Puppy Home Match
360 E Maple Rd Suite V
Troy, MI 48083
(586) 914-6129
Date and time of CAPS investigation: 3/20/24, 16.22
Approximate number of puppies observed at time of investigation: eight puppies
The store had eight designer breed puppies, several of them Shorkies, running around the floor. Two empty crib-like, open-topped, plastic pens were against a wall, each about four feet long and 2.5 feet wide. I spoke to a man named Martin (who is the registered agent for the LLC with the Michigan Secretary of State and is likely the owner), about breeders the store uses.
Claimed breeders only have 15-20 dogsMartin said that the store uses 30 breeders but primarily works with 10. He claimed to have visited most of the breeders himself, saying “They’re mainly out here in the Midwest. All about four hour, five hour driving. I don’t ship any of our puppies. I would say, like eighty percent of all of our breeders, I walked in and I personally know them.” I asked what the breeding conditions were like, and he said, “It’s a kennel. Majority of them are kennels. A lot of the times, I mean, these guys, they’re out here in Michigan. She raises them in home. These Shorkies. They’re not microchipped. There’s some professional kennels that they have about close to fifteen, twenty dogs. They’re well, but they’re ACA-registered. They’re registered through the state. They’re registered through their county. The city and the state regulate all that to make sure it’s up to par. You know what I mean? We only deal with the finest of them.” He said the dogs were kept in pens similar to the ones he had in the store.
Claimed to not use puppy mills
He reiterated that he doesn’t use puppy mills, saying, “I don’t deal with people like that. You can’t get these designer [dogs that are intentionally cross-bred] dogs like that. It’s like those two hundred, hundred-dollar dogs, or these mass-producing places where they have more than fifty dogs. You know what I mean? That’s when you get that. A lot of those places, they’re mainly, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia. I don’t know about Virginia, but they’re all mainly out more in the area over there.” He claimed that only larger stores use “mass-producing kennels,” but that he does not.
Claimed dogs are retired at 3-4 years old
He at first said that he didn’t know how long dogs are bred for or what happens to them when breeders are done, and then said, “ A common answer would be they do retire around four years, three years. You know what I mean? But what we make sure is that when we look for it, they’re not breeding periodically, two, three times a year or something like that. You know what I mean? That to me is what a puppy mill is. Is when they’re not taking care of their mom, you know what I mean? Or the dad. But I’ve seen both. I work with both. I don’t work just with one. I deal with these kennels, and I also deal with these puppies that just are raised in home. That’s what these Shorkies are.”
Refused breeder info
I asked if I could see the breeder information on the a Shorkie puppy (the Michigan breeder that Martin said raises puppies in her home), to look her up online and make sure she isn’t a puppy mill. Martin, however, declined and told me that he would have to contact the breeder first to get approval to do that (despite the fact that her breeder information would be available upon purchase, anyway).
Evidence of false statements and misrepresentations of breeders by store
Martin’s claim that the store doesn’t use “mass-producing kennels” is untrue. On 4/19/24 I investigated the store’s breeder, Paul Shetler in Bluffton, IN. There were dogs in concrete runs that were coated in weeks of feces, and Yorkshire Terriers, a Miniature Poodle, and French Bulldogs walking in their own waste. Shetler’s kennel is clearly a puppy mill – a commercial breeding operation with at least 40 dogs he breeds in order to sell puppies to pet shops.
In addition, Shetler’s facility had at least 40 dogs during my investigation but has no USDA license. 2.1(a)(3) of the Animal Welfare Act regulations requires that a person who has at least five breeding female dogs or cats and makes at least $500 in gross income a year from the sale of these animals must have a USDA license. This regulation applies to breeders selling to brokers, pet shops and online customers.
Carl Schwartz’ facility, Heartstring Kennels (see below) had 15 adults dogs and 43 puppies during a USDA inspection in May 2024. A facility with a total of 58 dogs also contradicts Martin’s claim that Puppy Home Match does not use “mass-producing” kennels. Because Devon Yoder, who owns Pigeon River Canines
The employee’s claim that breeders will retire dogs at three to four years of age is a lie. The store clearly uses commercial breeders, who usually breed dogs to five, six, even seven years of age. Though some will give dogs to rescues to put the burden on them for taking care of the dogs no longer profitable to the breeders, many will sell dogs at auctions or, as I’ve been told by numerous breeders and seen happen at a puppy mill I’ve worked at, shoot dogs in the head.
Breeder information obtained from 2023 Certificates of Veterinary Inspection
Licensed
Carl Schwartz, 11950 W 400 S, Millersburg, IN, 32-B-0254, 15 adults, 43 puppies at 5/126/24 USDA inspection. The license address is 11985 W 400 S and is under the kennel name of Heartstring Kennels LLC (Heart String Healthy Puppies)
The phone number on this website, 260-214-0492, is also associated with Devon Yoder and Pigeon River Canines, 5580 N 450 W, Shipshewana, IN, 32-A-0430. This facility had 38 adults and 31 puppies at the 4/1/24 USDA inspection. Yoder sells puppies on his kennel’s website as well as on Puppies.com, Lancaster Puppies, Buckeye Puppies, Puppy Spot and dogdog.org, which is a website that states they give donations to animal nonprofit organizations yet lists more than 1700 online puppy sellers, including New York pet shops investigated by CAPS.
Yoder told our Illinois director that he is the manager for Schwartz’ online business in addition to being the owner of Pigeon River Canines. The facilities are 17 miles apart.
11985 W 400 S is also the location for Straightline Enterprises, which sells dog kennels, pet supplies, outdoor supplies, doors, etc. Schwartz’s license was previously under Straightline Kennels at the 11050 W. 400 S 400 S. address, which appears to be the home address next door. He had one USDA pre-license inspection in 2017 and then operated without a license until he had a pre-license inspection on 5/2/24.
Unlicensed
Paul Shetler, 140 S 800 E, Bluffton, IN
Isaac and Mabel Martin, 7945 Planktown N Road, Shiloh OH
Note regarding number of dogs at above breeding facilities
The number of adult breeding dogs and puppies at the above facilities is consistent with being commercial breeding establishments, also known as puppy mills, that mass produce dogs for resale to pet shops. Please refer to the following link (Summary of legal cases defining “puppy mill”) for a summary of legal cases defining the term “puppy mill.”
Lack of USDA violations
The fact that few breeders and brokers have USDA violations does not mean that none exist. During our undercover investigation of USDA-licensed facilities, we document violations. USDA has made it very easy for licenses not to have violations. In response to regulatory ordinances, USDA was using teachable moments, self-inspections and a trial announced inspection program. Their guidelines also instructed inspectors not to cite ear, eye and dental diseases as veterinary care violations. Due to pressure from animal advocates, USDA has terminated these programs. Nonetheless, the citation of violations by inspectors continues to be extremely limited.
