Brick Puppy Store Under Quarantine: Authorities

BRICK, NJ -- A Brick Township puppy store is under quarantine in the wake of reports of families who purchased puppies at the store that died within days.

Breeders Association of America, on Route 70 in Brick, was issued the quarantine order Thursday afternoon, said Daniel Regenye, the health officer with the Ocean County Health Department. The quarantine, which is in effect until April 28, means the store cannot sell any puppies during that time, he said.

The store also is not allowed to remove any of the puppies currently in the store without first notifying the health department 24 hours in advance and then receiving written permission to remove them, Regenye said. Any deliveries of puppies scheduled during that time have to be canceled or diverted, he said.

There were 44 puppies in the store at the time the quarantine was issued, Regenye said.

The store is allowed to remain open to sell products — it sells leashes, food, dog vests and other items — but must post the yellow quarantine notice in the front window, he said.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday the store was closed and the front doors were locked. While employees could be seen walking back and forth between back room areas, occasionally causing the puppies in the cages to start barking, the quarantine notice had not yet been posted as of 6 p.m.

"We were presented with a positive test for parvo from the puppy, Cooper," Regenye said, and issued the quarantine as a result of that test result, which included pulling their placard that certified they met health department standards.

Cooper was one of two puppies that died within about two weeks of each other in March. Cooper, purchased by Anne and Brittany Reeves on March 23, died March 31 at Ramtown Animal Hospital in Howell. The death of Cooper and claims by store personnel that the Reeveses had surrendered the puppy led to a public outcry after the store manager refused to tell them the pomsky had died and a delay in the release of Cooper's body by the veterinarian at Ramtown Animal Hospital in Howell on Tuesday, April 4.

Cooper's death occurred two weeks after the death of Brody, a Rottweiler mix purchased by Valerie Macaluso of Beachwood on March 9. Brody died March 18; Dr. James Fenton of Ramtown Animal Hospital said Brody exhibited symptoms of parvo, but a test on mucus from the Rottweiler did not confirm his suspicions.

>> READ MORE: Puppy's Owners Want To Know: What Happened To Cooper?
What Happened To Cooper? Puppy's Owners Have Some Answers, But More Questions

Glen Feldman, chief of staff for District 10 legislators state Sen. James Holzapfel and Assemblymen Greg McGuckin and Brian Rumpf, said online reports about Cooper got their attention, and they reached out to the Ocean County Health Department.

"They (the legislators) are very passionate about animal issues and this was in our backyard," Feldman said Thursday evening. "This was something that had to get done."

Parvovirus is a highly contagious viral disease that can produce a life-threatening illness, according to PetWebMD.com. Symptoms of the virus include lethargy, severe vomiting, loss of appetite and bloody and foul-smelling diarrhea that can lead to life-threatening dehydration, according to the website. In puppies, it can damage the heart and cause a lifelong cardiac problem, according to the website. It can be transmitted by any person, animal or object that comes in contact with an infected dog's feces. It is highly resistant and can live in the environment for months, even on inanimate objects such as food bowls, shoes, clothes, carpet and floors, PetWebMD said.

"The problem with this sickness this dog had is it could spread so easily to other dogs," Feldman said.

Regenye said in addition to the quarantine on any removal of the puppies from the store, Breeders Association of America also must increase its infection control protocols under supervision from Ramtown. And it must supply the health department with a full list of puppies that are in the store under quarantine, which Regenye said would be cross-referenced against information the store already has provided.

Regenye said the store has been cooperative with every request the health department has made. He said paperwork that was not available to inspectors in the store Tuesday were produced within 24 hours.

"They are not required to keep everything on site," Regenye said.

The health department will continue to monitor the store, including its disinfection protocols, and inspectors will make unannounced visits to the store, Regenye said.

The locked doors caught some people off-guard. A few families with young children who walked up to the store to play with the puppies were surprised, as was one young man who had been considering a purchase.

Also surprised to find the doors locked was Jasmine McCown of Beachwood. She said she had purchased a toy-bred Yorkie at the store on Saturday, and the puppy, which she named Princess, has come down with kennel cough. She had seen reports about the deaths of Cooper and Brody, she said.

"I was coming to talk to them about her and about whether I should be concerned (because of the reports)," McCown said. She said she was told, "Oh, people will write anything online."

McCown said she took Princess to Ramtown, where she was given the kennel cough diagnosis and the "unfit for sale" declaration, but when she spoke to store management about the puppy's illness, was told they could not give her any advice.

"I paid a lot of money for her," McCown said, adding the experience of buying the puppy "was like a car dealership," with what she said was high-pressure tactics. "It was terrible."

Feldman said that while it took a couple of days to get the quarantine order issued, the legistlators were glad it had gotten done.

"You hear a story like that and you just want justice for Cooper and the family," Feldman said. "Hopefully this will prevent other dogs and from getting sick and prevent other families from having this heartbreak."

"You can't bring (Cooper) back but it's what had to get done," he said.

Animal activists said a planned protest near the store that is scheduled for Saturday, April 22, will go forward.

>> READ MORE: Brick Puppy Store Protest Planned By Animal Activists

Main photo: A puppy looks out from its cage inside Breeders Association of America on Thursday. Photos by Karen Wall