Mama’s & Papa’s Pet Shop
16 Engle St
Englewood, NJ 07631
(201) 567-0010
Date and time of CAPS investigation: 8/7/19; 1150
Approximate number of puppies observed at time of investigation: 8
Puppies were kept in cages with solid walls, wire doors, and wire floorings with plastic trays underneath. Cages were set in a wall, with three rows of eight for 24 cages total. About eight had puppies in them, while about another three had dogs being boarded for customers. USDA inspection reports for breeders were posted on a glass wall separating customers from a room the puppies were in. One puppy was a six-month old maltese who paced constantly in a cage.
The owner (Asian male, about 62 years old, 5’8″, 195 lbs, with balding grey hair and glasses) told me the public is safer buying puppies from stores than directly from breeders, because breeders make dogs sick while stores ensure their health. He told me he doesn’t visit his breeders, and his breeders are USDA-certified and inspectors makes sure breeding dogs are healthy and in clean kennels. When I asked if he buys from puppy mills, he described puppy mills as facilities that “keep breeding.” He told me the USDA won’t lie on their inspection reports, but information on google about puppy mills is incorrect. He said his breeders have yards for dogs to go into, they don’t breed dogs every cycle, and different breeders breed dogs for different lengths of time but he didn’t elaborate on how long that was.
The owner told me he holds puppies for 10 days after receiving them, and that while customers can purchase them before that 10 day period, he has a liability form customers have to sign if they buy the puppy before the 10th day is up. He said that period is used to check for illnesses.
Breeder info:
The following was obtained from a USDA inspection report in the store:
- Barbara Owens, Keota, OK
- CAPS obtained an inspection report from 6/8/17 for Angie Mcduffee, USDA license # 41-A-0484, that was sent to the store. A CAPS investigation of Angie Mcduffee’s kennel on 7/10/19 revealed hundreds of dogs spinning in elevated wire cages, without any play area visible on the property. Dogs were seen pacing and spinning continuously in cages, stereotypies indicative of a lack of enrichment and being in cages without ever being let out. The further contradicts the owner’s claim that the store’s breeders healthy dogs with access to yards.
