1. January 7, 2011
Noah and Diana,
We are writing you this letter and sending it via text to have it made clear that we are not going to allow
you to extort or harass us anymore. Tonight you had our daughter so scared that she was hysterical and
Carrie was not able to even get out of bed to deal with the banging on our door, after the barrage of phone
calls. We have been more than willing to adopt Yoda, as we agreed to do on Sunday January 2, 2011, after
we saw on Saturday, January 1, 2011 that you are unable to care for him properly.
After calling on your ad that you had posted on Craigslist, after having two failed emails to you returned to
us, we spoke on the phone and you said that you had been flagged multiple times, and that you were aware
that it was because you were trying to sell him, which I explained to you was a violation of the sites terms
of use, and that you were not able to sell pets on Craigslist, as I have been an avid Craigslister for many
years. That same Saturday when we met our Yoda, at your house, we were clear that we needed to have a
trial period prior to committing to adopting him. We needed to make sure that not only was he a good
addition to us, but that we were a good forever home for him.
Never at any point on Saturday, and the conversations that we had at your home in person, nor when we
talked on the phone during Saturday and Sunday did you ever approach this adoption as a sale. You and I
talked about how happy Yoda was to be able to be out walking, getting really good food that would extend
his lifetime, and by us purchasing the bowls that you did not have that are needed to prevent several life
threatening conditions from eating out of anything other than the elevated food dishes that we purchased
since you had not already done so. Mike and I were not aware that we would be paying any re homing fee,
let alone the amount of money that you are trying to extort from us which is in violation of the terms of
usage that you agreed to when you posted the advertisement to Craigslist, and clearly violated by
demanding a price for the sale of a dog, which is expressly prohibited by Craigslist. (See
http://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use) for terms that you agreed to when you advertised the ad that
we answered on January 1, 2011.
We clearly felt that after you seeing that we were experienced in the care and handling of a giant breed dog,
with the pictures that we brought of Duke, our Great Dane, that you were willing to allow someone who
had the skill and desire to love and properly care for Yoda, which you were not able to do. If we had
thought that we would be buying a dog, we would not have used Craigslist, but would have gone through a
reputable breeder, or AKC sanctioned website. Nor would we have brought personal memories and photos
to let you see how wonderfully cared for Duke was prior to his death. We wouldn’t have shared the
personal memories with someone who was selling a pet, but rather we brought them to make your
surrender of Yoda, to us in the adoption a more eased transition. We don’t care of his pedigree nor of his
training that you have invested in but rather late in timing, and not all that efficient in reality, but rather
wanted to help you find a forever place for the dog you couldn’t keep, which is in our loving dog oriented
home. He is a commitment to us, not a purchase like you are wanting him to be. Yoda was kept in a cage
for the majority of his life with you, 12 hours while at work, and 8 hours while you slept, for a total of 20
hours in a cage that could not be considered humane given his size and lack of mobility. I was appalled at
the lack of essential items that you did not have for him when we went to leave with Yoda on Saturday. He
had NO FOOD, no food dishes (his size demands elevated feeding to avoid deadly consequences), and with
that being said, after hearing that you were overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for him properly,
we felt that you knew that it was in Yoda’s best interest to be placed where he would have a life that he
deserved to live, not being caged and kept as a possession. The only money that was ever discussed
between us prior to us deciding to adopt him, was Noah’s attempt to give us 50.00 to buy the food that you
didn’t have for him to eat that day. He eats 8-10 cups of food, and not having any food at all was quite
shocking. We told you no that we would be buying the food, as we were wanting to adopt him, if our dogs
were able to acclimate to him joining our family. That in and of itself, is proof that we were not buying him,
as we would have expected him to come with food, and additional items, but rather adopting him as we did.
We at no time discussed what you seem to feel is the price of this animals life 1,500.00, which you waited

2. until Monday to demand Saturday without any monetary agreement or even discussion prior to our
adoption and then he became our baby in the 3 days prior to your initiation of the demand for payment for
Yoda. There was not a single time that you mentioned that you wanted a re homing fee, nor the sale price
that you have been demanding since the 3rd day of our ownership of Yoda. We were not in any agreement
on any sort of cost associated with our rescuing Yoda and providing him with the care and love he deserves.
We had no written, expressed, oral, or any other type of communication regarding this. I would have to let
you know that you would never find anyone to pay that money for a dog that has not had the attention he
needs. He has skin tags on both of his elbows that you normally don’t see until the dogs are at least 7, but
are present before he is 2 due to the amount of time he was in the kennel without any movement for hours.
These are signs that perhaps we have additional medical issues that we will have to address.. I
have been in extremely poor health due to the injury I was honest in sharing and the severe pain has not
been helped by your demands for payment of an amount that you have harassingly and excessively
demanded from us well after we had finished our agreement that we would adopt Yoda, when I contacted
you Sunday after our walk. I am in extreme distress over your repeated attempts to get 1500.00 for Yoda,
or that you would take him from us, if we did not have the money for you by the date that you arbitrarily
decided was tonight. I will not allow Yoda, who now is our dog, and family to be returned to a cage to wait
to have you let him drink and out at your convenience, while he is neglected and lacking proper care. I have
been unable to deal with this situation due to my health, but will not allow this to continue. I am asking that
you stop this extortion at once, and allow our dog to be with us without the fear of you continuing this
illegal and immoral behavior. I suggest that you remember that you have a great home for the dog that you
couldn’t make a home for forever, and please allow us to take over where you left off, and be the family
that Yoda deserves to have. He is happy, healthy, and well cared for and we will be investing over 1000.00
dollars to have the x-rays and the neutering performed by our Vet, as well as the heartworm test and
medications that he is not on, but should be done. We will also be responsible for making sure that he is
seen and has his needed medical exams, and we will be more than happy to accept any of the paperwork
that you have, if you have found it, but if that is something that you feel you would not be willing to share,
we are fine without having it. It would be in Yoda’s best interest to have his genetic ancestry, in case of
genetic details that need to be taken back to his breeder for future litters, but we will not have any personal
use or gain from them as we will be having him neutered and will not use him as a stud or a show animal.
He will be loved and will never want for anything in our home, nor will he ever be confined to a cage for a
single moment.
Carrie & Mike