Puppy Mills

[misshellfire]

Do Not Purchase A Puppy From James "Bud" & Mary Jo Fair, AKA: Hill Top Kennels (Obion,Tn.) This Pair Of COLD-HEARTED SCUM Is Operating A Puppy Mill Ring!! They Have Those Atrocious Places In 5 States!! MO. AR. TN. KY. & MS. They are Also "Selling" Via, The Internet, At Local Flea Markets, & Through The Commercial Appeal Newspaper. Please, Warn Everyone You Know!!!!

[Kim]

Has anyone heard of a breeder by the name of Donald Schrage possibly of Rabbit Run Kennels? Any info would be appreciated as I purchased a puppy in AZ from a pet store that came from him and now he is very sick.

[David]

Kim wrote:

Has anyone heard of a breeder by the name of Donald Schrage possibly of Rabbit Run Kennels? Any info would be appreciated as I purchased a puppy in AZ from a pet store that came from him and now he is very sick.

OMG! Did you buy it from Puppies n' Love, or Animal Kingdom? I bought a puppy from the former and it came from Donald Schrage. My puppy got very ill the day after I brought him home. After paying a small fortune in vet bills, he is fine. Puppies n' Love makes a big deal about not working with puppy mills but they are liars.

[Neil]

I was a manager for Animal Kingdom which also owns Puppies-n-love for a long time. They absolutely buy from puppy mill breeders. During my time working there I had almost every puppy have kennel cough and parasites such as coccidia and giardia. It was also not unusual to see parvo. I saw many puppies die and had to defend this company even though I knew they were lies. I also had to deal with the displaysia and severe pattlar luxation complaints. Their corporate office located in phoenix will then blow you off and tell you its not covered. They only pay about $200 dollars for the puppies from the Hunte corporation and then resell them for over $1200. They pay their employees a 10% commission on the sale so some of the employees were making huge commission checks on these sales. Dont be a fool.... save a dog from a rescue or the pound and save yourself a huge heartache.

[Laurel]

I purchased a puppy from Animal Kingdom / Puppies In Love, January '08, he died of parvo ten days later, they did blow me off and try to avoid paying the medical bills. You don't see signs of Parvo until 10 to 14 days after contracted, so how they could try to tell me it could have been caught in my care is beyond me. They would'nt refund our money even though parvo can live in your house for 18 months, but had our replacement up for approval, after renting a dog for 4 days for 3000$. When I was approved I asked if there was a way to get a dog from the same breeder so it would be the same family, but I was told there was no way. If they are so sure where the dogs are coming from, how could they not? Also when I learned he had parvo I called Animal Kingdom to tell them to save other dogs from catching it and was told to call corporate myself.???? When i went into Animal Kingdom there's a dog in the same kennel.??? Finally I get a replacement puppy, who had kennel cough. I was told by the employee he was coughing in the petting room, because of the hand sanitizer. Right.... He was at the vet from morning to night every day for two weeks. Four months later, he still had kennel cough, these bills were payed by us. He died last Friday, vets says congenital hernia. Animal Kingdom disputes replacement although congenital defects are listed in their replacement policy. They'll let us know next week. It's sickening.
Two dead dogs. I'm heartbroken with six months of payments still left to pay...

[Laurel]

Neil wrote:

I was a manager for Animal Kingdom which also owns Puppies-n-love for a long time. They absolutely buy from puppy mill breeders. During my time working there I had almost every puppy have kennel cough and parasites such as coccidia and giardia. It was also not unusual to see parvo. I saw many puppies die and had to defend this company even though I knew they were lies. I also had to deal with the displaysia and severe pattlar luxation complaints. Their corporate office located in phoenix will then blow you off and tell you its not covered. They only pay about $200 dollars for the puppies from the Hunte corporation and then resell them for over $1200. They pay their employees a 10% commission on the sale so some of the employees were making huge commission checks on these sales. Dont be a fool.... save a dog from a rescue or the pound and save yourself a huge heartache.

Neil,
I just posted my story here. Do you have any advice for me?

[Kelly]

Purchased a Yorkie from Animal Kingdom at Metro mall in Phoenix in Oct. 08. She is large for her breed and has mosstly curly hair. her ears never stood up but is mostly healthy. Curious though if she is full bred and if anyone else has a dog with uncharacteristic traits?

[Neil]

As Far as the parvo and the puppy passing away I am so sorry that you and your family had to go through that. We had it happen all of the time. Laurel, you should contact the corporate office located in phoenix under the name, Great Western pet Supply. You can get the address by looking up that name. You should have received your money back.... Some managers will tell you that you cannot get it back, and that you are required to take the store credit but that is completely false. There is a puppy Lemon law that protects you. You should not have another puppy in your house for at least 6 months preferably up to a year after a Parvo positive puppy has been in your home. The person you will want to get ahold of is Frank Mineo Jr.. He is in charge of the operations. Frank Mineo SR. Owns the company and lives high on the hog on the top of Camelback mountain. Contact them and quote the Puppy Lemon Law and I would also get your local news channel involved. The reason the managers lie to you is it goes against their sales if you ask for a refund.... Then it comes out of their commission check. If you get a store credit or a "replacement" puppy it doesn't go against their sales. They only paid $800-$1200 for that poor bulldog puppy. Oh.... and by the way they got a free replacement bulldog puppy from the Hunte Corporation or what ever puppy mill "Broker" they got the puppy from. You had every right to get all of your cash back and their heartfelt condolonces. As far as Kelly's puppy is concerned we ended up getting obvious mixed breed pups in all of the time. We would insist that they were not pure breed pups and they would ignore us. You have the right to send them a picture or some documentation from AKC or whatever club they are bred under and get some statements from vets. Also have the Yorkie's pattella's "knee's" checked well by your vet. It is very typical for the puppies that we had in to have severe luxation that usually require surgery that is upwards of $2500-$4500 to repair. Unfortunately when these puppy mill breeders are mass breeding they ignore hereditary and congenital issues. Its all about the money. Puppie's N Love and Animal Kingdom count on the fact that people will not activate their warranty and ask for the Store Credit that they offer in those incidents. You would be suprised how many people never even look at the warranty because they are so frustrated with their experiences. There is a two year hereditary and congenital warranty. Well unless you are gullable enough to buy their dog food "Earthblend" they will extend it to four years at "NO COST"... Well except the $52.00 a bag cost for the food for two years. All profit since they have it manafactured for a couple of bucks per bag. All of the products they sell have a 5 time markup on it. They push training video's that a local trainer named Shannon Holstein taped with them. Her business is Kokopelli Dog and Puppy Training located in Mesa Arizona. We would be instructed to have clients call her when they wanted a refund and she would "encourage" them to keep the puppies... regardless of the situation. If you want to just change your mind about your purchase, you have 24 hours from time of purchase and you will be required to pay a 50% return fee... Lets see, Puppy cost $2400.00, you get home and it bites the grandkids and you pay $1200.00 for a night of puppy sitting. PS don't try and return any supplies you bought... they will not return them. Hope this helps....

[Kathleen]

The HSUS has a complaint form that anyone can fill out online if they have purchased a sick puppy or want to complaint about a pet store: www.humanesociety.org/puppymillstory .

[puppy mill from MO to NY]

I was walking through Manhattan and was apalled when I passed two PUPPY MILL filled pet stores within 10minutes of eachother. I was enraged! I went into the second one and asked who their breeder was, and he said a woman named Lara hall of Labelle, MO. I actually screamed, "Ahhh! You get your puppies from the puppy mill capital of the world!?" I am from MO, and am upset to know that here in NY... they are getting puppies from MO! I asked if my dog would be guaranteed healthy, and if I could later purchase another dog from the same breeder.(first of all I am not looking to purchase any dog. I have three shelter dogs already.) He told me maybe, but sometimes a breeder "retires" or they just don't do it any more. I stated my non-belief in that statement, "Breeders just "retire" from making all that money." Anyway, does anyone know who this woman breeder is, and/or if she's legit. I doubt it because he said she has "some nice Yorkies".... meaning she doesn't just breed one breed I take it.

[Monica]

Neil wrote:

I was a manager for Animal Kingdom which also owns Puppies-n-love for a long time. They absolutely buy from puppy mill breeders. During my time working there I had almost every puppy have kennel cough and parasites such as coccidia and giardia. It was also not unusual to see parvo. I saw many puppies die and had to defend this company even though I knew they were lies. I also had to deal with the displaysia and severe pattlar luxation complaints. Their corporate office located in phoenix will then blow you off and tell you its not covered. They only pay about $200 dollars for the puppies from the Hunte corporation and then resell them for over $1200. They pay their employees a 10% commission on the sale so some of the employees were making huge commission checks on these sales. Dont be a fool.... save a dog from a rescue or the pound and save yourself a huge heartache.

I also worked for that company years ago at Pet Pad at both Christown and Paradise Valley Malls. Frank Mineo and his people ordered us to assure customers that "our puppies only come from reputable breeders, not puppy mills." I was in my 20's then and didn't really understand the concept of puppy mills, only that that is where we got our puppies and we were to keep quiet about it and lie about it. Sad! It should be stopped and he should be put out of business!

[Monica]

I also worked for that company years ago at Pet Pad at both Christown and Paradise Valley Malls. Frank Mineo and his people ordered us to assure customers that "our puppies only come from reputable breeders, not puppy mills." I was in my 20's then and didn't really understand the concept of puppy mills, only that that is where we got our puppies and we were to keep quiet about it and lie about it. Sad! It should be stopped and he should be put out of business!

[Barb]

Rabbit Ridge Kennels is a joke, and Donald Schrage is a cheap skate, he wouldnt dream of spending any more money than he had to, Id say he saw he had sick puppies and shot them full of antibiotics and shipped them, Just the kind of guy he is.