A 2013 consumer fraud lawsuit filed against a Chicago
pet store, Furry Babies, alleged the chain was selling sick puppies from puppy
mills and identified Miller as the broker of one of the puppies.
“The Griggs later discovered that the
limited paperwork provided by the Peru Furry Babies store and its agents was
fraudulent. When they looked up the name and number of the individual listed on
Duke's paperwork, he was not a breeder but rather a farmer in Ohio named Lester
Sachtleben. Sachtleben also told Nick Griggs that his German Shepherd-a farm
dog become pregnant, so he sold some of the puppies to a man named Abe Miller.
But Sachtleben told Nick that he was not in the business of breeding and knew
nothing of any USDA licensing requirements. Later Nick confronted Trolinger,
the person identified to him by the Peru store and its agents as the owner of
the Peru Furry Babies store, and Trolinger admitted that he had been doing
business with Miller for many years.
Claure-Roca v. Dreamy Puppy (Fairfax, Virginia)
According
to a petition published by the Humane Society of the United States “Dreamy Puppy, LLC, a Virginia based pet
store that recently went out of business, advertised that it sourced puppies
only from local breeders. However, courtroom testimony and corroborating
discovery showed that the pet store was receiving puppies from several Ohio
breeders and brokers including Quail Creek Kennel, a broker serving as a
middleman between breeders and the store and that has been cited by the USDA
for, among other things, obtaining at least 104
puppies from unlicensed breeders. Nadia Claure-Roca had
successfully sued the pet store for violations of the Virginia Consumer
Protection Act, fraud in the inducement, and breach of implied warranty after
she had relied on the store’s representations “that its animals are healthy and
come from reputable local breeders” and the store sold her a sick puppy who
later died of her ailments.
Jessica Edwards vs Petland Novi (Novi, Michigan)
One of Abe N. Miller’s kennels, named Tri-Star
Kennels, was also mentioned a February 2018 consumer fraud lawsuit against the Petland
Novi location involving over a dozen plaintiffs claiming the store knowingly
sold them sick puppies.
“Alana Savard purchased a Siberian Husky named Argos
on April 4, 2015 from Peltand Novi, for $3,530.95 and was sent home with a severe urinary tract infection which would
later be diagnosed as congenital polycystic kidney disease in November of 2015. Argos was bred by Elizabeth Miller of Tri Star Kennels. Abe Miller is the
registered agent for Tri Star Kennels, which is where Petland sourced Argos.
Doug Rose vs Petland Novi (Novi, Michigan)
Abe N. Miller’s brokerage business, most
recently operating under the name Holmes for Canines, is now listed as a defendant
in the lawsuit claiming the plaintiffs were sold a sick puppy with Campylobacter
requiring the owner to be hospitalized.
Doug and Dawn Rose are seeking
monetary damages after Doug became infected with a multi-drug resistant
Campylobacter infection acquiring weeks’ worth of medical expenses. The
Beagle-Pug mixed puppy named Thor, was also diagnosed with coccidia.
Petland has not paid for Thor’s medical expenses. In January 2018 the CDC
completed a multistate investigation of a Campylobacter outbreak linking 99% of
the cases to puppy stores. The vast majority of those individuals sickened
reported they had contact with a puppy from a Petland store. The investigation
included 113 cases across 17 states with 23 hospitalizations.
Transport
Cruelty Cases
(Credit: Bucks County SPCA)
A Philadelphia CBS affiliate 2015 news story
uncovered numerous instances of misconduct by Abe Miller while investigating a New
Jersey pet store selling sick puppies. The investigative story included two animal
cruelty cases for inhumanely transporting puppies.
1) “In 2011 one of Abe Miller paid fines in excess of
$3,500 dollars after one of his employees pled guilty in Ocean County, N.J. to
20 counts of animal cruelty for inhumanely transporting puppies from Ohio to
New Jersey, according to the SPCA.”
2)
“In June 2015,
a van carrying a load of puppies crashed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Lower
Moreland.
Officials
say the impact of the crash caused several of the dogs to be released from
their cages and let loose on the highway. All lanes of the eastbound Turnpike
were closed for about an hour-and-a-half as firefighters rounded up the
puppies. Two puppies were killed in the crash.
Through
an Open Records Request, the I-Team obtained documents from the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture showing the puppies were owned by Abe Miller of Quail
Creek Kennel. The van had come from Ohio and was headed for pet stores in New
Jersey when the driver allegedly fell asleep at the wheel.”
Link to NBS Philadelphia news story “78 Puppies Survive, 2 Die in Crash onPennsylvania Turnpike”
Transporting Underage Puppies
In April of 2012, Miller’s brokerage business, operating under the
name DML Kennel LLC, failed repeatedly in the regulated areas of transporting
puppies under the minimum age requirement of 8 weeks of age and procuring puppies from unlicensed breeders.
04/02/12
|
Min Age
|
“You transported,
in commerce, puppies that were not at least eight (8) weeks of age.
|
04/02/12
|
Procurement
|
You
knowingly obtained dogs from at least two individuals who were required to be
licensed but did not hold current valid licenses.
|
04/09/12
|
Min Age
|
”You
transported, in commerce, puppies that were not at least eight (8) weeks of
age.”
|
04/16/12
|
Min Age
|
“You transported,
in commerce, puppies that were not at least eight (8) weeks of age.
|
04/16/12
|
Procurement
|
You
knowingly obtained dogs from at least two individuals who were required to be
licensed but did not hold current valid licenses.
|
04/17/12
|
Records
|
“You failed
to make, keep and maintain accurate records of animals acquired, held or in
your passion. Specifically, you did not have acquisition records for all your
animals or complete records regarding their method of transport. During an
inspection on the above date, you failed to provide APHIS access to examine
and copy records required to be kept by the regulations, including records
correlating all old and new official tag numbers and tattoos for animals
acquired.
|
The minimal fine of $11,107 imposed was just the cost of doing
business for Miller’s large and growing enterprises. Miller simply cancelled
his DML Kennel licensed the next month and obtained a new license under the name
Quail Creek Kennels which continued to transport under age puppies and source
from unlicensed breeders:
“… in June 2015, a van carrying a load
of puppies crashed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Abe Miller was cited for
transporting puppies underage”
“ ..in January 2016, records obtained from the Licensee clearly
establishes that they knowingly acquired puppies from unlicensed sources..”
Unlicensed breeders
Dogs and puppies shipped across states
lines require Certificates of Veterinary Inspections (CVI) which are provided
to each sending and receiving state’s Department of Agriculture to regulate the
importation of canines and track diseases. These certificates are public
records and should include the actual location in which the puppy came from,
instead brokers, like Abe N. Miller use their own business address concealing
the actual breeder name and address making it difficult for both regulators and
animal advocacy watchdogs to confirm sourcing information.
Working as a middle-man for unlicensed
breeders, Abe N. Miller not only uses his brokerage name and address on the CVI
(shipping records), but has devised a variety of other schemes to mislead regulators:
- falsifying certificates of exemption when acquiring
puppies from unlicensed breeders
- not providing identification on
the puppies or dogs
- not providing animal acquisition information
- not making himself available for property and
records inspections
Feb-22-2010 Procurement of Dogs: “This broker using
certificates of exemption when acquiring puppies from unlicensed breeders.
These exemptions document the breeder name and address but have no animal
information or date on them.”
April-19-2012
Procurement of Dogs“…there was missing
acquisition information. ….provided more exemption certification that had been
unavailable the night before… Based on this information, it is obvious that the
licensee has knowingly acquired dogs from these sources even though they are
not licensed or exempt.”
A 2015 I-Team investigation exposed Quail Creek Kennel for selling
puppy to a New Jersey pet store from an unlicensed breeder”
“According to Gus’ acquisition papers obtained by the I-Team, Gus came
from a breeder in the Amish countryside of Ohio in an area that animal rights
groups call “ground zero for puppy mill breeding,” where there are an estimated
540 puppy mills in one county alone. The I-Team confirmed with USDA and Ohio
Department of Agriculture officials that Gus was bred by an unlicensed breeder.
Gus’ papers show the unlicensed breeder sold Gus to the broker, Quail Creek
Kennel. Then, the broker transported Gus almost 500 miles from Ohio to New
Jersey. Pat’s Pups purchased Gus from the broker and then illegally sold him to
Edwards.
Jan -21-2016 Procurement of Dogs:
This dealer has knowingly purchased from at least three individuals that
require to be licensed under the Animal Welfare Act. On 11/19/2015, APHIS officials collected all
records from this facility to perform a records review and inspection. During a
review of the exemption certificates provided by the Licensee, it is apparent
that 3 individuals falsely signed exemption certificates. Based upon the records,
these individuals have more than 4 breeding females on their premise and
require a current, valid and unsuspended license to sell puppies to the Licensee.
The first individual signed an exemption form 8 times from
3/9/2015-11/9/2015.The second individual signed an exemption form 5 times from
2/23/2015-10/12/2015. The third individual signed an exemption form 6 times from 3/2/2015- an
unknown date in September of 2015.
“The records obtained from the Licensee clearly establishes that they
knowingly acquired puppies from unlicensed sources that clearly require a USDA
license but do not hold a current, valid, and unsuspended license, which makes
it impossible for APHIS to regulate those animals and undermines a working
relationship between the licensee and APHIS officials.”
“The Licensee stated
that they will be configuring their system to allow them to more accurately
identify how many litters they have purchased from unlicensed sources and be
able to more closely monitor the time frame for which they are purchasing them.”
Ignoring New Pet
Protection Laws
According
to the Philadelphia’s I-Team Investigation:
“In
July 2015 Quail Creek Kennels (broker) violated the New Jersey Pet Purchase Act
after illegally selling a puppy to Pats Puppies store in the Cherry Hill Mall.
Puppy was breed by an unlicensed breeder in Fredericksburg, OH and brokered
through Quail Creek Kennel.”
According
to the Humane Society of the United State’s 2014 Investigation of Virginia’s puppy sales, Abe Miller (Quail Creek Kennel) was supplying puppies to Pauley’s
Pups which was found skirting the states disclosure laws – no breeder
information was posted.
Pauley’s Pups,
Ashland: Skirting State’s Disclosure Law ·
Date visited: 9/22/2014 ·
Problem puppy sellers linked to store: In 2007, this pet store was part of an
HSUS investigation into Virginia puppy mills. That year, the store was directly
linked to puppies from Junior Horton/Horton’s Pups, an unlicensed 20 puppy mill
operator whose Virginia puppy mill was subsequently shut down 21. Horton was
twice convicted of animal cruelty due to sick, injured and underage animals at
his facility. During this year’s visit, we were shown records for a puppy from
Abe Miller/Quail Creek Kennel in Charm, OH, a large-scale puppy broker
(middleman), and Eli Raber of Baltic, Ohio. Raber was cited for Animal Welfare
Act violations in February 2012 for two dogs with such severe dental problems
that the roots of their teeth were visible, which the USDA inspector noted
could be painful and make it difficult for the dogs to eat. · Breeder disclosure law not followed: At the time of our
visit, no breeder information was posted near the puppies in the store, as
required by state law. Salespeople did show us paperwork on a few puppies we
asked about in the store.
Ohio - A Home to
Puppy Millers
In 2016,
prior to the USDA records “black out”, Ohio was ranked #5 with the most licensed
dog breeders and dealers.
(Charts prepared by
Puppy Mill Awareness of SE Michigan)
Commercial dog
kennels can be found throughout Ohio, however most of them are concentrated Holmes
County – central Ohio. Abe N. Miller’s home town of Fresno Ohio is located in Coshocton
County, just south of Holmes.
(Chart prepared by Bailing
Out Benji January 2019)
Puppy peddling is a
big business for Abe N. Miller
According to Philadelphia’s
I-Team investigation, Abe Miller claimed to have made $500,000.00 in 2012 by purchasing
12,000 dogs from Ohio breeders and selling them to pet stores.
Miller’s own breeding business has
never been a small operation either. Within just two years of operating, his
2008 kennel had over 130 adult dogs which grew to 285 according to the July 26,2016 USDA inspection report.
Michigan
Puppy Mill Awareness
of SE Michigan reported Miller has supplied 75% or more of the puppies sold at
the Petland Novi store since 2010– approximately 60 per month. Several Michigan
puppy stores have used Miller as their primary broker, including:
·
Petland
Novi, MI
·
Petland
Westland, MI
·
Pet
Station Dearborn Heights, MI
·
The
Family Puppy Novi, MI
Servicing puppy stores across 12 states
During a 6-month
period (September 2014 – February 2015), Abe N. Miller’s brokerage enterprise
operating under Quail Creek Kennels, serviced 28 stores across 12 states.
Connecticut
Pat Crandell (Triple Oaks Kennel), Dayville,
CT
Delaware
Pet Kare 250 Pencader Plaza, Newark DE
Florida
Honey Pets, 1388 Weston Rd, Weston, FL
Orlando East, 453 N. Alafaya Trail,
Orlando, FL
Petland Davie, 11482 W. State Road 84,
Davie Fl
Petland Deerfield Beach, 3964 W. Hillsboro
Blvd, Deerfield Beach, FL
Petland Plantation, 801 S. University
Drive, Suite C 100, Planation FL
Petland Sarasota, 5380 Fruitville
Road, Sarasota, FL
Puppy Plus, 7071 N. State Rd 7, Parkland
FL
Georgia
Petland Kennesaw, 2920 George Busbee
Parkway, Kennesaw, GA
Illinois
Furry Babies, 3940 Rte 251, Suite H-16,
Peru, IL
Indiana
Starline, 2321 East Overman Road,
Mountain City, IN
Kansas
Petland Overland Park, J & C Pets
DBA Petland Overland Park, Overland Park, KA
Michigan
Northlake Pets DBA Petland Twelve
Oaks, 27200 Novi Road, Novi
New
Jersey
Breeders Association, 580 Route 70,
Brick, NJ
Breeders Club, 1839 Route 35 North,
Middleton, NJ
PV Pets, 2335 Broadway, Pennsville, NJ
Pampered Pups, 2709 Mayslanding,
Millville, NJ
Pats Pups, 542 Route P Unit 1, Waretown,
NJ
Puppy Barn, 2741 Route 206, Mt. Holly,
NJ
The Puppy Hut, 1250 Rte 130,
Robbinsville, NJ
Puppy Stop, 138 Fries Mill Road,
Turnersville, NJ
New
York
Shake a Paw, 1 Atlantic Blvd, Brooklyn
NY
Pennsylvania
Augie Manifest, Apollo, PA
Brookside, 1000 S. Market Street,
Bloomsburg, PA
Pets Plus, 553 South Broad Street,
Lansdale, PA
Tropical Pet Center, 381 South Main
St. Wilkses Barre, PA
Virginia
Dreamy Puppy, 14220 Sullyfield Circle,
Chantilly, VA
Petland Fair Fax, 9404 Main Street,
Fairfax, VA
Judy DC, Fredericksburg, VA
Pauley’s Pets, 12100 Washington Hwy,
Ashland, VA
