In June of 2021, I reached out to Doreen upon finding her in a reputable NE Dachshund breeder Facebook group. I vetted her social media, website, and testimonies posted on her site. I concluded that she must be a great breeder given her extensive following, numerous AKC championships, and celebrity endorsements. At the time, I was on a handful of waitlists from other local breeders. She was the only person on my list who had puppies available to go home immediately, and truth be told, I think I had my mind made up before I ever even spoke with her. That was my first mistake.
When I called her, she immediately asked me for my budget and degraded me when I told her I wanted to spend around $2500 (which by the way, was the average going rate on all of the other lists I had been on in my area). She made a comment about my voice on the phone and concluded that I must be a young, naive girl who couldn't afford her prices. In hindsight, if that's how she really felt, she should've also asked me what my living situation was like and what my plan was to care for this puppy after I brought him home. While all of those other "inferior" breeders vetted me, she did not ask me questions about my living arrangements or home life. Instead, she asked me questions about the other breeders I was dealing with, and had a long discussion with me about genetics and how any breeder who is ethically breeding these puppies would never be able to sell them for a decent profit at that price. She seemed to know what she was talking about, so I went along with it.
Fast forward through about a week of back and fourth, she offered me a discounted! price of $5000 for a 12 week old "leftover" without a health guarantee, which I agreed to. (This puppy is whom I had been eyeing the whole time) I could have opted for a health guarantee for an additional $1500 which also included a welcome home kit, but why should I need that if her puppies are the best of the best? I accepted her offer, and picked the puppy up from her daughter Ashley at their home in East Meredith, NY because she told me she was in the process of moving. By the way, this property was gorgeous. They had a huge compound on numerous acres of land, and the transaction took place on their front porch. I was never invited inside to meet the other puppies or his parents, but nothing seemed unusual at this point, so I happily left with my puppy whom I decided to name Pablo.
During that transaction, I signed a no-breed contract which stated I needed to get Pablo neutered by 6 months. He was supposedly pad trained, but did not take to it at all when I brought him home. He barely knew what a pad was. He tore it up and used it as a toy. I could not potty train him for the life of me, and decided to exclusively take him outside and forgo the pads. His first few months home were draining. He had Giardia and all types of urinary issues including crystals in his urine. His vet initially thought he had a UTI which then grew resistant to antibiotics. I had to postpone his neutering appointment at 6 months because of these ongoing issues. At that point, I reached out to Doreen to let her know he wouldn't be fixed in time per our contract. This was my FIRST and ONLY interaction with her since I sent her the money for Pablo (three months later!). I also explained all of his health problems and received the most thoughtless response in return. When he was finally healthy enough to be neutered, he was about 9 months old. He had racked up hundreds of dollars in vet bills between numerous urine cultures, stool samples, an ultrasound, and antibiotics. I never heard from Doreen again. Pablo has since been healthy, but I was appalled by her lack of support or interest in his issues. To this day, she never asked for proof of him being neutered, nor has she done any type of wellness check. I also never received any AKC paperwork for him, but at that point I felt like it wasn't worth the aggravation of dealing with her since I knew I would never breed or show him.
Fast forward to 1.5 years later, and I see a press release from the Delaware County Sheriffs Department regarding the Arrests of Doreen and Ashley Biasi on animal abuse and neglect charges. Upon further investigation, I could infer that Pablo's health complications likely resulted from the conditions in which he lived in before I adopted him.
Doreen is running a major operation which should not be taken lightly. As always, do your due diligence when purchasing an animal and especially do your research on Doreen Biasi before supporting this puppy mill.
Attached is the only correspondence I was able to have with Doreen regarding the issues my puppy was experiencing. She was cold, neglectful, and downright uninterested in conversing with me, which was absolutely not the same energy I received when she was soliciting me to purchase a dog from her 3 months prior.
Buyers beware. read more