Michigan only has 15 puppy selling stores left!

Michigan only has 15 puppy selling stores left!

(view interactive map)

1. Pet Station, Jackson
2. The Family Puppy (Genesee Valley Mall), Flint
3. The Barking Boutique, Grandville
4. Downtown Hound Pet Center Monroe
5. Woof Woof Puppies & Pet Boutique, Southfield
6. The Family Puppy (Twelve Oaks Mall), Novi
7. Teacups & Toys A Pet Boutique, Birmingham
8. Petland, Novi (Lawsuits against Petland Novi)
9. The Family Puppy (Oakland Mall), Troy, MI
10. V.I. Pets, Holland
11. VI Pets, Cutterville
12. Betty's Pet & Garden, Houghton Lake
13. Pretty Pooch, Saginaw
14. Pet City Pets, Ypsilanti
15. Westland Dog Food Supply 

Puppy stores are a thing of the past and are no longer welcome in Michigan. The few stores that remain are facing online Google review wars, lawsuits, protests and even criminal charges (i.e. Shaggy Dog, Shelby). Puppy store owners are now settling veterinary costs with unhappy customers to avoid court, while only eight years ago they were ignoring families with issues.

And the industry is responding. Just this spring a total of 18 Michigan pet stores hired lobbyists in Lansing in an attempt to prevent us from passing local retail bans ("The Petland Bills"). Currently, their bill sponsored by Rep. Vaupel does not have enough house votes to pass. We will be keeping a close on eye on HB5917 during the lame duck session in November.

Michigan is headed in the right direction…

• We only have four “box” stores remaining: Petland Novi, The Family Puppy Novi, Troy and Flint. These are high volume stores that ship puppies in weekly.

• Only one store has opened in the last eight years and is still open. The Barking Boutique (Grandville) finally opened in 2017 after two failed attempts and they are still facing sustained weekly protests.

• A whooping 47 puppy selling stores and groomers have closed or are no longer selling puppies in the last 10 years.

The most recent stores to end puppy sales or close include….

1. Shaggy Dog, Shelby Township, MI - shut down after Macomb County Animal Control discovered the puppies in the store did not have 30-health certificates.

2. Critter Pet Shop, Allen Park, MI Critter - stated they stopped selling puppies when the economy was bad, but their website showed puppies for sale in 2016.

3. House of Pets, Garden City, MI - stated they recently stopped selling puppies about 6 months ago after a roundworm outbreak. The puppies were coming from Utah! They are moving to a new location and have lined up two rescues to showcase puppies instead.

4. Pet City Pets, Wyandotte, MI -This location was sold to a woman that was supposed to have opened Doggie Dog World, but something fell through and the number is disconnected. The Ypsilanti location is still selling puppies and the owner was at the Capital in Lansing trying to prevent us from passing local retail ordinances.

Learn more about the long list of deceptive and misleading practices on our blog.

Did you purchase a sick puppy? Four options our listed on our blog.

Learn how to file a complaint against a pet store and their veterinarian on our blog.

Learn how to pass a retail ordinance in your hometown. 

Petland Novi continues to use no discretion in choosing suppliers

Petland Novi claims to use only breeders with no indirect violations on their “last” inspection report, however, Hillard’s Kennel from Coffeyville KS shipped puppies just eight months after being cited for four indirect violations. These indirect violations include lack of veterinary care, housing, cleaning, and sanitation. The veterinary violation was for a Shih-tzu’s with a very crusted and watery eye. “The area around the eyelid appears to be swollen. The licensee has no medial records to show dates the dog was examined.”

In addition, Johanna Abernathy & Terri Schnieders’ Quapaw OK kennel also received a wide range of violations related to housing, exercise program, feeding, watering and cleaning.  The inspector found loose, sharp metal objects, rodent droppings in food storage, waste around the dogs, no exercise program signed by a vet, chewed unsantizable food and water dishes, flies throughout the facility. 

ABERNATHY, JOHANNA & SCHNIEDERS, TERRI

USDA Licence # 73A2671

USDA inspection notes (from June 26, 2013 unless otherwise noted)

• The self-feeder has a hole in the bottom with sharp jagged edges.
• The food receptacle must be clean and smooth so it can be easily cleaned and sanitized.
• The food receptacle must be clean and smooth so it can be easily cleaned and sanitized.
• The water receptacles with chewed or roughened edges.
• The water receptacles with roughened edges.
• Flies in the enclosures, must maintain some plan to remove or control flies and other vermin.
• The water receptacle must be clean and smooth so it can be easily cleaned and sanitized.
• The food receptacle must be clean and smooth so it can be easily cleaned and sanitized.
• Shovel full of waste form the enclosures.
• Inside of the food storage van. Insects and rodent droppings were in the van.
• The shelter building int he exercise yard has sharp and jagged edges the [sic] could injury the dogs.
• Inside of the food storage van. Insects and rodent droppings were in the van.
• Inside of the food storage van. Insects and rodent droppings were in the van.
• The accumulation of waste around the clean out. Flies were present in the area.
• Wheel barrel full of waste from the enclosures, should be move [sic] from the area.
• The shelter building int he exercise yard has sharp and jagged edges the [sic] could injury the dogs.
• Kennel buildings.
• Kennel buildings.

Top Ten Reasons Why Petland Is Michigan's Worst Pet Store

 

 

Petland Novi has not only imported sick puppies from the “Puppy Mill Belt of America”, but the store has continuously brought unfavorable local and national media attention, including WXYZ’s The Investigators. Petland is the nation’s largest puppy retailer with over seventy (70) locations in the United States and only one store remaining in Michigan, located at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi.

#1 Petland Novi’s breeders have shocking inspection reports, photos and videos showing injured and untreated animals 
 

Contrary to Petland’s “front-yard” breeder photos provided to the Novi City Council, Puppy Mill Awareness collected 700 USDA photos taken during kennel inspections. The photos don’t lie. This enormous photo collection from twenty-four (24) different breeders who have supplied puppies over the last five years clearly shows the store has no standards and uses no discretion when choosing suppliers. The photos show underweight, injured and untreated animals in housing facilities with no primary shelter or access to shelter, some without shade, wind or rain breaks, overcrowding conditions, excessive feces, surrounded by grime and filth. Watch videos here.

 

#2 Petland Novi uses mega-sized kennels, some with over 500 adult dogs 

 

The puppies sold at Petland Novi are often unhealthy because they are over-bred in mega-sized commercial kennels in unsanitary conditions without consideration of genetic quality. This results in generations of dogs with unchecked hereditary defects. Mass production of puppies in unsanitary kennels harbor diseases and illnesses that travel with the puppy to the pet store and can be shared among other puppies from other puppy farms on the broker transport truck. One supplier, Opal Featherston (Whiting KS) topped the charts with 773 adult dogs during a USDA inspection. Petland Novi has continued to work with large breeders over the last several years including:

°         La Nae and Justin Jackson (340 dogs)

°         Daniel Schlabach, Evergreen Designers LLC (298 dogs)

°         Philip M. Hoover LLC (295 dogs)

°         Mark Landers (275 dogs)

°         Freeman Raber (239 dogs)

°         Julie Snidow (214 dogs)

#3 Petland Novi ships 60-160 puppies per month from out-of-state commercial breeders where families can not meet the parents

Petland Novi is considered a high-volume “box” puppy retail store averaging 88 new puppies per month – this is no “mom and pop shop”! The store is part of our nation’s largest puppy-selling franchise with a corporate office in Ohio. Petland Novi shipped puppies from over 100 different out-of-state breeders over the last five years. Puppies are shipped from the Midwest “puppy mill belt” including Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Oklahoma where families can not easily check conditions or meet the parents. Petland Novi’s out-of-state breeders are not helping Michigan’s economy; in fact, they are hurting families who have to cover expensive and sometimes long-term veterinary care.  — Complaint Report

 

#4 Petland Novi has a history of working with bad breeders

 

The conditions of dogs housed at Petland Novi’s kennels have been consistently documented as appalling. Puppy Mill Awareness’ 2009-2010 Petland Supplier Study showed most of Petland Novi’s breeders (11 of the 16) had non-compliances to the Animal Welfare Act including excessive feces, no heat, performing surgeries, unattended bite wounds, excessive hair mats, low voltage fencing, minimum floor space, cats with backbone and ribs showing, dirty dogs, lack of bedding and shade, accumulated grime and lack of veterinary care. Petland Novi management has access to USDA inspection reports online prior to ordering puppies, yet the store continues to use breeders with violations including direct, indirect and repeat violations. Four of Petland Novi’s 2014 breeders had violations related to veterinary care and Petland Novi still purchased puppies from these breeders:

 

(1)   Julie Snidow (Missouri) Mar-13 a female Maltese has a left eye that is a light cloudy blue color with no visible pupil

(2)   La Donna Dailey (Missouri) Aug-14 one adult female French Bulldog displayed patchy area of hair loss over the shoulders and back and two smaller areas of open lesions on the face.

(3)   Michelle Houck (Kansas) Mar-13 a Chihuahua on wire flooring is in need of foot care.

(4)   Evergreen Designer (Ohio) Mar-2011 one dog was missing it’s left eye and the right eye had a 2-3 mm attached mass with a thick discharge.  Other observations included dog limping; a dog with a cloudy eye; dogs with diarrhea; a dog with runny nose and coughing; a dog with thick, hairless skin covering her tail and around her rear end and a walnut sized firm mass in her left rear mammary gland; a dog with scabs and ulcerations on his muzzle; a dog that was underweight. The licensee stated the underweight dog had weaned puppies about three weeks ago, but hasn’t gained much weight as she fights with other dog over food.

 

 

 

#5 Enforcement Actions were filed against fourteen (14) of Petland Novi’s suppliers

 

The USDA has filed Enforcement Actions against fourteen (14) of Petland Novi’s breeders within the last five years. The violations included failure to provide adequate veterinary care, outdoor housing facilities, health certification and identification, access to records and property, feeding, water, shelter from the elements, adequate primary enclosures, adequate cleaning and pest control. Petland Novi shipped puppies from six (6) of these kennels after Enforcement Actions were issued. One of these violator’s USDA license was revoked.

 

Enforcement Actions were filed against fourteen (14) of Petland Novi’s suppliers over the last five years:

(1)    Shauna Engelken (Kansas), agreed to a settlement 9-Aug-13 which required her to sell or transfer ownership of any dogs on the premises within 12 weeks. Engelken’s license was revoked. Engelken supplied Petland Novi 20 puppies during 2010-2011.

(2)    Kimberly Coleman/TLC’s Kennel (Missouri) was fined $8,250 by the USDA for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. 30-May-2010

The following Petland Novi suppliers received an Official Warning Letter.  

(3)     Angelia Kochs, MO 2-Jan-14

(4)     Linda Baker, OK 5-Nov-14

(5)     Mid-America, MO 5-Jun-13

(6)     Judy Raney, KS 26-Jun-13

(7)     Justin & La Nae Jackson, KS 29-Jul-13

(8)     Marla & Roger Campbell, KS 26-Sep-12

(9)     Phyllis Disque, IA 2-Feb-11

(10)   Mark Landers, MO 24-May-11

(11)   Daniel Schlabach, Evergreen Designer, OH 10-Jan-12

(12)   Orus Mast, OH 15-Dec-10

(13)   KimberlyColeman, MO 12-May-14

(14)   Lori Fedders, IA 19-Apr-11

(15)   Hallie Ade, KS 30-Nov-12
 

#6 Petland Novi breeders have been exposed by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)

 

Petland Novi breeders have been repeatedly exposed by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Petland’s large breeder in Missouri - MAM Kennel, was featured in the HSUS’s 2008 eight-month investigation shown on Animal Planet. The kennel was cited for “no vet care for two years…, dogs without even the required minimum of cage space…and several rusted cages with sharp protruding wire. In 2013, four of Petland Novi’s breeders were listed on the HSUS’s “Horrible Hundred” Breeder List. — HSUS Petland Study

 

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) bolstered its campaign against puppy mills by showing over 10,000 photos of sick puppies and harsh kennel conditions taken by the federal agency that licenses commercial breeders. The press release for this website included Rod and Lindsey Rebhan heartbreaking story after purchasing a puppy from Petland Novi.

  

#7 Petland Novi uses puppy brokers or “middlemen”

 

Petland Novi claims to know their breeders well through regular kennel visits; however the store primarily uses brokers who supply puppies from a collection of breeders. Petland Novi uses two brokers: Abe N. Miller/House of Pets/D M L Kennel/Quail Creek Kennel, (Fresno OH) and Patrick Fulton/Fulton Enterprises (Alden MN). Miller supplied 75% of the puppies during the 2014 holiday season - approximately 60 per month. USDA inspection reports showed Miller was not only working with unlicensed breeders, but as a breeder himself, he was also cited for non-compliances to the Animal Welfare Act in the regulated areas of housing, primary enclosures, cleaning, veterinary care, records, compatible grouping, feeding and identification.

 

Linda Baker/Okie Pets (Ketchum, OK) another 2014 broker, was cited for veterinary care in 2012, 2014 and 2015! Enforcement Actions were taken against Baker in 2014 for repeat violations related to veterinary care including English Bulldogs with swollen lesions between their paws, a Pekingese with issues in her eye and Poodles with dental issues.

 

#8 Over 100 complaints have been logged related to Petland Novi

 

Complaints have been reported to local Animal Control, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, PetShopPuppies.org, Puppy Mill Awareness of Southeast Michigan, and the Better Business Bureau. Many complaints are related to sick puppies sold. Some illnesses, such as Coccidia and Guardia, can be passed to humans. Luxating Patella issue is almost always seen in poor breeding, especially in toy breeds. PetShopPuppies.org revealed the following problems noted by customers who had purchased puppies from Petland Novi. — Petland Novi Complaint Log

o    Allergies

o    Severe vomiting & diarrhea

o    Bloody Diarrhea

o    Bowed Legs

o    Breathing problems

o    Cataracts

o    Coccidia

o    Congenital Megaesophagus

o    Crystals in urine

o    Cysts

o    Demodectic Mange

o    Diarrhea

o    Brain Tumor, died at age 5.

o    Ear infections due to allergies.

o    Ear Mites

o    Giardia

o    Heart Murmur

o    Hermivertebrae

o    Intestinal Parasites          

o    Kennel Cough

o    Kidney failure

o    Luxating Patella

o    Misaligned teeth

o    Probable Tracheal collapse

o    Regurgitation

o    Runny nose

o    Seizures

o    Severe underbite.

o    Sneezing

o    Stomach problems

o    Tooth resorption.

o    Treated for URI while in pet store

o    Underweight

o    Upper respiratory illness

o    URI

o    UTI

#9 Petland Novi has been the subject of local investigations including (WXYZ Detroit) The Investigators 

Not only has the Humane Society of The United States included Petland Novi’s breeders in their investigative reports, but locally, Petland Novi has been exposed on Channel 7 (WXYZ Detroit) twice for selling sick animals. In 2009, a couple purchased a bulldog that later died from pneumonia. One month later, The Investigators were called about more allegations of sick animals. Several attempts had been made to talk to the owners of both of the local Petland stores. They have refused to do an on-camera interview with The Investigators. In 2011, the Michigan Department of Agriculture found that Petland Novi was importing puppies without proper vaccinations and missing certificates (Work Orders 6901 and 7049).  — Rocky’s Story (WXYZ Detroit) and Laci’s Story (WXYZ Detroit)

#10 Petland Novi offers discounts for favorable online reviews.   

Petland Novi increased their favorable YELP reviews by 67% over last year by offering discounts to potential customers. The store claims these are real reviews, but some of these reviews are from shoppers that have not visited the store - Jessica Y. posted “Love them! Can’t wait to adopt a puppy!!! We are planning to go today. I hope this place is more promising than these reviews. I ‘loved’ them on yelp for $200 off.” This is considered unethical by YELP. Most of the favorable reviews were posted recently after the animal advocacy event, Human Chain Rally, was announced in 2014. Many unfavorable can be found online (11 total on Yelp).

Tougher Pentalies for MI Pet Stores and Breeders (SB 285)

In the same month we discovered Ramzi Dakhlallah, former owner of Pet Station, was potentially back in action violating his probation terms working as dealer for an Ohio puppy miller, we learned that Kym Worthy, Wayne County Prosecutor, introduced some tough penalties for chronic offenders like Dakhlallah – SB 285. 

Senator Bieda was approached by the Wayne County Prosecutors office wanting to strengthen MCL 750.50 and 750.50(b) “our Animal Cruelty Laws”. They were finding it difficult to adequately prosecute animal crimes involving a high amount of animals. PMA is not surprised that Senator Bieda assisted.  

SB 285 was introduced March 21, 2013. Please thank Senator Bieda (Warren-D). 

I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise as Kym Worthy stated at a press conference last year around this time that she was already working on changes to the laws after the Pet Station case! Detroit News article 2012:

'Deplorable' cases highlightinadequate animal cruelty laws, prosecutor says
 

Here is a summary of SB 285. Note, they called out PET SHOPS and BREEDERS! If you support these changes, make sure you RSVP for Mi Humane Lobby Day April 16th!

• Defines breeder as a person who breeds animals for the purpose of making a profit.
• Now includes breeders and operators of pet shops.
• Defines companion animals.
• Violations involving 25 or more animals or for individuals who have had 3 ore more prior convictions are now felonies. Not less than a 5 year probation.
• If the person is a breeder or operator of a pet shop and they have ad 5 or more prior convictions related to animals the person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment not more than 2 years, a fine not more than $5,000 or both.
• Added levels of offense:
• A person who INTENTIALLY violates subsection (2) A or C related to adequately caring for animals or knowing that the animals a companion animal is guilty of killing or torturing animals in the first degree.
• A person who either intentionally violates or violates subsection (2) A or C knowing the animal is a companion animal is guilty of killing or torturing animals in the second degree.
• A person who violates subsection (2) is guilty of killing or torturing animals in the third degree.
• Increases penalties for each level of offense:
• First degree offense – felony punishable by 1 or more of the following: not more than 10 years in prison (changed from 4 years), fine not more than $5,000 (changed from single animals $2,500, not to exceed $20,000) and community service.
• Second degree offense – felony punishable by 1 or more of the following: not more than 7 years in prison, fine not more than $5,000 and community service.
• Third degree offense – felony punishable by 1 or more of the following: not more than 4 years in prison, fine not more than $5,000 and community service.  

It is a bad time to be a pet store or breeder in Michigan.