Connecticut Pet Store / Puppy Mill Connection

©Bailing Out Benji 2021
All research and information was done by Bailing Out Benji and must be cited as such when shared or quoted!
To view the rest of our CVI data, click here. 
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“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 false. 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.

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 learn more about the puppy mills in your location, you can also go to our interactive website and search engine. 

NOTE:

-Before an animal is transported out of state, a veterinarian, accredited by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), must examine the animal for signs of “infectious, contagious or communicable disease” and, if no disease is found, sign the certificate for approval to transport.

To make this easier, we will be breaking our research down alphabetically by each pet store and connecting them to the various facilities they use. All of this information has come from the Department of Agriculture and the USDA. All of the breeders listed as associated with the pet stores sold puppies or kittens to them in the years 2021, 2020 and 2019.

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

Make a Donation Today!

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A 2 Z Pet Shop- 185 Boston Post Rd, Orange, CT 06477

74 Pershing Dr. Derby, CT 06418

41 Monroe Turnpike. Trumbull, CT 06611

  1. Alta Henson and Paul Henson, Henson’s Dogwood Kennel. Cassville, Missouri- 13 adult breeding dogs and 6 puppies. 
  2. Becky Busboom. Dannebrog, Nebraska- Busboom is a dog broker, who sources puppies from various facilities and resells them to pet stores. To view which facilities Busboom buys from, click here. 
  3. Carol Novak, Evergreen Acres. Phillipsburg, Missouri- 90 adult breeding dogs and 31 puppies. 
  4. Diane Wilson and John Wilson, Wilson Farm. Green Forest, Arkansas- 38 adult breeding dogs and 26 puppies. 
  5. Ella Borntrager and Eli Borntrager, Backwoods Kennel. Gibbs, Missouri- 71 adult breeding dogs and 43 puppies. 
  6. Marvin Newswanger and Joanna Newswanger, Maple Tree Kennels. Alta Vista, Iowa- 330 adult breeding dogs and 210 puppies. 
  7. Patrick Fulton. Alden, Minnesota-Fulton is a large puppy broker that ships puppies to pet stores all over the country. For more information on Fulton Enterprises, click here.
  8. Pinnacle Pet . Neosho, Missouri-  256 puppies (notorious puppy broker) 
  9. Samuel Beachy and Mahlone Beachy, Country Side Kennels. Clark, Missouri- 103 adult breeding dogs and 87 puppies.  

 

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All Pets Club- 479 E Main St, Branford, CT 06405

405 Queen St.. Southington, CT 06489

361 Boston Post Rd. N. Windham, CT 06256

1167 No Colony Rd. Wallingford, CT 06482

  1. Doug Smoot and Deb Snyder. Clifton, Kansas- 71 adult breeding dogs and 34 puppies. 
  2. Lacey Kauffman and Cindy Clausen, Lindley Creek Kennel. Portis, Kansas- 112 adult breeding dogs and 38 puppies. 
  3. Pam Reynolds and Nick Reynolds. Cuba, Kansas- puppy broker with 11 adult breeding dogs and 3 puppies at the time of last inspection. 

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CT Breeders- 48 Westport Ave, Norwalk, CT 06851

  1. Becky Busboom. Dannebrog, Nebraska- Busboom is a dog broker, who sources puppies from various facilities and resells them to pet stores. To view which facilities Busboom buys from, click here. 

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Gentle Jungle Pets at The Meriden Mall Westfield Shopping Center- 470 Lewis Avenue. Meriden, CT 06451

  1. Becky Busboom. Dannebrog, Nebraska- Busboom is a dog broker, who sources puppies from various facilities and resells them to pet stores. To view which facilities Busboom buys from, click here. 
  2. Gary Herschberger, Riverview Canines. Arthur, Illinois- 23 adult breeding dogs. 
  3. Marvin Newswanger and Joanna Newswanger, Maple Tree Kennels. Alta Vista, Iowa- 330 adult breeding dogs and 210 puppies. 

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Puppy Love- 37 Lake Ave Ext, Danbury, CT 06811

  1. Captiva Kennels. Danbury, Connecticut- 32 adult breeding dogs. 

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Safari Stan Pet Center- 142 Amity Rd, New Haven, CT 06515.

633 Hope St., Stamford, CT 06907

*Safari Stans is a Petland Company* 

  1. Lindsey Forquer, Cammies Country Canines. Salem, Iowa- 71 adult breeding dogs and 50 puppies.
  2. Mark Steffensmeier and Gina Steffensmeier, MG Cattle Inc. Salem, Iowa- Puppy broker in Iowa with 20 puppies on site at last inspection. 
  3. Rebecca Eiler, Creekside Kennel. Oberlin, Kansas- 356  adult breeding dogs and 195 puppies on the premises. Eiler was named one of the worst puppy mills in the country because of recent state violations including: had a trough of dog feces spilling above ground; housing in disrepair; and dirty conditions at state inspections. 

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The Dog House- 120 Hale Rd Manchester, CT 06042

  1. Emanuel Nisley, Miriam Nisley and Catherine Nisley, Countryside Pets AKA Cathy’s Kennel AKA Nisley’s Kennel. Chariton, Iowa- 68 adult breeding dogs and 49 puppies. 
  2. Joseph Hochstetler, Sideline Kennel. Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin- 38 adult breeding dogs and 19 puppies. 
  3. Sue Shold and Daniel Shold, Sudanco Kennel. Albert City, Iowa- 22 adult breeding dogs and 20 puppies. 
  4. Terri Naylor, Puppies Galore. Lineville, Iowa- 42 adult breeding dogs and 6 puppies. 

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The Puppy Palace CT:  2945 Main St Glastonbury, CT 06033

  1. Arba Jett, Country Best Friends. Vian, Oklahoma- 111 adult breeding dogs and 53 puppies. 
  2. Betty Lawson, Fly’N Goose Ranch. Mountain Grove, Missouri- 85 adult breeding dogs and 51 puppies. 
  3. Bryan Unger and Brenda Unger, Baron Fork Bullies. Westville, Oklahoma- 38 adult breeding dogs and 3 puppies. 
  4. Carol Novak, Evergreen Acres. Phillipsburg, Missouri- 90 adult breeding dogs and 31 puppies. 
  5. Caroline Schulte, Tornado Alles Kennel. Freeburg, Missouri- 144 adult breeding dogs and 72 puppies. 
  6. Carolyn Criner and Eddy Criner, Prairie View Kennels. Marble Falls, Arkansas- 33 adult breeding dogs. 
  7. Catherine Rexwinkle, Rexwinkle Ranch. Welch, Oklahoma- 15 adult breeding dogs. 
  8. Countryside Pets. Flemington, Missouri- 81 adult breeding dogs and 53 puppies. 
  9. Pinnacle Pet . Neosho, Missouri-  256 puppies (notorious puppy broker) 

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Stores listed below have closed. 

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Puppy Kisses: 128 Federal Rd, Danbury, CT 06811- NOW CLOSED!

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– 758 adult breeding dogs 509 puppies at their last known inspection in June 2018. On March 2, 2015, the USDA filed a complaint against Clearwater Kennels for several violations of the Animal Welfare Act.  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. This facility has also been named one of the worst puppy mills in the country… twice.
  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. 

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

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

We also have educational materials that you can print to hang up in your own area.

©Bailing Out Benji 2021
All research and information was done by Bailing Out Benji and must be cited as such when shared or quoted!
To view the rest of our CVI data, click here. 

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.

Make a Donation Today!
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