The owner of a North Carolina service dog training business has been found guilty on 50 counts of obtaining property by false pretense for selling improperly trained dogs.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said Mark Mathis, owner of Ry-Con Service Dogs in Wake County, must pay $353,000 in restitution to 50 families—many with special needs children—who bought Briard breed dogs that were often untrained, aggressive, and unhealthy.
Mathis is also banned from selling or training service animals.
Authorities say dozens of complaints about Ry-Con led to the investigation, and that the dogs were unfit for service work.
Jackson called the scheme a betrayal of trust that put vulnerable children at risk.
