Manhattan Puppies and Kittens
552 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10024
(212) 787-1909
Date and time of CAPS investigation: 05/13/18; 17:44
Approximate number of animals observed at time of investigation: about five kittens and 12 puppies
One kitten was kept in a two-level cage in the middle of the store, while four other kittens were in a play room the public could enter. Puppies were kept in metal, solid-walled enclosures with wire doors and floorings in the back of the store, in a room accessible to the public but behind the check-out desk and through a separate doorway. A sign offering information on the source of puppies and kittens to customers was posted at about eye-level directly to the right of the doorway as customers enter. The sign was in a separate room from the puppies and visible to customers when leaving the store (17-703 Required information for the purchaser (11)(c)).
An employee (Hispanic male, about 40 years old, 5’10”, 170 lbs, with short black hair, a buzzed moustache and beard, glasses, and a tattoo on his outer right forearm) told me that the store’s breeders are Class A breeders, which he claimed meant the breeders are not puppy mills and are small operations. He claimed the store’s owner visits the breeders. I asked about breeder information on a kitten, and the worker read me information from his computer and didn’t hand me anything physical containing breeder or veterinary information for me to see. He didn’t mention who the breeder of the kitten was, however, so I asked specifically about it and he said he could give me the kitten’s “ID #,” which in no way related to the kitten’s breeder. I asked for information I could use to do an internet search on the breeder, and the worker said I could have the breeder’s name and state. When I asked for the breeder’s USDA license # and inspection reports, the employee said I wouldn’t receive them until I purchase the kitten (17-703 Required information for the purchaser (a)).
The worker handed me a card showing the breeder information for the kitten as Melissa Richards, Bulter, MO, and said she is USDA licensed.
Evidence of false statements and misrepresentations of breeders by store:
The employee’s claim that A licensees are “small” is completely false. Class A licenses in no way denote the size of a commercial breeding facility, and many USDA A-licensed breeders have hundreds of dogs, which no reasonable person would consider to be a “small” kennel.
Breeder info:
- Melissa Richards, Butler, MO
