Rottweilers surrendered to Rotten Rottie Rescue in Gilbert

Rebekah L. Sanders | The Republic | azcentral.com

Courtesy of Shelly Froehlich

Shelly Froehlich's phone rang before she was awake.

The woman on the voicemail, Sylvia Shoen, said she had cancer and couldn't care for seven of her 10 dogs. Could Froehlich help?

The Gilbert resident was used to calls from people at odd hours wanting to surrender their rottweilers to her pet-adoption charity, Rotten Rottie Rescue. Froehlich had placed more than 750 of her favorite breed into new homes.

Feeling bad for the cancer patient, Froehlich waived the entire $600 surrender fee.

But it was tough to take in six puppies and their mother, Coco, at once. And Froehlich soon found out worse news: The dogs were sick and two were injured, requiring expensive medical treatment.

Then the rescue operator discovered who Sylvia Shoen actually was.

What followed over the next few weeks was a social-media showdown between Froehlich and her brigade of animal lovers and one of Arizona's richest couples, Joe and Sylvia Shoen of the U-Haul fortune.

U-Haul

The conflict was aggravated by profanity-laced insults, accusations of animal neglect and a demand for thousands of dollars in veterinary care.

Froehlich said she didn't want to escalate the situation, but claimed she had no other choice but to pressure the Shoens into covering the high cost of the surrendered dogs' care because of her rescue's limited resources.

"I did (Sylvia) a very big favor," Froehlich, 47, said. "She dumped seven dogs on me at the last minute. ... I used social media to shame them into doing the right thing. They changed their tune pretty quickly."

{{props.notification}} {{props.tag}} {{props.expression}} {{props.linkSubscribe.text}} {{#modules.acquisition.inline}}{{/modules.acquisition.inline}} ... Our reporting. Your stories. Get unlimited digital access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now

As a target of the social-media campaign, Joe Shoen sees it differently. He said Froehlich unleashed attacks on his family even as he did everything he could to quell a bewildering blow-up between two people with a soft spot for rottweilers.

"How my wife and this woman got off on such poor footing, I will never know. And I will not waste my time figuring out who did what, when," Shoen said. "They are both at least 40 years old, and they ought to act like adults."

Discovering the dogs were sick

When a Shoen family assistant dropped the dogs off on April 16, Froehlich was already caring for 10 adult rottweilers at her house, two more than she was typically comfortable with.

The assistant brought paperwork to show the dogs' purebred pedigree, Froehlich recalled, but didn't have other required forms such as medical records and an owner surrender sheet, which would explain reasons for giving the dogs up and the dogs' history of breeding, health and behavior.

Rebekah L. Sanders, The Republic | azcentral.com

Rotten Rottie Rescue outlines fees on a sliding scale for each surrendered dog on its website and owner surrender forms to cover the cost of vaccinations, spaying and neutering, testing for heart worms, microchipping and any other medical needs before adoption.

The rescue may waive the fee if the owner faces financial hardship.

Froehlich figured the Shoen family was strapped for cash given how serious Sylvia's description of her cancer was, so she agreed to waive the fee, she said.

Volunteers agreed to foster Coco, the 3-year-old mother, and Diesel, the smallest puppy, until "forever homes" could be found. Froehlich let the other five puppies loose in her own backyard.

But that same day, Froehlich and the foster families realized the dogs were not well.

They had diarrhea, according to vet records. Diesel was so dehydrated that Froehlich worried he might die.

Medical personnel ordered each dog to be treated for coccidia, an intestinal parasite that can thrive in areas with dog feces, records show. The dehydrated puppy stayed at the animal hospital for a day, receiving IV fluids, then lived in Froehlich's shower for a week, she said.

Another puppy, Bodhi, was found to have giardia, a parasite typically present in contaminated water, records show, so the whole family was treated for it.

When Froehlich called the Shoens' assistant, Froehlich learned the dogs had tested positive for giardia the week before they'd been dropped off. Vet records show they received medicine.

Records Froehlich obtained from the dogs' previous veterinarian showed some of the dogs had previously suffered from roundworm, mange and lacerations from getting hit by a car when they escaped the yard.

Froehlich also discovered the four 9-week-old puppies still hadn't received their first vaccinations, which are usually given at about six weeks, so she took care of that. And Coco had a hernia and needed to be spayed, she said.

Genetic disorder from possible inbreeding

The two 8-month-old puppies, Chanel and King Kong, had trouble walking. Their hind legs swayed and they struggled to get up from sitting.

Courtesy of Shelly Froehlich

Froehlich suspected the dogs were afflicted by a genetic disorder made worse by inbreeding once she saw on the pedigree papers that Coco had been been impregnated by her brother twice. The vet paperwork called the first litter "accidental inbreeding."

King Kong's hip was so distended that a vet at first thought it was a growth, Froehlich said. The vet decided King Kong's joint had been dislocated for so long, it couldn't be put back, she recalled.

When King Kong was born, he hadn't been able to walk for the first two months and the Shoens didn't do the physical therapy the vet prescribed, medical records showed.

Froehlich's vet diagnosed the puppies with severe hip issues, known as dysplasia, causing osteoarthritis and likely pain, medical records show. He recommended surgery.

Discovering Shoen's wealth

On top of the $1,300 Froehlich had spent on other medical appointments, according to receipts, she estimated the surgeries for Coco and King Kong could reach as much as $20,000.

There was no way her charity could afford that care, she said.

So she asked Sylvia Shoen to cover the bill.

Froehlich had learned the Shoens were rich from the volunteer caring for Coco. She had searched online for the phone number on the dog tag.

Froehlich sent Sylvia text messages over the next two weeks explaining the dogs' medical needs and begging her to pay the bills.

Froehlich recommended the Shoens pay the surgeon directly so they could make sure the money went where it was intended and take a tax deduction, treating the medical costs as a donation to the non-profit.

Without surgery, Froehlich warned, she might have to put King Kong down.

Michael Schennum/The Republic

"Nobody is going to adopt King Kong with the heavy medical expenses that he will need just to be able to live out his life pain free and happy," she wrote in the text message to Shoen. "I was shocked that a woman of your wealth would have staff that would let these dogs get into the shape that they are in. ... You certainly can afford (the surgery) though. You are a billionaire! As a breeder, that is your responsibility. You probably have a hand bag that costs more than what their surgery will cost. Please do this for them. I beg you. Don't force me to put them out of their misery when you can give them a good life."

Froehlich also threatened to shame Sylvia publicly if she didn't pay.

"I will make sure that EVERYBODY knows about your dirty little secrets, and they will hear about how you neglected them of the medical care that they needed, and how god awful skinny they were when they arrived, full of parasites and illness. Do you want that to be your legacy?" Froehlich asked. "If I post what you, a known billionaire, have done, it is going to spread like wildfire. ... If you choose to fix your mistake, then people will see you as hero."

Two weeks later, after Froehlich had sent several messages, Shoen replied, according to screenshots of texts that Froehlich provided. And she was angry.

"Crazy dog adoption lady trying to squeeze the Shoen's for $$$," Sylvia wrote, according to the screenshots of the texts to Froelich. "This B---h will never see a copper penny!"

So Froehlich did what she had promised. She turned to Facebook.

Courtesy of Shelly Froehlich

The post blistering the Shoens got more than 800 shares and nearly 300 comments. People attacked Sylvia and promised to boycott or write bad reviews of U-Haul. They tweeted at U-Haul and emailed and called the couple. Sylvia's personal cellphone was disconnected days after Froehlich shared the number publicly.

A few stood up for Sylvia Shoen, saying she had been through a brutal bout with cancer and had hired a caretaker who did not properly care for the dogs.

Two days later, Joe Shoen drove to Rotten Rottie Rescue to take the dogs back. Froehlich had suggested in texts to Sylvia and conversations with a Shoen assistant that the couple could take the dogs back if they didn't want to give her money for medical care.

But when Joe Shoen arrived, Froehlich had changed her mind.

She claimed she was concerned about the size and conditions of the Shoens' dog enclosure based on the puppies' illnesses and calls she said she received from people who had been to the couple's house.

Allowing the Shoens to take them back there? "I can't let that happen," Froehlich said.

Joe Shoen left her house, without the dogs.

"I was perplexed," he said.

The dogs have good accommodations at his home, Joe Shoen said.

This woman encouraged people to act in a vile manner. I've apologized to her several times. I have no intention of hurting anyone's feelings. ... It's not our way to be rude to people on purpose. Joe Shoen

"I only wish all people in the world had as nice a place as these dogs," he said. "They're hardly in dire straits. These are happy dogs."

He said he didn't know how the rottweilers had gotten the parasites Froehlich discovered but said it would have been easy for her to treat them.

"It's a mystery. Our dogs didn't have worms," he said. "Dogs get worms all the time."

He said he understood Rotten Rottie Rescue couldn't spend thousands on surgeries for Coco and King Kong. But he said his family's vet had not recommended surgery.

Joe Shoen said he tried to respond to calls and emails he received from Froehlich's supporters, but they were often rude.

"This woman encouraged people to act in a vile manner," he said. "I've apologized to her several times. I have no intention of hurting anyone's feelings. ... It's not our way to be rude to people on purpose."

He admitted his wife's profanity-laden text to Froehlich wasn't right.

But "you won't get as old as I am without getting called a b---h 100 times," he said. "It isn't the stuff you think you should lash out at."

Days after his visit, Shoen acceded to Froehlich's wishes.

She could keep the dogs, and he would cover the medical expenses, roughly $15,300 in total for the parasite treatments and hip surgery for both King Kong and Chanel.

Froehlich updated her Facebook followers with the news.

"I'm happy they finally stepped up," she told The Republic.

Shoen said his focus is supporting his wife in her recovery and raising their three children.

"She's trying to make sure she's alive to see her son graduate from high school," he said.

He thinks the conflict ultimately didn't have to do with dogs or money.

"It has to do with emotions and two ladies who love dogs who somehow got cross with each other," Joe Shoen said. "You've probably seen a lot of misunderstandings on social media. We'd all do well to count to three before we start (posting)."

READ MORE:

View | 10 Photos

Adoptable animals in the Valley