Furever Pets
4401 N Interstate Hwy 35 #826
Round Rock, TX 78664
(512) 850-3695
Dates and times of CAPS investigation: 1/19/23; 1725
Approximate number of puppies observed at time of investigation: 25
There were twenty puppy enclosures in the store. Eight of them were about three feet wide and two feet tall and deep, and another twelve were about two feet wide and deep and 1.5 feet tall. All enclosures had solid floorings covered in shredded paper, and all had water bottles attached to the walls. Most enclosures were occupied with puppies, having one to two puppies in each of them.
Lies about where puppies come from and the USDA
I spoke to two workers who gave me false information about commercial breeders and denied access to breeder information before a purchase. A sign in the store noted financing options from Easy Pay, Lending USA, and American First Finance, with interest or APR rates mentioned. One employee (Asian male, about 5’4″, 150 lbs., with shaved black hair and short moustache and bit of facial hair on his chin) told me the all breeders are local and from Texas. He said he had been to a French Bulldog breeder who supplies the store, and that breeders’ facilities are “way cleaner than people think,” and added that Animal Control visits the store every week.
This employee also said breeders keep dogs in air-conditioned facilities near their houses and are all USDA-licensed. His description of USDA’s responsibilities was explained as, “Yeah, pretty much it just gives them a license to where they can have animals, that they’ve been checked on. Because they get checked on periodically. I’m not exactly sure how often, but they do get checked on. They check to see like, like everything’s in order. Are you guys feeding the dogs. Are you guys giving them water. Things like, simple things.” However, he struggled to explain what USDA stood for, saying, The United States Department of, what is it? United States Department of Agriculture. Agriculture.”
I asked if he knew anything else about how breeders treat dogs, and he told me, “But I know that breeders don’t like to breed an animal, or a puppy, more than, more than twice. They do it more than twice than they can have health issues.” I waved my hand towards the puppies in enclosures in front of us and asked, “So for these dogs, their breeders, they don’t breed them more than twice?” He said, “Yeah.” I then asked, “Okay, and they’re local? They’re all Texas, local?” He answered, “Exactly.”
The employee also described breeders’ kennels as “way cleaner than people think.”
Refusal to give out breeder information
I spoke to another employee (Hispanic male, about 18 years old, 5’6″, 155 lbs., with short black hair and a very short moustache and beard on just his chin) about a Cairn Terrier puppy he said was worth $3,000. I asked if I could see breeder information beforehand, and he said, “See the thing is, is like, we don’t give out the breeder’s information now. We let you know what the registration is and everything. If the puppy has a pedigree and all that. Why we don’t do the breeder’s information is that you would just go straight to the breeder. You know what I mean? It’s like, it’s like when you get a car from the dealership, they don’t tell you, this is the manufacturer. This is where we get the car. But we do share, like obviously we let you know, hey this is mom, dad, and then sometimes they’ll let you know if there’s a champion in the bloodline. But we do work with like certified, USDA breeders. So they’re licensed, they have a list of requirements that they have to meet. Inspected and all that stuff. But you know just for that reason.”
Evidence of false statements and misrepresentations of breeders by store:
The employee’s claim that the store’s breeders only breed their dogs twice is a lie. Commercial breeders typically breed female dogs at least five times.
The employee’s claim that the store uses local breeders from Texas is a lie. A customer purchased a Poodle puppy from the store in September of 2022 and shared the puppy’s information with Bailing Out Benji. The breeder was Verla Blosser in Buffalo, MO (USDA number 43-A-4957). At her USDA inspection on 7/28/22, she had 162 dogs and 32 puppies.
Curt and Lori Conrad (Conrad’s Cuddly Canines) in Frankford, MO (43-B-3659) were the brokers who sold the puppy to the Furever Pets. At their USDA inspection on 3/1/23, they had 62 puppies.
The employee’s description of the store’s breeders as clean, stating they are “way cleaner than people think,” is not correct Verla Blosser’s USDA inspection report on 11/ 10/21 notes a clearing violation: “The outdoor runs of the sheltered building in the tent area are excessively dirty. There are nine enclosures containing 10 adults and 22 puppies. All nine outdoor runs are over three quarters covered in fecal material.”
Blosser has a long history of violations, including many 2.126 non-compliances for a responsible adult not being available to accompany the USDA inspector. Violations since 2014 include the following: a dog provided no veterinary care for a cloudy, blood-vessel engorged eye with crusty discharge; expired medications; excessive rust compressing structural strength of enclosures; whelping enclosure with mother and puppies where fecal matter was smeared over half the floor; food receptacles with dirt and grime; water bowls with green algae-like substance; cobwebs, dirt, debris, grime, dark oily substance, bird droppings in or on enclosures, halls, doorways, and doors
The store’s financing poster notes how different payment options are interest free for certain periods, and how long customers have finish payments. Not noting typical interest or APR, however, misrepresents puppies’ high prices as affordable for people with lower incomes and on budgets. It is a typical tactic used to sell puppies, since interest rates are not mentioned until puppies are in the arms of potential customers, who give in to social pressure of loved ones and salespeople rather than taking time to consider the purchase.
