I Hate Jon Katz Too

March 20, 2008 at 12:03 am 37 comments

Cripes.

I was going to post something else today but after I visited Lassie Get Help and saw her post on Jon Katz, it annoyed me so much I had to grab hold of her hand and sing Kum Ba Yah.

Check it out here:

Entry filed under: cynicism, dog training, dogs. Tags: hubris, Jon Katz, killing dogs.

“We Sent Him off to a Nice Farm” Fun With Fetch

37 Comments Add your own

1. Im cool | October 16, 2009 at 10:03 pm

Hey you stupid assholes what the fuck is wrong with you JON KATZ ROCKS i have all his books! Hest the best, he incoraged me to buy and own a farm with lots of animals, and from there have a rescue group, for people and animals! SO ONE DAY WHEN YOU FUCKS ARE ON THE STREET I WONT SAVE YOU! I LUV U JON KATZ!

P.S why do you hate him so much? What’d he do to you?!
2. SmartDogs | October 16, 2009 at 10:43 pm

Um – maybe because his fans are (apparently) a group of morons who can only express themselves using mindless profanity?
3. u dont know me | October 31, 2009 at 10:43 pm

hi there jon katz haters, i will use no mindless profanity to espress that jon katz is a good person, he understands dogs better than anyone else, and you guys that think of yourselfs as smart persons are just too stupid to notice that.
4. H. Houlahan | November 3, 2009 at 5:47 am

Isn’t it sad that the interwebz doesn’t yet give latitude for these comment trolls (Hi Jon!) to show us how many colors of crayon they have mastered?

I’m thinkin’ this one has only an eight box, poor thing.
5. holy | April 1, 2010 at 4:34 pm

Crayons? Really? I would laugh but I am too sad that you are so stupid that the only response that you can give is to call other people names, when they are only defending the opinion they have. You should try doing that, if you can.
6. klesmiley | April 25, 2010 at 11:05 am

I am reading “Soul Of A Dog” and am touched by Jon’s caring. Maybe I should read this article about hating Jon Katz. Maybe it is all tongue in cheek. But my vote is for this gentle soul who cares about animals.
7. SerenaSYH | June 29, 2010 at 2:09 pm

Jon Katz is hated by border collie forumers worldwide. I despise the man. I’ve rad his first book and was horrified at how abusive he was to his adopted dog. GENTLE? KIND SOUL???That adopted dog he shot in the head in his own barn. That dog that he based his first book on he murdered. How on earth he dared mention what he did to Devon in his later book Bedlam Farm tells the truth about this evil man.
8. Dan | August 23, 2010 at 9:01 am

Used to like Jon Katz, felt he’d written some good books, but sadly feel he is not really how he trys to portray himself, ie an animal lover.

I’m sure most of us would have tried just that little bit harder with the dog that he put down………………….No dog is usually that hopeless/
9. Mia C | May 12, 2011 at 2:10 pm

hey jon katz was the person who inspired me to love animals
10. Helen | November 15, 2011 at 6:11 am

have any of you actually owned a really difficult biting border colie? I have, tried everything, spent a fortune on experienced dog handlers to help. He had 3 good years of freedom as opposed to being confined to a kennels going insane, but bit 3 people badly after we thought we had turned the corner. A heart breakng decision that was not taken lightly. I understand Jon Katz’s decision, sadly. Sometimes you can try and try but how many people/children do you keep putting at risk 😦
11. CMA | July 18, 2012 at 12:46 am

As a person who owns a border collie and also has family members that live in Jon Katz’ current town I can say that Jon Katz is a jerk. I have heard him with my own ears referring to himself in the first person I mean who does that besides someone like maybe Mitt Romney. He’s a total jerk and wouldn’t even sign his children’s book when asked in his small, really small, small community. Talk about a total egomaniac.
12. sandra gericke | September 8, 2012 at 3:03 pm

Jon katz os a great author and dog lover. He knows moe about Border Collies than most people. He did hospice work with his dogs. Hello??? That means he is a caring gentle man who loves his dogs with all his heart. He took the time to speak to me on facebook. How many authers will do that for a fan?
13. Catherine Howell | November 4, 2012 at 9:43 am

Have been following his blog for a few years now, and although at first I was an avid fan (I’d read a handful of his books as well) I’m now through slow discovery finding out about the real man behind the literary persona. Jon Katz is a megalomaniac. I invite you to read his recent threads about Simon and Rocky on his blog. When he was told by a friend who is a equine veterinary specialist that the current living arrangements for his donkeys and pony were inhumane, he basically told her that he would continue with the present arrangement, at least for a little while. This on the heals of controversial debate on his blog through multiple threads regarding the situation of the animals. When advice/opinion was proferred by seasoned equine people, he basically called those giving it, ‘declarers’. His pattern; if you agree with me and will stroke me, you can say what you like. If you don’t then you are part of the mob. The mob I refer to is what he called those ‘declarers’, ‘Internet mobs’ akin to the mob from Frankenstein. Quite the analogy. He very often goes sailing off on tangents, most, ill-researched and therefore, ill-executed and in my opinion is a disaster waiting to happen. This man should not be caring for animals. His inability to be humble and open is his greatest short-coming and his animals greatest danger.
14. KKB | November 8, 2012 at 10:20 am

Thank you, Catherine. I too followed his blog and his thread on FB. When I asked him a perfectly legit question, (was not a critical question) he banned me from commenting. This is what happens to those who try to participate on his threads. He is out of his mind, and is now putting to death the horse that lives on his property that he just bought because it’s inconvenient to have the animal around for the winter. This is the horse he calls his “spirit guide.” Sound familiar? All of a sudden when he’s ready to kill the horse, the horse has all sorts of health problems, is being abused by his donkeys, etc. All we ever hear about before this is how happy the stupid pony is. Really serious psychological problems this guy has.
15. Patti | November 8, 2012 at 10:40 am

Gosh it’s nice to find this blog. Long story short: I was a long time fan, owned all of his books, read his blog every day. This summer when I read a couple of blogs that he wrote in anger about another fan who disagreed with him, I wrote a reply that angered him and I was banned from his FB page. So I emailed him once in a while when I had somethings to say. That prompted him to post two blogs about the angry woman from Ohio, who is me. When I saw how he fabricated most everything in those blogs I realized that he is a fraud. Not only a fraud but an angry and ugly fraud. He simply makes things up to write about. He uses his animals as writing subjects and when he is through with them he gets rid of them one way or another. Now he has announced that he is going to kill the old pony Rocky. Not only is he going to kill him but he is creating all of this drama over the act. I’m sure it will all show up in a future book. He sickens me. I gathered up all of his books that I owned and thre them out a month or so ago. Jon Katz is a real creep!
16. Animal lover | November 9, 2012 at 1:53 pm

Jon katz is an abusive pony killer. He kills his animals to have somethig to write about. He is a a cruel person who shouldn’t be allowed to have animals. On his blog he deletes comments he doesn’t like to make himself look good.
17. Susie | November 10, 2012 at 5:55 pm

I am glad to finally find other people who feel the way I do about this author. I think he writes romantically about all his animals and then when it gets difficult, he offs them. The first one was Orson, but the one that really got me was when he put down the cow…..the one he took pictures with him reading a book to him. He wanted all of his readers to feel good about it because homeless kids were going to get hamburger from his “donation”.

He either lies in his “romantic” writings, which is what I now believe, and then he is such a egomaniac he can’t just tell the truth. But it is outrageous how mad he gets when people respond to him when he kills his animals. He has built up all these feelings for these animals…..it is his trade, after all…….and then …WHAMO….one day he’s going to off them. And he can’t understand why people are angry at him.

First, I think he’s either a total narcisist or he is bipolar.
18. Lisa | November 11, 2012 at 3:36 pm

And Rocky has been put down; the poor thing literally outlived his usefulness as a blog topic. So sad. I too have been a long-time reader of his blog but am amazed at the level of anger Katz displays. I am sure if anyone had the nerve to write that he was playing up poor Rocky’s final days for his own benefit, they would be labeled all sorts of things. (I read his words about you, Patti.) He definitely changes his justification to suit his own purpose (there was never a thought to not keeping Rocky alive). The way it was done, I believe, is just what it sounded like: he became inconvenient and too much work, which we can all understand. But at least have the courage to say that; no lies, please. I unfortunately can no longer read his work or his blog, or that of Maria, who, by the way, should be crying (Katz made a big deal of her crying a few days ago). Evidently, however, they have both calmly moved on to other animals.
19. cyne | November 11, 2012 at 6:54 pm

Jon Katz was, for a short time, a member of one of the dog trainers’ e-mail discussion groups I subscribe to. He left when too many people asked him why he killed his dog instead of training. Apparently he had no answer for that question.
20. Dressage Rider | November 23, 2012 at 3:10 am

I have been very angry about what happened to Rocky. I have been a long time reader of his blog, and Maria’s blog. Blogs and FB pages are marketing tools for his books, and her art. It isn’t a good idea to piss off fans in my opinion especially when the economy is bad and someone has taken on extra debt.

I plan on boycotting his books, and his wife’s art. I have been so mad about Rocky’s demise that I have not been in FB. That horse trusted him and was betrayed. I would have sent Simon to the old farm, or some other place. That’s it, Lisa – Rocky didn’t fit the “time table” Katz had. I don’t know if you caught Rocky’s body language in those last few pictures where Maria was brushing him? Horses mirror our emotions. He surely was reflecting what he was picking up from her.

I saw that post about Patti.
21. Susie | November 23, 2012 at 7:41 pm

He continues to write about Rocky. I’d like to punch him. He’s a sham.
22. Susie | November 26, 2012 at 8:54 pm

Did you see tonight’s post on Rocky…..what utter bullshit.
23. Dressage Rider | November 28, 2012 at 6:25 pm

I agree, utter rubbish. No more Katz books for me.
24. Lee | January 12, 2013 at 11:55 pm

I dared suggest he provide his chickens with predator proof housing at night and then found myself mentioned in follow up posts beong described as “combative” …I guess my suggestion which simply follows basic animal care guidelines which even “working farms” adhere to, got in the way of the “fox vs. chickens” drama he capitalized off of which included fox /chickens themed pot holders , photographs and future children’s books. The sequel was even more disgusting whereby he kept a mauled chicken “Fran” ..the result of his failure to provide proper housing for these animals and then deprived her of BASIC medical care which I believe was in defiance of all the well intentioned, compassionate followers who offered advice on how to heal this poor helpless chicken ..instead he kept her in agonizing pain long enough to milk several more blog posts over her ordeal never hesitating to exploit her pain and suffering by posting pics of her sorry state and pics of the “compassionate” Maria “tending” to her when they should have been taking the advice of experienced chicken owners and providing her with BASIC medicinal care including pain killers and antibiotics ..as for the fox, he boastfully wrote about his plan to shoot him if he came around again.,when in fact, all he had to,do was house his chickens in the proper predator proof enclosures and the fox would have no reason to “trespass” on his property..
25. Susie | January 13, 2013 at 5:45 pm

He seems to have gone over the edge on this life/death thing. What I might consider my obligation to my animals, like building a secure chicken hatch, he is almost fatalistic about it. And many more death issues. He runs in streaks. I don’t think it’s normal.
26. Susie | January 18, 2013 at 11:07 pm

I can’t believe today’s post on Rocky visiting and being grateful for their care. And then all that crap about Maria crying. Really? That means he loves her more? More likely sheis regretting a decision he bullied her into.
27. Christina | March 13, 2013 at 6:33 pm

I feel so sick it’s unbelievable. All this talk on how that Jon Katz bastard uses his animals and kills them…sick. That Jon Katz is an animal murderer, he writes books about dogs and yet he is so not fit to own one, he’s not fit to own any animal. He’s the kind of person who needs to be in a mental hospital. He is truly a psycho!

I’m actually incredibly worried for those very unfortunate, unlucky animals that are owned by him, and killed for no apparent reason. What is the guy playing at?! He is a fraud, a twisted person who has made this big name for himself as this animal lover, know-it-all man, when actually, he is nothing but some disgusting person who uses animals to fulfill his sick mental fantasy of some sort.

How do I contact someone about this? How can we get his farm shut down and those poor living creatures taken to real, proper homes? Do we contact the FBI or PETA…? I honestly am freaking out right now. I feel really sick about some of the things people have said about Jon Katz. I first realised what a jerk he was when I read this thing he had wrote about how dogs don’t love. We all know dogs love! They’re Man’s best friend and their love and their loyalty is well-known and documented through out history. Duh.

And of course now, I know that Jon Katz is more than a jerk, he is a twisted, fake, arrogant man who really needs the police after him. This can’t go on. Sorry to sound all dramatic but honestly, this is just really NOT right, it’s very disturbing. I don’t know what that man has wrong with his mind exactly, but he certainly must have serious psychological problems. Especially since he apparently gets super angry and starts blabbing on about people who disagree with him and the things he does and says.
28. Susie | March 14, 2013 at 9:52 am

I have come to believe he uses the animals to write his stories and then, when they’re inconvenient and he has his story, he decides they need to be euthanized. I once wrote him personally and said I thought he was bipolar and needed help…..this was MANY years ago. That, of course, ticked him off.

I don’t know who you can contact. I think his animals will probably look like they are well cared for. He doesn’t starve them or not get them vet care. He just gets tired of them because he has no ability, in my opinion, to develop lasting relationships.
29. Susie | April 3, 2013 at 6:44 pm

So, today he wrote about shooting the rooster that attacked Maria…..supposedly. He went into great detail about it; why? Because he hadn’t pissed anyone off lately. He likes that, I swear.
30. Amy | May 13, 2013 at 9:35 am

Google “Munchausen syndrome by proxy”. This could very well be an explanation for his bids for attention in relation to his animals.
31. SmartDogs | May 13, 2013 at 4:11 pm

This pretty much nails it:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11518417?dopt=Abstract
32. Susie | July 13, 2013 at 4:06 pm

Jon Katz is an egotistical narcissistic butthead. Take a read of his “Open Forum” on Facebook and his comments about hat he does and doesn’t want people to post. Then, compare it to his own blog……
33. Louise Manteuffel | June 10, 2014 at 7:13 pm

So glad to have found this blog today. I have read most of Katz’s books and have grown to dislike him intensely. I feel incredibly played by this man who professes to love and care about animals yet destroys them on a regular basis. First Orson (behavior challenges), then Rose (wasting disease)’ and as of this morning a white lamb (stricken). I am disgusted thAt this man has any contact with animals, makes a good living off of exploiting them, and then kills them or sends them away. He also dismissively rude and arrogant to those who try to engage him debate. What a dangerous and delusional man!
34. Susie | June 11, 2014 at 9:00 pm

Louise, I couldn’t have said it better. I agree with everything you have said. Shooting the lamb was totally uncalled for and cruel beyond tolerance. I just can’t believe his wife puts up with it.
35. Mary | June 29, 2014 at 10:12 am

I remain broken-hearted by the shooting of the little lamb, Jake. It has really affected me.
Jon went on & on how Jake & his twin were so special to him. He felt a spiritual connection.

Then the lamb became “stricken.” The majority of comments was begging Jon to call a vet!
No vet was called…for after all, it was a “farm” animal & a part of the natural order of life & death. (And a vet cost money.)

This little lamb suffered for days. Finally, it was decided by Jon….& Maria… to “euthanize” Jake…i.e., kill him with a shotgun. Then put out in a back field for animals to eat.

But why did Jake rally every time he was bottle fed? I believe Jake was “stricken” because he was starving. His Mom had little milk to give as she had mastitis’s & favored the other twin lamb, Deb.
However, after Jake’s death, Jon decided to sell photos & cards with Jake’s photo, as he was so cute. $$$$$$

For having a small farm, with minimal animals, Jon Katz is more than irresponsible. He is grandiose. Thinks he is a vet, philosopher, sheep herder, dog trainer, expert on ALL animals… Too many suffer terribly. And die…as he writes & photographs.
36. Susie | July 13, 2014 at 2:25 am

He is sick. He always wanted to get rid of 2 of the sheep and this is how he did it when he couldn’t sell the female. He has since had open heart surgery. While I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, I am still waiting for him to apologize for his BS regarding mainstream medicine. He poopooed it before, but it turns out he needed it.
37. Mary | July 14, 2014 at 8:34 pm

Now he is selling this book to support the NYC horse carriage abuse. what a joke

http://www.amazon.com/Who-Speaks-Carriage-Horses-Animals-ebook/dp/B00LQB1YUM/ref=cm_cd_pdp?_encoding=UTF8&cdERR=Cred&cdMSG=allCapsAdjusted&cdPage=1&noLL=1#CustomerDiscussionsPost