Attorney general: South Colton dog trainer must cease operations

CANTON — A state Supreme Court judge ruled Friday that a South Colton dog trainer either must comply with subpoenas or must come to court to invoke his Fifth Amendment right.

Jon C. Sabin, owner of Seizure Alert Dogs for Life Inc., has until Thursday to hand over business records.

The state attorney general’s office sent Mr. Sabin a cease-and-desist order Wednesday with five violations.

“Immediately cease and desist the illegal business practices of Seizure Alert Dogs for Life Inc. and advise within five days as to what steps your business has taken to remedy the ... deficiencies,” Deanna R. Nelson, assistant attorney general, wrote in underlined bold type.

According to the two-page letter, Mr. Sabin’s company is accused of failing to accurately disclose training protocols and negative dog history to clients. This includes dogs’ failed placements, health problems and aggression issues.

He is accused of deceptively promoting service dogs by inflating or fabricating their pedigrees, training and background. He allegedly deceptively represented the dogs’ level of training or their ability for service work by written, oral and other false representations. He also reportedly failed or refused to return money to customers once the deception was revealed or the animals failed do what was represented.

Mr. Sabin’s attorney says the attorney general’s charges are without merit.

“The order says to stop doing illegal things, but we’re not doing anything illegal,” said David P. Antonucci, Watertown. “I still don’t understand what they’re looking for.”

Mr. Antonucci said that Mr. Sabin’s company is open and that he has no intention of closing it.

An investigation started in December when families from Washington, Colorado, Kansas, Massachusetts and New York called the state attorney general’s office to complain that the dogs they purchased from Mr. Sabin did not alert them minutes before a seizure.

The German shepherds, which can cost from $10,000 to $20,000, are reportedly trained for epileptic patients who suffer from many seizures a day.

Ms. Nelson filed an order to show cause last month requiring Mr. Sabin to show reason in court Friday why he was not cooperating with the order. Mr. Sabin did not come to court but sent his attorney via conference call.

Mr. Antonucci said state Supreme Court Judge David R. Demarest wants Mr. Sabin to come to court.