Puppy Store Being Investigated After Reports Of Sick Pets: Report

LAKE GROVE, NY - A Smith Haven Mall puppy store is under investigation following customer accusations that the puppies were extremely sick, according to ABC7.

The New York State Department of Agriculture performed two inspections this year on the American Dog Club located at the Smith Haven Mall following customer complaints which found that the store "did not properly document the treatment provided to the animals," ABC7 reports.

Read the full report here.

One Setauket resident, Ashley Pagartanis, told Patch that two weeks after purchasing her dog, Mia from the store, the dog passed away from kidney failure.

"We are in awe of their lack of ethics and empathy," she said. "You walk into this store and all the dogs are sleeping."

According to Pagartanis, she purchased Mia from the store after lost their German Shepard to cancer.

Her family had Mia three days before she had to be taken to the hospital with kidney failure. The store told Pagartanis and her family that Mia's condition was congenital but when they took her to a local veterinarian, they didn't believe that was the case.

"Either way the vet that signs off on these puppies when they arrive should have done a better check because anything congenital should have been picked up before the puppy was put up for sale," she said.

The vet also told Pagartanis that the puppy was unfit for sale.

"We tried everything to save her, but despite how hard she fought," she said. "We had to say goodbye to her.. because dialysis is no way for a two month old puppy to live. My family is now forced to rip the band aid off an already slow healing wound. To relive this nightmare again is something I wouldn't wish on anyone."

Pagartanis posted her story on Facebook, which has received over 1,000 shares.

"This store gets away with animal abuse every day," she said. "They're rude, cruel, and unethical. Our story has driven more people to come forward then ever before."

The Yelp page for the store is full of photos and comments from people with similar stories.

"Apparently a lot of people have experienced the same thing and have lost animals," Pagartanis said. "And people are afraid to speak up. And I think it's something that we should be shedding light on so people don't make the same mistake."

One person wrote that the puppies were "choking on their own vomit" and another wrote that a piece of paper was stuck on a puppy's eye and when he went to tell an employee he was told to "worry about myself."

The store's manager, Ann Marie, told ABC7 that the store doesn't sell sick dogs and that "illnesses can pop up in any puppy."

"All the puppies we get are all checked within five days, which is the law, by a veterinarian to make sure all the puppies are healthy," she told ABC7.