Woodbridge Puppy Store Owner Pleads Guilty

Woodbridge, NJ - The owner of an Avenel puppy store raided and then shut down by the state for "deplorable and inhumane conditions" pleaded guilty in court Monday.

Rocco Garruto pleaded guilty in Woodbridge municipal court to one count of failure to implement and maintain a disease control program at his store, a township spokesman said. The other five summonses filed against him by the township were dismissed. He was fined $100, and also must pay $2,900 to Woodbridge Animal Control as restitution. As part of his plea, Garruto is barred from being involved with, owning or having any interest in any business dealing with animals in Woodbridge Township for the next 20 years.

On Dec. 27, Garruto was arrested by Woodbridge PD for allegedly violating a restraining order that prevented him from selling dogs. (That restraining order was served when the state ASPCA and Woodbridge Animal Control shut down his store on Dec. 24 for selling sick puppies.) On the day of his arrest, Garruto told Patch and other media outlets he was a victim of police brutality, and that a police officer — who told him he was "an animal lover" — shackled him by his wrists to a pipe in the basement of headquarters for four hours, not letting him use the bathroom. Woodbridge PD Internal Affairs Unit investigated and said they found his claims to be unsubstantiated. They also charged Garruto with filing a false report, a fourth-degree crime. That is an indictable offense and is still pending action by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Garruto said his Monday guilty plea was a financial decision and he told MyCentralJersey he thinks the township targeted his family-owned business. In the 12 years he was in operation on St. Georges Road, he sold puppies to Woodbridge police officers, firefighters and even the township mayor. However, 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 by Patch, said her 8-week-old German Shepherd died just days after she brought the puppy home from Fancy Pups.

Garruto is also still facing $90,000 in fines from the Middlesex County Division of Consumer Affairs, and has not yet reached an agreement with them. He was also fined $15,000 from the New Jersey SPCA after their Dec. 24 raid of puppy store.

As Patch previously reported, agents with the state SPCA, Woodbridge Animal Control and township police raided Garruto's pet store on Christmas Eve. Ten dogs were removed from the shop and all of them needed to be quarantined and were treated for illness/parasites, including giardia. This came after a Dec. 8 inspection of Fancy Pups, where 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.

"I wouldn't want (another) puppy store. I don't think you get a fair shake in New Jersey. I'm liable for 14 days after you buy a dog," Garruto told MyCentralJersey Monday.