Goshen Twp. dog breeder indicted on theft charges in alleged puppy fraud case
A Goshen Township woman has been indicted on more than 30 counts of theft for allegedly taking payments for puppies that she never provided.
April Waidman, a breeder of English Bulldogs and Dachshunds, was indicted Thursday on 32 counts of theft by the Mahoning County Grand Jury.
A 21 News Watchdog Report from March 7, 2024, detailed more than a dozen civil cases and a criminal investigation against Waidman after people from the Mahoning Valley to California accused her of taking their money but never delivering a dog.
In total, the cases added up to more than $20,000 from would-be dog owners.
21 News spoke with some of the people affected.
"This is the matter of a breeder who did not carry out her contract after I paid her in full the amount of $1,600 on June 4, 2023," Struthers resident Kassandra Maillis said. "We sat through four failed litters and kept getting a run around as to why we couldn't get a dog."
"She was nice at first, very nice," said Barbara Jasinski, who wanted to buy two Dachshunds. She said she paid Waidman $1,400 but never received a puppy.
"She told us she'd give us first pick, but she never offered a pup so I kept requesting a refund," Stephanie Moore of Massilon told 21 News. She paid Waidman $1,800 in May of 2022.
Eighteen combined criminal and civil suits had been filed at the time of the Watchdog Report.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova said her office had been looking into Waidman at that time.