Furrylicious Puppy Boutique
531 Route 22 East
Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889
(908) 823-4468
Date and time of CAPS investigation: 8/5/19; 1815
Approximate number of puppies observed at time of investigation: 20
Puppies were kept two to an enclosure, each enclosure having solid walls and floorings with glass walls on one side. A consumer rights sign indicating reimbursement to customers for sick puppies was on a wall just inside the entrance, and between doorways of an entryway room between the parking lot and main store area.
Enclosures had cage cards containing and broker info on them. USDA inspection reports were nowhere within sight of me at the store.
A sign outside the store said that puppies are available for adoption. I asked the owner (Caucasian female, about 45 years old, 5’8″, 130 lbs., with long brown hair and glasses) about it, and she told me that “adoptions” are the same as purchases of puppies. An employee (Caucasian female, about 28 years old, 5’5″, 135 lbs, with long blonde hair) told me the owner knows the breeders and visits them, will visit them again this fall, and that a video online shows the store’s breeders. She added that a vet tech delivers puppies to the store every two weeks.
I asked the owner about conditions dogs are kept in at breeding kennels, and she told me that NJ has the strictest laws for purchasing puppies, all breeders have to be USDA with clean reports, all breeders are in Midwest, the same agency that inspects meat and farms inspect the breeders, she has direct relationship with her breeders, and I can see her on site with her breeders on her website. I asked her if breeding dogs are kept in cages and she responded, “No, they’re not.” She said she visits her breeders every year, explains most of her breeders sell directly to her, and that her breeders use a van to deliver puppies to her. She said that most of the brokers she uses are not actually brokers but instead are “groups of breeders.”
The owner showed me the NJ Coalition of Responsible Pet Stores breeder video, claiming that the video shows the conditions breeding dogs are kept in. She said that information animal rights activists show about commercial breeders is wrong, and that her video shows normal commercial breeding conditions.
I asked the owner to see a USDA inspection report on a puppy and she refused, telling me that I can’t see the inspection reports of a breeder until I purchase a puppy. She showed me what she said is all of the information provided to a customer at the time a puppy is purchased, and no USDA inspection reports were in the packet of info (56:8-95 Deceptive practice; minimum standards c. (6)).
Breeder info:
The following were obtained from cage cards on puppies’ enclosures:
- Wendy Hills Pets, 1377 144th Rd, Seneca, KA 66538, 48-B-0323
- James Bixenman, New Cambria, MO (additional info couldn’t be read on camera)
https://caps-web.org/bixenman-james-and-marilyn/ CAPS investigation 2012 - Pawprints Kennel, Salem, IA, 42-A-154, broker: Cattle Inc (additional info couldn’t be read on camera)
- Two B Kennels, 2714 210th St, Fort Madison, IA 52627, 42-A-1591, broker: Cattle Inc, 42-B-0303
- Madison Kennels, 5577 Lawrence, Pierce City, MO 65723, 43-A-6095
- Wendy Hills Pets, 1377 144th Rd, Seneca, KS 66538, 43-B-0313. The facility name is actually Wendy Pets, owned by Audrey Rottinghaus.
https://nopetstorepuppies.com/dog-breeder/rottinghaus-audrey-wendy-pets - Lester Troyer, 3379 Hwy Y, Clark, MO 65243, 43-A-6247
- Lazy H Farms, 502 US Hwy 160, Caulfield, MO 65626, 43-A-5095
Evidence of false claims about breeder made by the store owner:
- The owner’s claim that brokers are “groups of breeders” is false. Brokers are independent USDA licensees who buy and resell puppies.
- The owner’s claim that activists’ information on commercial breeders is false. Information CAPS shows on USDA-licensed commercial breeders is video and audio evidence of actual USDA licensees’ facilities.
- CAPS obtained government records from the Township of Readington, NJ showing that Halpain Kennels, USDA license # 73-A-1408 sold three puppies to Furrylicious in 2018. CAPS investigated Halpain’s kennel on 5/23/18 and found dozens of dogs in elevated indoor/outdoor wire wire cages, and puppies in wire cages in a dark room. This contradicts the owners claim her breeders don’t use cages.
https://caps-web.org/halpain-robert-and-starmye/ - CAPS obtained government records from the Township of Readington, NJ showing that Marie Doherty with USDA license # 48-B-0321 sold 18 puppies to Furrylicious in 2018. CAPS investigated Doherty’s kennel on 3/19/15 and Marie Doherty claimed pet stores do not visit her kennel. This contradicts the owner’s claim that she visits all of her breeders.
