21/12/2024
This is a great article on purchasing from a puppy store. I seriously find it mind-boggling that anybody would do that at this point when everyone knows that they get these dogs come from tortured animals, but many people still do. They end up with sick or dying animals and are extremely upset about it. The pet stores are refusing to back the dogs all they'll do is take them back and euthanize them because it's just a money stream to them. They aren't living creatures. They also take advantage of purchasers with predatory lending practices.
Please share this post with friends, families and business associates and ask them to stay away from the following stores (not a complete list) that are known to sell puppy mill sourced puppies, no matter what they say. No ethical breeder would ever sell their puppy to a retail store. Please, do not purchase your puppy from a pet retail store that sells puppies.
All About Puppies, Lakeland and Largo, FL
Blue Sky Puppies, Largo and Orlando, FL
Dog Boutique Store, Pembroke Pines, FL
Fancy Pets Planet, Miami, FL
Forever Love Puppies, South Florida
Petland (all of them)
Just Puppies, Orlando, FL (two locations)
Nessies Puppies, Kendall, FL
Paradise Puppies, Pompano Beach, FL
Puppies St. Pete, Largo, FL
Puppies to Go, Miami, FL
Royalty Puppies, Miami, FL
World Famous Puppies, Doral, FL
How Do You Mend A Broken Heart? Stop Buying Sick Puppies
This week, we were contacted by someone who purchased a puppy from Sunshine Puppies (Largo, FL location), as a gift for his two young daughters. Unbeknownst to him, the puppy has a corneal dermoid (a genetic health issue) and is loaded with parasites, one type of which is zoonotic. The parasites were there long before the gentleman purchased the puppies, which could mean other puppies in the store are sick as well. Sunshine Puppies’ store owner gave the gentleman two options: (1) return the puppy to him for a refund and no clear answer on what will happen to the puppy; (2) he can keep the puppy, incur the additional expensive medical issues to deal with, and take Sunshine Puppies to court. The gentleman was threatened by the Sunshine Puppies store owner that he would lose in court. The gentleman plans to keep the puppy, seek medical treatment for the puppy, and fight Sunshine Puppies.
In a second situation, within the last 72 hours, a woman unknowingly purchased a sick puppy from Blue Sky Puppies in Largo, FL. Her puppy has parvo and giardia, which the family is now spending money for treatment. She has been unable to reach anyone at Blue Sky Puppies to discuss.
In a third situation we were informed about, within the last 24 hours, a gentleman unknowingly purchased a sick puppy from Sunshine Puppies. The puppy died. The man and his family are distraught, and we understand that the owner of Sunshine Puppies has been “aggressive with him, accusing him and his wife of not doing enough to save the puppy…”
In all three of the above-referenced incidents, each consumer signed paperwork stating the puppies were healthy and free of parasites, when of course they were not.
We have also spoken with a medical professional who has attempted to work with several of the Pinellas County retail stores that sell these puppy mill-sourced puppies. The store owners typically do not want to spend the money on sick puppies. One store owner recently refused to spend money to humanely euthanize a very sick puppy that had been part of the store’s inventory. The puppy died. And, we cannot forget the Sunshine Puppies puppy, we named Bodhi, who died this past summer as a result of not receiving any medical treatment. Sunshine Puppies store owner, Dan Cohn, was fined by Pinellas County Animal Services for failure to submit veterinary records or a necropsy report. The fine was a mere $149.
Bailing Out Benji, a national nonprofit organization that provides transparency into the puppy mill industry, recently put out its 3rd Quarter 2024 USDA Violations of puppy mills. One of the mills on the 2024 USDA list has supplied puppies to Sunshine Puppies' Largo store.
The good news to be had out of these terribly sad occurrences is that the consumers are willing to speak up about their experiences. They want others to be aware of the deceptive selling tactics and false advertising that these Pinellas County businesses are using. We hope this will give courage to others to tell us about their experiences after having purchased a sick puppy from a retail pet store. We also hope it will encourage those looking for a puppy to do the research. Just Google any one of the stores listed below.
We must also add that these issues were supposed to have been addressed, and the health and well-being of the puppies were to be improved upon as a result of the puppy mill partnership that SPCA Tampa Bay CEO Martha Boden brokered more than two years ago. The partnership was formally announced in October of 2023, just after The New Barker broke the full story, lies and all. Boden and her board continue to look the other way, under the guise of saving animals, despite the evidence that proves otherwise.
As we receive more information on these case studies and others that may come forward, we will continue to update our readers. In the meantime, we are asking for your help. Please share this post with friends, families and business associates and ask them to stay away from the following stores (not a complete list) that are known to sell puppy mill sourced puppies, no matter what they say. No ethical breeder would ever sell their puppy to a retail store. Please, do not purchase your puppy from a pet retail store that sells puppies.
All About Puppies, Lakeland and Largo, FL
Blue Sky Puppies, Largo and Orlando, FL
Dog Boutique Store, Pembroke Pines, FL
Fancy Pets Planet, Miami, FL
Forever Love Puppies, South Florida
Petland (all of them)
Just Puppies, Orlando, FL (two locations)
Nessies Puppies, Kendall, FL
Paradise Puppies, Pompano Beach, FL
Puppies St. Pete, Largo, FL
Puppies to Go, Miami, FL
Royalty Puppies, Miami, FL
World Famous Puppies, Doral, FL
Photo of Moo, the sick puppy purchased from Sunshine Puppies, Largo. Moo has a corneal dermoid and parasites. More photos to come.
Pinellas County Animal Services
The Humane Society of the United States - Puppy Mills Campaign
Bailing Out Benji
National Mill Dog Rescue
Best Friends Animal Society
ASPCA
Ashley Moody
Governor Ron DeSantis
FOX 13's Jennifer Epstein
FOX 13's Regina Gonzalez
WFLA News Channel 8
10 Tampa Bay
Spectrum Bay News 9
Mix 100.7
98ROCK Tampa Bay
1055 the dove
ABC Action News - WFTS - Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay Times
Make it Illegal to sell Dogs/Puppies in Pet Stores
