As a lot of you know, last May I got my first ever puppy, Mr. Chuma Okeke Ryan. It was obvious from the get-go he was going to be a really big dog and would need training.
My BFF (an avid dog lover and opened the first official dog grooming store in Sylacauga) had done some research and found a young guy who was local who did in-kennel and at-home puppy training.
We had recommendations from some of the pillars of this community singing his praises and he was great with Chuma and his brother Ripley with the in-home visits, so we decided to do in-kennel training.
I had my baby in that place for 5 weeks and 3 days. Turns out my friend and I were two of the lucky ones.
There are two dogs (a puppy Rottweiler and an 18-month old GS) that are at Auburn right now having autopsies — both starved and the GS tortured, too. There are numerous dogs that have gone “missing” that he murdered under his care and police and a PI think he buried at the back of his property or on the property of my above-mentioned friend. Investigators are planning to do some type of sonar thing from my friend’s property to see if they can find any bodies as numerous dogs have come up missing.
But the most disheartening part of it all is the investigators have found this has been going on with this guy for four years. We know he was doing this out of his mom’s house in Moody, AL, and he did it in Villa Rica, GA. He has lived in NC and TN and investigators are looking for any incidences to add to this case.
There are animal advocates who have gotten involved from Texas, Wisconsin and Florida and are going to be really pushing the Talladega County DA to throw the book at him and of course depending what the autopsies show he may go up on federal charges. They are asking a group of us to go speak to the media in Bham on Saturday.
The owner of the GS is also trying to get a new law enacted to prevent this from happening again at least in the state of Alabama. It will be called Gunnar’s law.
This guy is completely off the grid. The IRS do not have any info on him. He’s just a murdering, heartless con artist that happens to be good at training dogs.
Please if you have the time today, go onto FB if you have a profile and search Iron Grip Dog Training and Dylan Shotwell and scroll down to some posts and read the stories and look at the pictures and the videos.
This goes way farther than just animal cruelty. What this guy is doing is injurious to consumers and has destroyed families. I feel guilty as hell and my baby came back fine other than being thinner (he didn’t lose; just didn’t gain) and had a scuff on his nose. If he had died or gone missing, I’d most likely be trying to send this from Tutweiler.
So first and foremost, please be aware. This guy has even put his business under another name and is still trying to get business through his wife while he sits in jail. He’s also done this in other states. If he’s not stopped, he’s going to turn up again under a different alias and business name. And, secondly, if you know of anybody who has had negative dealings with him, please let me know and get their contact info if they’re willing to speak out so I can reach out to them and get them to the relevant people to share their story with.
I’m including a screenshot of a post about him and the before and after pics of the baby Rottie that died within 12 hours of the after pic. Her organs literally shutdown on her. 🥺
TL;DR: There’s an interstate serial dog murderer out there that needs to be brought to justice; and if you’ve ever encountered anyone who has had negative dealings with him, please lmk.
