Puppyland San Antonio
6430 Bandera Rd Suite 146
San Antonio, TX 78238
(210) 686-0062
Date and time of CAPS investigation: 1/9/26, 1405
Approximate number of puppies observed at time of investigation: 22
Puppies lived in raised, open-topped enclosures as well as aquarium-like enclosures set into a cage wall. There were one to three puppies per enclosures, and not all were occupied. Enclosures had shredded paper on hard floorings, dog beds, and water bottles. No breeder information was available on any enclosures. A TV on a wall above customer and puppy playrooms showed dogs and puppies running in grassy yards and fields.
A female employee told us that puppies start at $2,000 and that financing is available, though she dodged questions about how much the APR is. She went on to say, however, that it’s possible to get a puppy right away without paying full price.
Puppy mills? No. Breeding dogs enjoy “the love around them” and are “open in the world.”
I asked about the store’s breeders, and the employee said that the store works with “professional, certified breeders” from other states. I said that I wanted to make sure puppies don’t come from puppy mills, and she said, “Oh no no no. No no no. Clearly on that perspective, I completely wanna’ be open about it. That’s not how we work.” I pointed to the TV, which showed dogs running in open, grassy areas, and asked, “Is this what it’s like? Is it dogs with open space?” The employee answered, “Yeah, they have their freedom. They’ll be able to be interacting, you know? They have more than anything, the love around them.”
Wanting to clarify on what it meant for dogs to be surround by “love,” I asked, “So the breeders are playing with the dogs?” She said, “Yeah, so they can do different activities at all times. So, they’re not alone for the way, or anything like that, yeah.” I tried to get her to clarify breeding conditions, asking if dogs are kept in cages or open space. She gave rambling answers, with part of what she said indiscernible to me. I could make out that she said that dogs come into kennels at night, but in the day are “actually released.” She added, “So they’ll be able to interact and be open in the world.”
Rambling answer about breeding specifics
I then asked how long dogs are used for breeding and what happens to the breeding dogs when they’re done. The employee said, “Honestly, on that perspective, there is definitely information that we would ask for you, if anything, if that’s something you would want to know. But on our side, we know more than anything that they’re well taken care of. We do have the information on the background, so we’re able to show parents’ pictures, information about them.” I asked if breeders are USDA licensed or not, and she gave the nonsensical response, “They do have different licenses. There’s research on each one. Others work differently.”
Employee reluctant to show breeder info after offering it
After confirming that we could ask who the breederw were before purchase to verify the breeders aren’t puppy mills, we asked to see four puppies. The employee reluctantly showed us breeder information, with me having to pull hard at papers. At first, she refused to let go of as I tried to look for breeders’ names. I had to repeatedly ask to see breeder papers for her to stop holding tight to them as I pulled. In some cases, she simply refused to let go of papers as I pulled at them and asked to see the breeder information. The employee tried to keep us focused on pedigrees that showed the parents of puppies. I had to repeatedly ask for the names of the breeders for each puppy. The employee was visibly nervous when I looked at breeders’ names and recited them to her.
After I saw the name and address of a breeder on an AKC registration of a puppy (John Eicher, 8396 W 900 S, South Whitley, IN), the employee would not let me hold the papers of another puppy, and I was able to only see the name “Aaron Wagler” as the breeder for the puppy. I asked, “But we don’t know the state or anything? Just Aaron Wagler?” The employee claimed, “No. The state? No.”
Realizing the first employee was intentionally hiding breeder information from me, I asked another employee for breeder information on a Shih Tzu. He wouldn’t let me see this information until he had confirmed with the other worker if it was okay for him to do. When he began focusing on the puppy’s pedigree, which had no breeder information, I pulled the OFA certification out of the puppy packet and noted the breeder was RDW Acres, Richard D Wagler, 3838 N 975 E, Loogootee, IN 47533.
We asked for information on a final puppy, a Pomsky. The original employee brought the folder with the puppy’s information but wouldn’t let us look at it and held it beyond our reach as we spoke to her. She discussed the puppy’s information, without disclosing the breeder’s name. She closed the folder without showing it to us. I had to ask her to open it back up to specifically ask about the breeder. I saw an ICA registration that noted the breeder as Stoney Creek Kennel without an address. The employee claimed she had no address for this breeder.
Breeder information obtained during store investigation
John Eicher, 8396 W 900 S, South Whitley, IN (no one by this name or address listed as having USDA license)
Aaron Wagler (no one by this name listed as having USDA license)
Richard D Wagler, RDW Acres, 3838 N 975 E, Loogootee, IN, 32-A-0474, 35 dogs, 26 puppies on 11/20/25 USDA inspection
Stoney Creek Kennel
Stoney Creek Kennel associated with puppies on the Puppyland Pullyap, WA website belongs to Ivan Yutzy, Jamesport, MO 43-A-6290, 38 dogs and 36 puppies at 2/28/25 USDA inspection
Broker name obtained from 2024 Certificates of Veterinary Inspection
J.A.K.’s Puppies, Britt, IA 42-B-0271
https://caps-web.org/caps-investigators-journal-the-truth-behind-j-a-k-s-puppies/
https://caps-web.org/caps-investigators-journal-the-truth-behind-puppy-mill-brokers/
https://caps-web.org/caps-works-with-the-dodo-to-expose-pet-stores-in-california/
https://caps-web.org/puppy-mill-dogs-sold-as-rescues/
Evidence contradicting the store’s claims
I documented the store’s breeder, Richard D Wagler (RDW Acres, USDA license # 32-A-0474) on 7/15/18. At the time, I had information Wagler was at 3780 N 975 E, as opposed to the 3838 N 975 E address Puppyland has. However, it is the same breeder, and on satellite image and on the ground appears to be one property. The two addresses are linked with a driveway; its buildings are directly next to each other, and all kennel buildings are on the 3838 N 975 address which is owned by Richard D Wagler.
In addition, they reveal the kennel appears the same now as it was in 2018, with dogs in cages, instead of running around grassy fields enjoying “the love around them.” To the contrary, I saw dogs at the kennel pacing and spinning on their cages, as well as chewing on cage wire. Such behavior comes from extreme stress, anxiety, and boredom, and is otherwise known as going “cage crazy.”
J.A.K.’s Puppies is a large Iowa broker that buys puppies from hundreds of Midwest mills and resells them to pet shops around the country. J.A.K.’s owner, Jolyn Noethe, created fraudulent nonprofits, Hobo K9 Rescue and Rescue Pets Iowa, to pass off mill-bred puppies as supposed rescues to circumvent retail ban laws, especially The Pet Rescue and Adoption Act in California. CAPS worked with the Iowa Attorney General, which shut down these rescues and fined Noethe and her business partner. The USDA took no action.
Some of the mills I’ve documented selling to J.A.K.’s Puppies include the following:
Dennis and Donna Van Wyk (Prairie Lane Kennel), New Sharon, Iowa, who had a dog with an open, infected wound standing on a feces-smeared flooring.
Wendie and Doug Dettbarn (Purple Heart Kennel), Strawberry Point, Iowa, who had filthy dogs with matted hair and frozen water bowls.
Ervin Borntrager in Hillsboro, Wisconsin, who had matted dogs in wire cages over puddles of feces and urine that stank so bad it was difficult to breathe.
Angie McDuffee (AJ’s Angels), Clearwater, Minnesota, who had 400 dogs in wire cages, some circling and pacing non-stop from anxiety and stress. She had 556 dogs and 247 puppies (total 803) at her 2/12/25 USDA inspection. She had a total of 1267 dogs and puppies are her 8/15/10 USDA inspection.
Justin and Kayla Kerr, the owners of Puppyland San Antonio, started their first pet shops in Washington State, where they had two stores that I investigated in 2020: Puppyland and Puppyworld (closed due to a an ordinance). Since then, they have opened stores in Idaho (Meridian), Arizona (Tolleson and Chandler), Georgia (Marietta, closed) and Texas (San Antonio, Pasadena and New Braunfels; the latter two closed due to ordinances).
