California: Dog trainer, Bob Taylor, at Winchester facility charged with animal cruelty

CALIFORNIA -- The owner and head trainer at a Winchester dog training facility was charged Wednesday, Jan. 25, with six felony counts of animal cruelty.

Court records show that an arrest warrant was issued for Robert Edwin Taylor (Robert Taylor), 66, of the Dog Wish Foundation. According to a Riverside County Department of Animal Services news release, Taylor was using "abusive techniques" to train dogs.

The Dog Wish Foundation, according to its website, provides people with Alzheimer's, post-traumatic stress and other disorders, with trained service dogs. The website says Taylor has been training dogs for about 40 years and has won several awards.

Dog Wish Foundation employees reached out to Animal Services officers regarding Taylor's techniques, the news release said. The employees videotaped Taylor using leashes "in a matter that appeared to be choking the animals," the news release said, and submitted the footage to authorities Oct. 25.

The footage also showed Taylor kicking the dogs when they wouldn't obey his commands.

Animal Services investigator Sgt. Lesley Huennekens, in her report for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, said one of the dogs was choked and kicked 17 times.

"The dogs would scream and thrash on the ground from pain and fear," Huennekens said in the report.

Two days after the footage was submitted, the officers served a search warrant a the facility. Officers didn't seize any animals, since they appeared to be in healthy condition and the property was reasonably maintained, the news release said. None of the dogs appeared to be injured.

"They came out here but didn't do anything," Taylor told City News Service. "This does come as a surprise to me. They never responded to anything that I communicated."

Taylor, whose conversation with CNS was cut short by his wife, said he was not aware that he'd been charged with five felony counts of animal cruelty until today's phone call.

Despite the facility being up to code and the dogs being healthy, the video footage prompted Huennekens to continue the investigation and push for charges to be filed.

NOT FIRST TIME CHARGED WITH ANIMAL CRUELTY
This is not the first time Taylor has been accused of mistreating dogs. In 1989, he pleaded no contest to running a "guard dog" training facility without a license in exchange for the animal cruelty charge against him to be dropped.

"There are proper ways to train dogs," Huennekens said. "We do not believe (Taylor's) methods would be viewed by any reasonable trainer as suitable."

When Taylor is arraigned, the Department of Animal Services will ask the judge to mandate that Taylor does not interact with any dogs until the case is adjudicated, the news release said.

PREVIOUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT BOB TAYLOR

BEWARE OF THIS MAN. HE IS A LIAR AND A CHEAT...We purchased two service dogs from Bob Taylor, not only were they not service dogs but he abused my son's dog. The Male dog is still scared to death of people. The female has shoulder and hip problems so bad that the vet told us she will not live another 2 years. He promised all these things and required payment up front. We paid him 15,000.00 and believed him when he told us all the crap he feeds to everyone. We should have done our research and checked with the attorney generals office. He is not certified to train service dogs. We now have two German shepherds and neither one of them can do service. It is sad that he still can smooth talk his way into lives of families that struggle everyday and now I see he is going after senior citizens. BEWARE OF THIS MAN AND HIS PROMISES. He told one mother when he was with them in their home that he has been sued some many times it does not bother him anymore.

I too was scammed by this jerk. I trusted him with my family's beloved puppy who after an initial visit told me he could train the dog to be good with my children. Weeks later and alot of money later when we brought our dog home, it was not the same dog we left in his care. I honestly believe they abused our dog, as he was skidish and a day later bit my child in front of me for reaching her hand to pet him on the head. My child is lucky to have vision and no major injuries. But the emotional trauma our family went through when we had to give our dog to live on in tree yard and never see him again. I still miss him. The money was another issue, and I blame the judge who obviously was either crooked our uncaring as to not rule in our favor.

Never ever trust this man with an animal and if best train along side your dog at all times.

I got another dog and someone came out and showed me how to train our dog with great success. I am now confident with what I have learned. It is unfortunate I had to learn a lesson the hard way.

We had a dog who i loved and cared about and we sent him to dumb ### bob for training he came back super skittish. I was ten years old when he came back and he wouldnt allow me to touch him. Before we sent him to his stupid training camp i was sick. I had a really bad flu and my little dog sat on my lap all night long. It was like he was protecting me! From that point on i was attached to him and loved him with all my heart. So after dumbass bobs dumbass training camp my poor little puppy, who was abused by this dumbass, bit my baby sister on the eye. It was bloody and bruised. We had no choice but to put him down. Now my mom complained on a different site and bob called her a liar! BOB IF YOU READ THIS I AM TRULY PISSED OFF!!!

Bob Taylor is a complete con artist. We had a horrible experience with this man ultimately ending up in him stealing $2k from us which we gave as a down payment on a seizure dog and him claiming bankruptcy to get out of paying us over $40k a judge awarded us when my 5 year old daughter was bit on his property by one of his dogs. Steer clear of this man and never take anything he says as an honest description of whatever he is trying to sell you on himself. He is truly a horrible man. It makes me sick to see how many people he has scammed out of thousands of dollars.

Bob Taylor is a fraud. He has no legitimate and verifiable credentials. He told us, after watching a video of me working with our severely disabled son, that everything I was doing was wrong. I was initially crushed, but soon realized that his man was giving a completely uninformed opinion. He plays with the minds of clients. Just read one of his so called "books" where he describes how he pushed a woman with a mental illness into full recovery! He harassed me on the phone several times, being very rude. He then would call back and tell my husband that he was purposefully upsetting me. To what end, I am not sure. He was very apologetic following the 2 incidents where he was purposefully upsetting me. He is a major con artist and preys on the most vulnerable people.

(The Press-Enterprise - Jan 27, 2017)

Earlier:

• California: Guard dog Trainer Bob Taylor has animal cruelty charge dropped in exchange for plea deal