Now, the man who ran the nonprofit organization that sold the dogs has been indicted, according to a press release from the state attorney general’s office.
Mark Mathis was indicted Tuesday on 42 counts of obtaining property by false pretense in a Wake County Superior Court.
Mathis was the president and executive director of Ry-Con, an Apex nonprofit that said it trained service dogs for people with medical and developmental needs, including autism, the release said.
But families who bought the dogs complained that they fought with other dogs and bit family members, the release said. Mathis knew the dogs were not adequately trained to be service dogs, Attorney General Josh Stein alleged in the release.
Mathis charged from $4,500 to $16,710 for the dogs, the release said. “By knowing the breed, and knowing the disability, we can best set up the family and the dog for success,” Mathis said in a 2017 interview with The News & Observer. Mathis and Ry-Con were featured in a story about a family who had set up a GoFundMe campaign to try to raise $12,500 to help cover the cost of the dog.
Stein’s Consumer Protection Division received more than 50 complaints about Ry-Con, according to the press release.
Ry-Con
Mathis claimed in the 2017 interview that he started Ry-Con after he saw the positive effect a service dog had on his son, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 2.
In a May 2017 press release, Mathis said Ry-Con was the largest provider of autism service dogs on the East Coast and had a 100% success rate, according to The Associated Press.
A family asking for a refund from Ry-Con sued Mathis and won in November 2017.
The Apex-based nonprofit shut down in November 2018 due to “issues with accounts receivables, and a select number of recently returned dogs and the unfortunate response that followed,” according to The AP.