APEX, N.C. (AP) - A man who ran a nonprofit in North Carolina that sold service dogs to people with disabilities is now facing criminal charges over allegations that the dogs were poorly trained and had problems fighting with other dogs or biting people.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said in a statement on Tuesday that Mark Mathis was indicted in Wake County on 42 counts of obtaining property by false pretense.
Mathis, a biotech engineer, founded Ry-Con after his older son, who is autistic, was successfully paired with a service dog. In a May 2017 news release, Mathis claimed that Ry-Con - based in Apex, just southwest of Raleigh - was the largest provider of autism service dogs on the East Coast and boasted a “100% success rate.
Stein alleges that Mathis knew that the dogs were not adequately trained. People paid anywhere from $4,500 to $16,710 for Ry-Con service dogs.
Some customers claimed they arrived at Ry-Con to find dogs emaciated, skittish and matted with urine and feces. Many said their pups lunged and nipped at children and other animals, weren’t housetrained and could not respond to basic commands.
It’s unclear if Mathis has an attorney. He did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
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