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This week, PETA sent a formal complaint to the City of Chesapeake Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew Hamel urging him to investigate Family Pet Care, for “what appear to be clear violations of Virginia’s deceptive advertising law.”
The organization is claiming that the store obtains dogs from purported puppy mills, despite alleging on its website that it does not engage in such practices.
According to the complaint, one customer purchased a puppy for $1,900 from BJ’s & Guys, one of the store’s biggest puppy mill suppliers.
Within weeks, officials say that the dog’s new owner noticed neurological health problems - including running into walls, stumbling, and falling over - prompting a call to PETA to investigate.
The group later was forced to transfer the dog to an adoption organization, which was forced to spend more than $6,000 in medical care to help get the animal back to good health.
Officials have said that puppy mills produce approximately 2 million puppies annually throughout the country. They often spend their lives trapped in cages as they await a pet owner to purchase them.
Under federal law, it is legal for mills to confine dogs in wire, stacked cages only six inches larger than themselves for their entire lives. To make matters worse, federal enforcement of these weak standards is abysmal.
PETA made note that puppy mill animals are nearly 50 percent more likely to develop health issues than the general population of dogs and that “pet stores that sell puppies from puppy mills typically charge thousands of dollars for them and promote sky-high interest loans to finance the purchase” while customers often end up having to “spend much more in veterinary care for illnesses or genetic defects.”
The complaint filed this week addresses issues raised in PETA's recent cease and desist letter that was sent to Family Pet Care owner Corine Cowan, demanding that the store remove false claims for misleading the public about the dogs that were being adopted.
“Family Pet Center is duping customers into spending thousands of dollars on puppies from massive mills or puppy factory farms, which use mother dogs as breeding machines until their bodies give out,” PETA Foundation General Counsel for Animal Law Jared Goodman stated.
“PETA is calling on law enforcement to investigate the shop for deceptive advertising and is calling on everyone to choose to adopt from animal shelters.”
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