Breeder: Samuel W Miller
Kennel Name: Echo Ridge Kennel
Address: 31545 W 162nd Ave
City, State, Zip: Bethany, MO 64424
USDA License: 43-A-6471
Date and time of CAPS Investigation: 6/22/26, 1330
Weather at time of investigation: 71°F and cloudy
Number of dogs and puppies noted in a 9/6/24 USDA inspection: 70 dogs and 13 puppies
The kennel was a building with indoor/outdoor runs on its east and west sides, surrounded by play yards that were clearly not in use. There were about 20 dog runs on each side of the building, with about eight on each side partially blocked from view by a privacy fence. On the east side of the building is where I could see the runs the most clearly. For the runs with a privacy fence in front of them, I could only see a couple of the runs, which had large-breed dogs inside. Their runs appeared to be about eight feet long, with metal bars for walls, and concrete floorings that were covered in wooden shavings. I saw one large-breed dog in each of the two runs.
Filthy dog runs
The other series of eastern runs, about 12 total, were more visible to me. I saw one to three Rottweilers in several of the runs. Those runs also had metal bars for walls, and a hard flooring was laid down in slats put tightly together. Doggie doors were higher than the runs, accessible on elevated platforms with ramps that lead up to them from the runs. I saw one run closely, which had three Rottweilers in it, and I could see that the floor was covered in feces stains, with fur buildup coating the areas where the floor met the walls (3.1 Housing facilities, general (c) Surface (3) Cleaning). One wall of the enclosure was up against an entrance to the kennel building, and the bottom part of the wall was solid metal. It was coated in brown stains and smears, as was the doggie-door (3.1 Housing facilities, general (c) Surface (2) Maintenance and replacement of surfaces).
Unused play yards
Massive play yards surrounded the kennel building, between 75 and 120 feet wide and long. They had small plastic houses inside, as if the houses were meant to be used as play equipment. However, the grass in the yards was not worn down, indicating that they were not receiving use. At the fencelines separating the yards, the grass was especially high, indicating that there had been no dogs running along the fences (3.1 Housing facilities, general (b) Condition and site). Furthermore, an outer gate of a southern play yard was open to the street, and the outer fence of another play yard was partially collapsed, surrounded by tall grass. The fence had fallen to the ground at some point, which dogs could have easily jumped over if they were released into the yard (3.1 Housing facilities, general (a) Structure; construction). All of this indicates that the yards are unused (3.8 Exercise for dogs).
Breeder is connected to the following stores:
Petland Pembroke Pines, Florida (Luis Marquez – franchise owner)
Petland Davies, Florida (Luis Marquez – franchise owner; now closed)
In Florida, Marquez owns Petland franchises in Pembroke Pines, Kendall and Largo. His Petland franchises in Davie, Doral and Plantation, Florida have closed. He currently owns three Petland franchises in Texas: Webster, Woodlands and Tyler. Petland Bellaire in Houston was selling puppies for well over a year after the passage of Houston’s retail ban and finally went out of business. After taking over the Petland franchise in Overland Park, Kansas, the Kansas Department of Agriculture ordered him to stop selling puppies because of serious violations, but the store is now allowed to sell puppies again. Truist Bank in Florida has filed a foreclosure and commercial line of credit default lawsuit against Marquez’ companies.
Evidence contradicting store’s claims:
An employee at Petland Pembroke Pines told me, “I do want to say that at Petland, yes, was associated with puppy mills at one point. But when he [Luis Marquez] came in, the guy behind you in that picture. When he came in, he pretty much changed it completely. So ,he has, he himself has certain requirements to even work with certain breeders.” However, when I asked, “Do you know about those requirements, or anything?” he answered, “No, not the specifics. But I do know things like, we do have self-opening doors at facilities. So ,puppies can go wherever they want. These are farms. Family-owned businesses, that again have been open for many, many, many, many years.” The employee also claimed that USDA makes sure that certain standards are met.
USDA is responsible for enforcing Animal Welfare Act regulations. While some inspectors cite violations, most typically do not because they are encouraged by their supervisors to go easy on licensees. Miller clearly has AWA violations, yet USDA inspectors have not cited him since he obtained a license in November 2019. He has not had an inspection since September 2024 even though USDA is supposed do unannounced inspections on an annual basis or more frequently if there are non-compliances. Marquez most likely does not have requirements for the myriad breeders and brokers who sell to his many stores.
Another employee showed me photographs and video of breeders the store uses, which showed dogs and puppies in open, grassy yards. The play yards at Miller’s facility were unused and had broken fencing. The dogs were living in kennels with feces-stained walls, doors and floors.
