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How I lost a $4000 Pair of Breeders
It is with great disappointment that I post this message about Rob Schaeffer of New Underwood, South Dakota.
I first met Rob Schaeffer, at Phil Calerich's Spirit of Colorado One loft Race, in 2004, Rob seemed like a nice enough person, he represented himself as experienced with fancy pigeon breeding but new to the racing pigeon sport. Over dinner, I made arrangements to send Rob and Charlie Cienega (Charlie was also at Phil's race) each a group of birds on loan.
I needed to find housing for my birds as my mother had recently fallen and I was taking care of her. After her fall, she was bedridden for over three months and I basically had to teach her to walk again. I had moved down to her home in order to care for her 24 hours a day. I sold off the bulk of my birds and farmed out the core of my breeding stock and race team which was 48 birds in total. Eventually, I was able to place my birds in six different lofts. At dinner that night, I arranged for Charlie Cienega and Rob Schaeffer to each receive some of the birds.
In return for caring for my birds, these fanciers were free to breed off of the birds and fly the youngsters as they wanted. Many of the birds were imports or race winners, a few where children of key breeders. Overall, this lending policy has been a wonderful experience for me and for the fanciers that housed my birds. The names of fanciers with whom I have had this arrangement over the past couple of years are: Jerry King of Everett, WA, Charlie Cienega of Cottonwood, AZ, Michael Mount of Santa Cruz, CA, Mike Strevel of Freeland, WA, and Rob Schaeffer. In all cases (except with Rob), I have had excellent relations with these men housing my birds.
In 2004, I developed a friendship with Ed Schmierer of the FVC club. In 2005, Ed moved, to Fallbrook, California, which is about 45 minutes away from me, On weekends, I would drive down to Fallbrook and we worked on his breeding and racing lofts. As the 2006 breeding season approached, Ed graciously offered to house some of my birds so I could fly youngsters off of them out of his lofts. In response to Ed's kind offer, I began the process of bringing back some of the birds from those fanciers who were housing them for me. Though it was easy to get my birds back from these fanciers, Rob has dragged this process out for more than a year.
I first requested the return of my birds in March of 2006. Rob, told to me that he had not had a successful breeding season in 2005 and requested that I allow him to keep the birds a while longer and breed out of them in 2006. I really didn't want to do this, but in order to be "more than fair" to Rob, I agreed to his request.
In late September or early October of 2006, I contacted Rob again and requested he send my birds back, but Rob kept making excuses as to why he could not send the birds back. He said, that he still needed to breed more birds out the pairs and I answered that he has had the birds for nearly 2 years and that was sufficient time.
If his breeding program was not working out for him, that was not my problem. After having given Rob permission to breed my birds for an additional seven months (March - September), I now required my birds back so that I could breed out of them for the 2007 season.
After much prodding, I did get most of the birds back but not the $4000 pair. He told me he would not be sending this pair back until he had bred more rounds out of them. I began to suspect that Rob might have a condition that made him unable to realize that the birds were mine and not his and that they were on loan to him and not his property. I finally sought the assistance of Phil Calerich who knew both Rob and I and who had vouched for Rob's good character when I first met Rob (at Phil's race) and arranged to send him the birds.
Phil, after having several phone calls with Rob contacted me and asked if Rob could keep the #1 pair until February 5th in order to breed more youngsters off of the pair over the winter. I did not want to do this as I was getting a bad feeling about Rob's integrity and the value of his word, but Phil assured me that if Rob did not return the birds by February 5th, that Phil would drive from Denver to Rapid City, SD and get the birds for me. Based on Phil Calerich's recommendation to help Rob out again, I agreed to Rob being allowed to keep the $4000 pair until February 5th.
Well, February 5th came and went and my #1 pair was not shipped to me. After another month had passed, I called Rob and asked why he had not shipped the birds back as per the agreement made by him with Phil Calerich. It was at that time, that Rob told me he would "never" ship the birds back to me.
Now, I could not request of Phil Calerich, that he drive to South Dakota and pick the birds up, because Phil had recently been diagnosed with Cancer (sadly, he passed away months later). So, I am left with just one option, to make public my problems with Rob Schaeffer so that others might be saved from suffering the same fate as I have from Rob Schaeffer.
My primary responsibility is to take care of my mother and I cannot be burdened with instituting a lawsuit in South Dakota, and expending all the time involved in pressing that lawsuit. Having to give up the birds for a while has given me perspective. In the end, they are just birds and my family and my personal reputation are much more important to me, than a couple of pigeons.
I wanted you to know the experiences I have had with Rob, and the lengths to which I have gone, in order to resolve this matter, even asking for and receiving the intervention of a well respected man in our sport, Phil Calerich.
I believe that I have done all that is required of me in order to help Rob understand the value of a good reputation and the importance of being a man of his word. I may have lost the $4000 pair of imports, but I believe Rob has lost much much more, his reputation and the respect of others in our sport.
On one of the last phone calls Phil Calerich and I shared, we talked about his health and my mother's health, then we spoke of Rob Schaeffer and were both saddened by how some people will value a pair of pigeons above their own reputation and good name in the sport.
John Vance
Originally composed on: 03/12/2007
Updated to this forum: 12/08/2009