Pet Store Raided, Shut Down on Christmas Eve for Selling Sick Puppies

Woodbridge Township, NJ - A long-troubled pet store in Avenel was raided by the state and shut down Christmas Eve after authorities said the owner attempted to illegally sell dogs. The owner was then arrested three days later for trying to sell more dogs out of his auto body shop down the road, township officials allege.

It’s only the latest negative headline for Fancy Pups and its owner Rocco Garruto, Jr.: The pet store has been shut down before, and Garruto claims he’s been the subject of phone threats from animal activists after investigations he knowingly sold sick puppies.

Garruto, 63, was arrested Sunday, Dec. 27 by the Woodbridge Police in front of his garage, Crystal Auto Sales, on St. Georges Avenue. When he was arrested, he had one puppy and two dogs with him, police said. This was in violation of a Dec. 24 restraining order that prevented him from selling, transporting, and holding animals, township officials said.

That restraining order was served Christmas Eve as part of a raid at Fancy Pups by the state SPCA, Woodbridge Animal Control and township police. Ten dogs were removed from the shop: Two went to a Boxer rescue, and eight to the Woodbridge Animal Shelter, where they are currently. All of them needed to be quarantined and were treated for illness/parasites, including giardia, said Dennis Green, the Woodbridge Director of Health and Human Services.

However, Garruto was able to get away with three dogs, which he took with him to his nearby auto body shop. When they were found on Sunday, those three dogs also needed to be treated for malnutrition, Green said.

Garruto, who lives in Bridgewater, N.J., posted his $2,500 bail and was released Sunday. Fancy Pups will remain closed through Dec. 30. That’s the date Garruto is due in court for his restraining order violation.

Puppies near urine and feces

The state raided Fancy Pups on Dec. 24 because it says Garruto had violated a prior voluntary agreement not to sell any more animals until they were cleared by a vet. Garruto made the promise after a Dec. 8 inspection by the SPCA and local Animal Control. When they inspected Fancy Pups on Dec. 8, Animal Control officers found puppies in direct contact with urine- and excrement-soaked newspaper, they said. The dogs did not have water, officials said, and three of the animals looked sick, including two lab puppies that looked like they had worms, officers said.

Garruto has admitted in the past to selling puppies that later became very sick and died. One Fancy Pups customer, who asked that she not be named in the story, said her 8-week-old German Shepherd puppy died just days after she brought the pooch home.

In 2012, Garruto pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud for knowingly selling sick puppies and then refusing to pay the veterinarian bills. He then later declared himself ”a puppy lover.”

“I love the puppy business. I love the puppies. It’s just my thing,” Garruto said.

He said that several Woodbridge policemen and elected officials bought puppies at his store and they’ve all been satisfied.

Photos: Fancy Pups at 1144 St Georges Ave. in Avenel. The second photo is an ill German Shepherd puppy previously sold by Garruto.