Connecticut Pet Store / Puppy Mill Connection

©Bailing Out Benji 2019
All research and information was done by the volunteer team at Bailing Out Benji and must be cited as such when shared or quoted!
——————————————————————————————-

“We don’t buy from puppy mills.”

“All of our puppies come from small, local breeders.”

“We visit every breeder we buy from.”

We have all heard these sentences come from the mouths of pet store owners and their employees. They paint this beautiful picture of puppies running by a pond and parents frolicking in the fresh, green grass… Sadly, 99% of the time that is a bold faced lie. The pet store owners know it, the employees might know it- but the customer is completely in the dark.This is why we are here.

Bailing Out Benji is a small nonprofit that started in Ames, Iowa and now has volunteer teams all over the country who are dedicated to raising awareness about the puppy mill industry.

So what is the truth? What is the public supposed to believe when the nice store owner and employees paint such a believable and beautiful picture? Again… This is why we are here.

Volunteers from Bailing Out Benji devote their free time to researching puppy mills to create puppy mill maps for the worst states, as well as raise awareness about notorious pet stores and breeding operations with huge violations. This includes obtaining CVI data (Certificates of Veterinary Inspections) and making those reports public.

To make this easier, we will be breaking our article down by each pet store and connecting them to the various puppy mills they use.

 

This research can be  extremely costly, please consider making a donation to help us continue exposing the puppy mill industry. Every dollar helps us!

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

 All Pets Club- 361 Boston Post Road North Windham, CT 06256

  1. Lorilee Thomas, Puppies Extraordinaire. Whiting, Kansas- 642 adult breeding dogs and 288 puppies with a history of violations including: dogs with hair loss, wires poking into kennels, excessively long toe nails, evidence of mice, etc. To view USDA inspection photos from this kennel, click here.
  2. Derek Dougherty. Agra, Kansas- 17 adult breeding dogs with a history of violations including: Dogs with hair loss, scabs, excessive fly bites on head/ears (Boxers, Cattle dogs), no shade, no water in some bowls, other bowls had green algae, crazy weeds, excessive flies bothering the dogs. 
  3. James and Kathy Stewart, Rocky Ridge kennels. Pittsburg, Kansas- 117 adult breeding dogs.
  4. Teresa and Bob Berthelson, Homestead Kennel. Lincoln, Kansas- 69 adult breeding dogs. 
  5. John Blaes, JB Premier Pets. Cherryvale Kansas- 175 adult breeding dogs with painful wirebottom flooring kennels. To view USDA inspection photos, click here and here. 

 

______________________________________________

Puppy Kisses: 128 Federal Rd, Danbury, CT 06811-

This pet store is also owned by a family in Missouri that operates a fake rescue in order to sell puppy mill puppies in pet stores. 

  1. Bob Mehmert, West Point Iowa- 44 adult breeding dogs with a long history of violations including: severely matted dogs, rusted and broken wire poking into kennels, dogs with eye issues, filthy kennels, and filthy feeding receptacles. To view USDA photos of this facility, click here. 
  2. Choice Puppies, AKA The Hunte Corporation, Goodman Missouri- Until late 2016, the Hunte Corporation was one of the largest puppy brokers in the entire country. It was said to have sold over 100,000 puppies to pet stores each year. Hunte (now Choice Puppies) is the largest supplier of Petland stores across the United States. To view an undercover video taken at Hunte, click here. 
  3. Leslie K Graber and  Amos Wagler, Flat Creek Farm. Loogootee, Indiana- 69 adult breeding dogs. 
  4. Alvin Martin, L&D Farms AKA  A&E Farm  AKA Pine Hollow Farm LLC. Withee, Wisconsin- 348 adult breeding dogs, 218 puppies with a long history of violations including: mother dogs who are extremely thin; dogs with eye issues; licensee used expired medications; and filthy kennels. This facility has been named one of the worst puppy mills in the country three separate times. 
  5. Jesse Miller, Hillsboro Wisconsin- 20 adult breeding dogs. 
  6. Robert and Darla Hilton, Broken Bow Oklahoma- 118 adult breeding dogs with a history of violations including  Horse cattle medications used on dogs,  Chain link divider lifted out of ground and twisted,  grime accumulations in enclosures. 
  7. Gina and Charlie Potts, Redneck Kennel. Idabel, Oklahoma- 12 adult breeding dogs 
  8. Angie McDuffee and  Wanda Kretzman, Clearwater Kennel, doing business as:  AJ’s Angels Inc, Cushing Minnesota– 648 adult breeding dogs. On March 2, 2015, the USDA filed a complaint against Clearwater Kennels for several violations of the Animal Welfare Act. A settlement agreement was reached and this agreement was signed by the judge on March 11, 2016. Prior, on March 9, 2016, Clearwater Kennels (owner Wanda Kretzman) cancelled its USDA license. Also on March 9, 2016, a USDA license was granted to AJ’s Angels to operate the kennel on the same property. The owner of AJ’s Angels is the daughter-in-law of Wanda Kretzman. They have a history of violations including: buying from non-USDA breeders with no paperwork.This facility has also been named one of the worst puppy mills in the country. 
  9. Caroline Schulte, Tornado Alles Kennel.  Freeburg, Missouri- 124 adult breeding dogs, 100 puppies at the time of last inspection with a history of violations including: Heavily matted eyes; When mats were removed dog squints and blinks. Eye is red; No bedding for outdoor shelter.
  10. Michelle Baker, Baker’s Kozy Kennels. Huntington, Arkansas- 48 adult breeding dogs. 

______________________________________________

** We are still compiling data on more stores. Be patient with our progress! **

For more ways you can help the dogs trapped in puppy mills,click here.

For more information, please visit our main page Bailing Out Benji . We also have educational materials that you can print to hang up in your own area.

©Bailing Out Benji 2019

** To those consumers that have bought a family member from any of the area puppy stores, and are wondering about their actual background -please feel free to fill out the form below with any questions or paperwork that you have and we will confidentially research the breeder your pup came from.