Partners Pet Center
1701 S Mays St, Suite Q
Round Rock, TX 78664
(512) 255-3351
Dates and times of CAPS investigation: 1/19/23; 1559, 1/20/23; 1210
Approximate number of puppies observed at time of investigation: 6
Filthy puppy cages
I visited the store on 1/19/23 and 1/20/23, speaking to the owner the first day, and an employee the second day. Puppies were located near the front of the store in a bank of cages set into a wall. There were four cages, though only two contained puppies, having three puppies each. Each cage was about four feet long and two feet deep and tall. There were beds on the floorings, which were not large enough for all puppies to fit in at the same time, water bowls, and chew toys. Puppies’ floorings were made of expanded metal for feces and debris to fall through. Occupied cages had dried feces stuck to the undersides of the metal throughout the bottoms of the floorings. In one puppy cage, the flooring also had rusted portions of metal in spotted areas through to the top of its surface. I noted the dried feces stuck to the floorings remained the same from the 19th to the 20th, indicating the enclosures were not thoroughly cleaned from one day to the next.
Breeder information kept secret
The owner (Caucasian male, about 45 years old, 5’9″, 200 lbs., with short greying black hair and a short, greying black beard and moustache, who identified himself as Adam) spoke to me about his puppies and breeders. He said that he uses local breeders, but would only identify one, a Morkie breeder, as an Asian male named Roman. Adam claimed Roman had his dogs in the house and not in a run in a yard, and that his breeders typically have only one female and one male breeding dog. He claimed that Ramon had several breeding dogs but that they are “like his pets.” I asked, “Okay, so they’re not like dogs in cages, or dozens of dogs?” He said, “No! They’re like their pets.” The owner said he doesn’t normally give out breeder information because he doesn’t want customers to bother breeders, but that Roman likes to talk to customers.
Owner refused to discuss a health guaranty
I asked Adam about his health guarantee, multiple times asking what he specifically covered. However, he consistently dodged the questions and would not say what he covered. Instead, he tried to assure me that I should rely on him to decide what care a puppy should receive and that I should trust him to pay for whatever is needed. Adam and the employee said that should I purchase a puppy, I should not take the puppy to the ER, that I should call Adam instead. Adam told me, “Like on that contract, no ER visits, cause I mean, you know people. Like I go through everything. If you see anything, call us first. Don’t go to the ER for diarrhea and be like, You owe me a thousand dollars. I make, I make good money on dogs. But they’re my headache, dude. They’re the biggest headache of all.”
Adam then changed the subject to complain about animal activists protesting him. I asked him, “So you got, you got a health guaranty with them?” He answered, “Well, here’s the thing. The vet checks are so stupid. You got twenty-four hours. They’re healthy. They’re guaranteed. You call me, any issues, I’ll take care of you.” He added, ‘My thing is just call me. You’re not gonna’ have any issues. But like if you did, the only issue anybody has is like, “I saw a worm in his poop,” and I just give you a pill. And if they have diarrhea the first couple days, that’s not wrong.” I asked, “So it’s not like a certain period guarantee?” Adam said, “No, I mean the contract we make people sign is basically like, no ER deals are covered. Because people go there for like hypoglycemia.”
I later asked if he had a written health guarantee, and he said, “Well, we have a written contract. It’s like you have this much time to take, but, don’t worry about it. I’ve been here twenty-three years. You’re not gonna’ get screwed over.” He added, ‘Like, you have twenty-four hours, which I think it says like thirty-six hours. But I tell people, don’t worry about it. Like call me. Don’t worry you’re not gonna’ come here and I’m gonna’ be like, sucka! I’m not like that. And that’s the thing. I’ve been here twenty-three years. I’d have been out of business a long time ago. If you talk to anybody that’s bought dogs from me they’ll be like, Dude yeah, it’s the best dog. “You’re not gonna’ hear any stories.”
I asked, “Oh yeah, do you have like the year congenital thing or whatever it is?” Adam said, “No, but I never have,” adding, “And the good thing about these designer dogs, when you breed like mutts or whatever, you eliminate any possible health issues that one breed might have. But like Poodles, for instance. They can have eye problems. But mine don’t, because I have, I use the same breeders. The Shih Tzu I get, they don’t have the bug eyes with this face. Like they have this smoothed face, but I have yet to have anything that is like ….”
On 1/20/23, I asked an employee (Caucasian male, about 45 years old, 5’8”, 200 lbs., with brown hair almost to his shoulders, a short beard and moustache, and black-rimmed glasses) about the health guarantee, and he said, “So if there’s any type of issues, like we give all the vaccines, and all of that stuff, you know? But if there’s any type of issues like that, call us before go to like a vet hospital or something. And most of like, for the majority of everything Adam will just pay for the issue. He also has his own vet that we work hand in hand with. He’s right out of Taylor.”
Owner tried to discourage me from adopting a dog
The owner complained about Furever Pets in Round Rock, saying they buy from puppy mills from the Midwest. He also tried to convince me that I shouldn’t adopt a dog, saying, “If you’ve been to the shelters it’s fricking all Pit Bull mixes. Like, if there’s a Chihuahua, it’s gonna’ be four years old like, either have behavioral issues or medical issues. The rescues are all like, you go to a Yorkie rescue you won’t find a puppy. You’ll find one that’s got the same thing. And they’re for profit. I could write a book on this subject.”
Evidence of false statements and misrepresentations of breeders by store:
The owner’s claim that breeding two different kinds of purebred dogs to make a designer breed dog will “eliminate any possible health issues that one breed might have” is false. Mutts are known to be healthier than purebred dogs, but designer breed dogs are not immune from health issues.
The owner’s insinuation that all dogs at shelters have behavioral or medical issues is false. Shelter dogs are less likely to have medical issues than young puppies shipped to pet stores. Also, many shelter dogs have been trained and/or fostered and have known personalities and preferences, unlike puppies who have unknown personalities.
Breeder information obtained while visiting the store:
- Morkie breeder named Roman
