# Petland faces Class Action Lawsuit



## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

http://www.hsus.org:80/press_and_publications/press_releases/petland_litigation_sm_031709.html

March 17, 2009


Class Action Complaint 
The HSUS' Petland Investigation 
Correspondence with USDA on "Humane Care Guidelines"


PHOENIX — Members of The Humane Society of the United States and other consumers filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Petland, Inc. and the Hunte Corporation are conspiring to sell unhealthy puppy mill puppies to unsuspecting consumers in numerous states. Petland is the nation's largest chain of pet stores that sells puppy mill dogs and Hunte is one of the country's largest distributors of factory-produced puppies.

The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Phoenix late Monday, alleges that Petland and Hunte violated federal law and numerous state consumer protection laws by misleading thousands of consumers across the country into believing that the puppies sold in Petland stores are healthy and come from high-quality breeders. Many of the puppies sold by Petland come either directly from puppy mills or puppy brokers such as Hunte, which operates as a middleman between the mills and Petland's retail stores. 

"Unscrupulous dog dealers like Petland and Hunte reap massive profits by pushing unhealthy puppies on well-intentioned dog-lovers who would never knowingly buy a puppy mill dog," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president & chief counsel for Animal Protection Litigation at The HSUS. "Families often bear the great expense of veterinary treatment for sick and unhealthy dogs, or the terrible anguish of losing a beloved family pet. This industry has been systematically lying to consumers for years about the source of the dogs they sell, and it's long past time for a reckoning." 

The class action lawsuit is the result of many months of investigative and legal research, and comes after an eight-month investigation into Petland stores by The HSUS that demonstrated a direct link between multiple Petland stores and unscrupulous puppy mills. Numerous other reports have also surfaced of Petland's allegedly deceptive sales practices, including the marketing and sale of puppies with life-threatening genetic defects and highly contagious parasitic and viral infections. 

The 34-page complaint includes numerous examples of sick or dying puppies that Petland sold, including: 

*Mainerd, a Boston terrier, was diagnosed with a congenital spinal condition. Some of her vertebrae have not formed completely while others have fused together causing tissue to grow underneath along with possible nerve damage. Mainerd is now receiving steroid treatments for her ailments and may require expensive surgery. 

*Minchy, a miniature pinscher, was sold by Petland at 10 weeks old. He was immediately diagnosed with coccidian, an intestinal parasite that causes diarrhea and weight loss. Minchy was also diagnosed with an inherited disorder, Progressive Retinal Atrophy, which will ultimately lead to permanent blindness. 

*Tucker was sold at 4 months old. The bloodhound puppy experienced severe separation anxiety and various health problems before developing orbital cancer at only 7 months of age. 

*Patrick, a Pomeranian puppy, was sold at 3 months old. He suffered from diarrhea and vomiting shortly after arriving at his new home. At 11 months old, Patrick was diagnosed with a genetic disorder, dual luxating patellas, which will require expensive surgery on both of his knees to correct.

Puppy mills are mass breeding operations where the health of dogs is disregarded in order to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits. The dogs are often kept in wire cages, stacked on top of each other, with no exercise, socialization, veterinary care, or loving human interaction. They are treated not like family pets, but like a cash crop. Petland denies it supports these substandard breeding facilities, and claims to follow "Humane Care Guidelines" developed in conjunction with the USDA. However, USDA recently informed HSUS in writing that it has no record of any such guidelines. 

The class plaintiffs are being represented in the case by Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett & Bendesky, PC; Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, LLC; Garen Meguerian, Esq. and lawyers in The HSUS's Animal Protection Litigation section. The suit requests a jury trial on behalf of the consumer class plaintiffs, and seeks reimbursement of the puppies' purchase price along with compensation for all related monetary damages for the class members.

To learn more about puppy mills, visit humanesociety.org/stoppuppymills.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization — backed by 11 million Americans, or one of every 28. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty — On the web at humanesociety.org.


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## bjoy02 (Sep 9, 2002)

It's about time. I hope the HSUS wins and forces stores like Petland out of business.


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## skyizzy (Apr 15, 2008)

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## DorianE (Jan 5, 2009)

Ok, I am going to chime in on this one. I live in Buffalo Mo, if you go as the crow flies, HUNTES is across the field from my house. They are based out of Buffalo and Ekland Mo, also about 15 miles from me. This area is a small township basically with alot of century farms, farms that have been in the family for over 100 years. There is no industry here, no real jobs besides grocery stores, walmart and convienence stores. For years, this county has been known for having either fixed income seniors or assistance based families due to no real jobs. Now keep in mind, we are about 30 miles north of Springfield Mo and due to growth through the years, Springfield has no where else to grow but north. Springfield and Branson almost touch now and the city itself is doing well. So, in the last 10 years or so, we have seen a growth in this county of young families that work in the city and have migrated to this smaller community to raise children with less crime and problems. 

Now with that being said. When I was a teenage, oh so many years ago lol, Hunte came in the area and was buying entire littlers of registered puppies. Now keep in mind, they might only pay $80 a piece for them and then ship them to Canada, New York, Calif etc and sell them for $1000. But for a family on AFDC that recieved $300 a month, you do the math. Several litters each month that pay say $240-$800 depending on how many where in the litter, this is better then lottery chances. 

You take a poor community with no commerce or jobs besides a chicken plant, no longer here, and offer ppl on a fixed income a chance to obtain some dogs, raise them up and breed them in their back yard and make untraceable moneys, and bam! You have puppy mills. Hunte knew what was going on. They still know what is going. Now a lot of the breeders in the area have switched form AKC to ACA registration and I always thought this was in an attempt to escape the guidelines set forth to disban puppy mills. Now keep in mind, Honeydew, one of the other names Huntes has had over the years, would refuse to accept one or two pups at first that maybe had hernias or something like that, however, would give the name of the breeder to other breeders that might be wanting to obtain different breeds to work with. These were the pups that the breeders would bring back and sell to the community for maybe twice the price of what Hunte was paying. The one big draw to Huntes for the breeder was they would take as many as they could bring in. An entire litter. They would send out a worksheet of what shots had to be given at what time as well as wormings that had to be done at said weeks but that was it. If you had documentation on these, the entire litter would be purchased.

My father went to work for them many years ago as a driver. He drove a truck to Canada once a week. I think he worked for them for a month or so before he realized what was going on and the terms the drivers had for taking care of the pups that were in their care. If you go back through the years with all the names that Huntes has had, you will find many "busts" along the way to transporting these poor dogs where the driver was fined as well as the company. 

I had no idea that they were associated with Petland until about a year ago. One of the "managers" at Huntes had contacted me about raising pet quality mini bunnies for them. I had some lion heads and rex and took one of the lion head babies up for them to see them and they dropped the petland bomb then. I walked out and have never been back. Hunte didnt ring a bell with me as for many years, it was "I LUV MY PUPPY" "Honeydew" and many different names for their organization. 

So, a bit of history on this company and where they started and how they got so **** big. IF, this suit is able to catch them this time, I will be suprised. For some reason, they seem as slippery as a greased piglet in a 10 acre field. I feel another name change comming on. 

Not to mention, IF they can actually get somewhere this time, maybe they can do away with some of the mills around here. You can drive down the roads and highways and you see kennels set up all over the place. Car companies selling Kennel Welping Houses, double decked with cages and doors for inside/outside wire pens etc. Sad area and even more sad for the poor animals. Look at all the busts made around the southwest Mo locality, its horrible.


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## weber1b (Nov 30, 2008)

Petland as well as a whole bunch of "breeders".


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## skyizzy (Apr 15, 2008)

My puppymill gsd came from Mo.


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## Powell (Oct 13, 2006)

Just remember that HSUS wants to eliminate all private ownership of animals and had falsified a lot of stuff in this case. I don't like puppy mills and stores that sell from them, but HSUS is rich and want to take your rights away. They are as bad as PETA, and have NOTHING to do do with local Humane Societies. 

Powell


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## skyizzy (Apr 15, 2008)

I am for anyone that is trying to shutdown puppymills!!!!!


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## darga19 (Mar 4, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Samsmum
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Couldn't have said it better myself.


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## Sean Rescue Mom (Jan 24, 2004)

> Originally Posted By: Christian2009
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> > Originally Posted By: Samsmum
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Ditto!


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Just because HSUS is against them, doesn't necessarily mean that we should be for them. 

I am just as much against HSUS and PETA. But sometimes, accidentally maybe, they stumble across something and do the right thing. 

Hopefully this is the case here. 

However, HSUS and PETA point to such cases and demand more laws, many laws that do not even make sense or fit the circumstances. 

So while they seem to be going after the right people here, we should still be wary about who is behind this, and what might come out of it.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

HSUS has done a lot of good work in educating people about puppy mills and getting them shut down.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

If HSUS had their way, EVERY breeder would be a puppy mill though.


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## marksteven (Aug 2, 2008)

This makes me very happy too! My rescue dog (Ramsey) came from the now closed Petland in Appleton Wi. he was purchased and later surrended to a german shepherd rescue. He is the 2nd shepherd ive rescued. he is a tiny male 61lbs and i believe he has emotional or behavioral issues probably due to being a puppymill dog. i am definitly keeping my eyes on his health and do not regret adopting him at all but i hope they shut down all Petlands.


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## lupina (Mar 4, 2009)

The number of puppy mills in MO is staggering. I understand what Dorian is saying about the economically challenged communities located in the heart of Ozark country. I came so close to buying a motel at Bennett Springs, but after learning I was sitting in the middle of one of the worst counties (for having PM) I had to walk away. Until the recent decline in the economy this was seemingly a sure way to make a $. 

The fact that HSUS is prosecuting has to mean they feel there's a solid case against Petland. 

There's a pet store not far from me, Waldo Pets, family owned business, been around forever...I'm sorry there having to go out of business...but not sorry there'll be one less outlet.


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