Petland Frisco
2930 Preston Rd Unit 810
Frisco, TX 75034
(972) 954-4841
Dates and times of CAPS investigation: 7/27//23, 1440
Approximate number of puppies observed at time of investigation: 32
There were sixteen puppy cages in the store, each about four feet wide and two feet deep and tall. They had thick-gauge wire floorings and solid walls, toys, water bottles, and most had blankets that covered about 20-25% of the floorings. Each cage held two to four puppies. There were cards by cages to show where puppies had come from, and they listed the name of either puppies’ breeders or brokers, as well as the state and USDA license number or “hobby” designation for the breeder/broker. However, for puppies that came from brokers, the breeders were not also mentioned for those puppies.
“USDA-licensed professional hobby breeders”
I spoke to two employees at the store about the source of the puppies. I told one that I wanted to make sure the puppies don’t come from puppy mills. He responded, “No, we all work with, like, USDA-licensed professional hobby breeders. And then [for] anyone, we look for violations. If they have any violations within the last three years, we don’t work with them.” He added, “… but I mean we’re super selective about who we work with. We always look for those violations.” Another employee told me, “And if they had any boo boos in the last few years, we wouldn’t do any business with them.” The second employee also said that he recommended I look up Becky Busboom as a respectable breeder for the store. He then immediately added, “I will say there is going to be a list of, like, the top 100 that are going to be labeled bad breeders. Anybody who goes through us is going to be labeled a bad breeder. It’s not us. It is like a PETA fan site. It’s not like, certified by PETA. But it’s one of those activist pages who don’t like us very much, and any breeder we go through has a great chance of being on this list unless they’re professional hobby breeders. But you will be able to find information on Becky.” That employee also told me, “No, I will say if you guys come in on Saturdays, there’s a great chance you’re going to have, like, protesters out there with signs just talking about us.”
Employees claim that breeding dogs run around grassy yards
I asked about the specific conditions dogs were bred in. I asked on employee, “Are the dogs, do you know, are they kept in, like, cages or are they kept in the house or in a kennel?” He said, “No, no. Usually, like, most of them, they’ve got big, huge backyards and stuff. They let them run around. We got like all sorts of pictures and stuff. Most of the time it’s like a huge backyard. We like to actually go out there, make sure puppies and parents are getting like lots of exercise and love, that kind of deal. They got these huge yards and stuff, and that’s usually where they’re spending a lot of their time.” I then asked him, “Oh, really? Okay, okay. So they’re not like kept in pens and cages and stuff like that?” He answered, “No, no, no.” The other employee, who complained about people protesting the store, showed me videos on his phone of breeders. One showed puppies on the solid flooring of a large, tiled, indoor pen. As he showed it to me, he said, “A few puppies for one. So they’re not like stuck in cages.” Another showed dogs running around a grassy yard. During that video, he told me, “They’ll get multiple play times a day.” As he thumbed through photos of spacious dog enclosures, he said, “They’re not in cages, they’re in stuff like that.” He pointed to a Petland cage and said, “They’re not like six of them stuck in a cage this size.”
A hundred dogs? “Oh no. Nothing like that.”
I asked the first employee how many dogs breeders have, and he told me, “Yeah. I mean, some of them, we got like the hobby breeders. Those are breeders that just have like one mom and dad.” He mentioned that USDA-licensed breeders “have like a little bit more, but we like keep an eye on it. I asked him, “Okay. They don’t have like a hundred?” He said, “Oh no. Nothing like that.”
Evidence of false statements and misrepresentations about breeders by store
The employees’ claims that breeders’ dogs frequently run around grassy yards and live in large pens are untrue. The store’s breeder David Miller, has a kennel in Orongo, MO, which has no play yard evident in it. The facility’s factory farm-like design of dog pen rows uses a manure retention pond on it to store the waste produced from it. Most breeders do not use play yards, and have pens or cages similar to Miller’s, which are not the large pens the employee’s claimed all dogs have.
The employee’s claims that the stores’ breeders don’t have a hundred dogs is a lie. David Miller had 179 breeding dogs and 58 puppies noted on his 2/8/23 USDA inspection report and 207 breeding dogs and 103 puppies listed on his inspection report by Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA)
Breeder information obtained during store investigation
David Miller, Orongo, MO, 43-A-5221, 207 dogs and 103 puppies at 4/13/22 MDA inspection; 179 adult dogs and 48 puppies at 2/8/23 USDA inspection
David D Troyer, Clark, MO, 43-A-6664, 68 adult dogs and 51 puppies at 3/13/23 USDA inspection
Lester Raber , Cedar Valley Pups, Odon, IN, 32-A-0704, 42 adult dogs and 43 puppies at 4/26/23 USDA inspection
Danny Schrock, Coalgate, OK, 73-A-276, 68 adult dogs and 74 puppies at 12/8/23 USDA inspection
Broker information obtained during store investigation
Select Puppies, Neosho, MO, 43-B-0314, 195 puppies at 7/20/23 USDA inspection; 2.125(b) violation at 6/27/23 USDA inspection: A responsible adult was not available to accompany APHIS Officials during the inspection process at 11:05am on 27-June-2023. Employees at the facility stated the licensee was currently out-of-town and no one else at the facility was available to conduct an inspection. A facility of this size should have manager who is able to accompany an inspector. 265 puppies at 3/31/22 USDA inspection; 237 puppies at 3/15/ USDA inspection; 441 puppies at 1/6/21 USDA inspection
https://caps-web.org/select-puppies/
A CAPS Investigation of Select Puppies
https://caps-web.org/caps-investigators-journal-the-truth-behind-select-puppies-and-pet-connect-rescue/
CAPS Investigator’s Journal: The Truth Behind Select Puppies and Pet Connect Rescue
Becky Busboom, Pixie Pals, Dannebrog, NE, 47-B-0116
Busboom was the broker for Gary Felts in Iowa, whom CAPS investigated. We worked with USDA and the U.S. Attorney on the Felts case. Our investigation revealed that he was hiding assets to avoid paying a fine of nearly $19,000 to USDA, which finally terminated his license.
https://caps-web.org/one-of-the-nation-s-worst-puppy-mill-breeders-pleads-guilty-in-federal-court/
One of the Nation’s Worst Puppy Mill Breeders Pleads Guilty in Federal Court
https://caps-web.org/gary-felts-usda-breeding-license-terminated/
Gary Felts’ USDA Breeding License Terminated
Busboom was the broker for Claudia Obermiller in Nebraska, who ran an atrocious kitten mill investigated by CAPS. After we provided investigatory evidence to USDA, they fined her $5,000 and subsequently revoked her license.
https://caps-web.org/caps-investigators-journal-the-obermiller-kitten-mill/
CAPS’ Investigator’s Journal: The Obermiller Kitten Mill
Pinnacle Pet (Sobrad, LLC), Neosho, MO, 43-B-3750, 344 puppies and 76 ferrets at 5/10/23 USDA inspection
https://caps-web.org/pinnacle-pet/
A CAPS Investigation of Pinnacle Pet
Puppy Smart, Mays Landing, NJ, 22-B-0085,
0 puppies at 7/14/23 USDA inspection with current address as 5845 Oak St., Mays Landing, NJ; 0 puppies 2/2/23 USDA inspection; 0 puppies at 1/31/20 pre-license USDA inspection with address at 404 8th Ave, Seaside Heights, Ortley Beach, NJ; 0 puppies at 4/16/19 USDA inspection with address as 1401 Byers Ave, Joplin, MO; puppies at 9/26/18 pre-license inspection with same Joplin address. All of these addresses are homes in residential areas. It is very unusual to find a USDA-licensed broker outside of the Midwest. It is also odd that Puppy Smart is shipping puppies to pet shops but never seems to have any puppies during USDA inspections.
Fulton Enterprises, Alden, MN, 41-B-0262
Breeder information obtained from 2022 and 2023 Certificates of Veterinary Inspection
Kevin Street, Bowling Green, MO, 43-A-5486, 133 dogs, 97 puppies, 14 cats and 14 kittens (total of 232 animals) at 4/22/23 USDA inspection
https://caps-web.org/street-kevin-street-kennels/
David Miller (see above)
David Troyer (see above)
Linda (and Richard) Barton, Liberal, MO, 187 adult dogs and 43 puppies at 7/28/22 USDA inspection; 117 dogs and 60 puppies at 11/2/22 MDA inspection where they had violations for the following: Two enclosures housed four dogs each in violation of state regulations; Licensee and attending veterinarian reused the same form for three annual hands-on examinations
Charles Feldman, Sheldon, MO, 43-A-1704, 103 adults dogs and 90 puppies at 3/22/23 USDA inspection
Primo Puppies, Neosho, MO, 43-A-6577, 55 adult dogs and 33 puppies at 7//6/23 USDA inspection
Broker information obtained from 2022 and 2023 Certificates of Veterinary Inspection
John Yoder, Fresno, OH was listed as the consignor on CVIs. He is the manager for Preferred Canine, which is the business located at the address listed on CVIs. He is also affiliated with Golden Seal Puppies (see below).
Preferred Canine LLC, PO Box 336, Sugarcreek, OH, 31-B-0197; physical address: 29952 CR 10, Fresno, OH (residence of Abe Miller, which is listed as an agricultural property under county tax records); no USDA inspection since 2/10/21
The owner of Preferred Canine is Abe Miller in Fresno, Ohio. Miller has a long history of selling sick puppies, violating the Animal Welfare Act, and being the subject of lawsuits.
Every time, Miller is in trouble, he changes the name of his facility. When Sarasota County held a hearing for the ordinance banning the retail sale of dogs and cats in January 2016, he testified against the ordinance, using the kennel name of Quail Creek. CVIs over the last few years showed him using the names, Comfort Canines and Holmes for Canines. Miller hired a bus to transport at least 30 of his Amish breeders to testify against the ordinance, which passed in January 2016.
The dogs he brokered included those with the campylobacter virus that made dogs and people ill in the outbreak at numerous Petland stores.
https://www.cdc.gov/campylobacter/outbreaks/puppies-12-19/index.html
Golden Seal Puppies, LLC, PO Box 467, Sugarcreek, OH, 31-B-0193, 79 puppies at 1/31/22 USDA inspection; physical address: 29939 CR 10, Fresno. OH (listed as a commercial property under county records); this property is next door to Preferred Canine. Amishdogbreeders.com lists a John Yoder as the person associated with this address, although Miller appears to be the owner.
Both businesses had filing dates of 2/4/19 by the same registered agent with the Ohio Secretary of State. Both had a pre-license inspection on 2/12/19 and subsequent inspections on 2/10/19 and 1/8/20. We don’t believe this is a coincidence.
Under USDA regulations, an individual or one business (LLC, corporation, partnership) cannot hold two USDA licenses. However, two different LLCs can hold two licenses, which is a convenient loophole.
Pinnacle Pet (see above)
Select Puppies (see above)
Becky Busboom, Pixie Pals (see above)
MG Cattle, Salem, IA, 43-B-0303, 0 puppies at 3/9/22 USDA inspection
Market Smart, Neosho, MO, 43-B-3810, 42 puppies at 10/31/22 USDA inspection
Lack of USDA Violations
The fact that few breeders and brokers have USDA violations does not mean that none exist. During our undercover investigation of USDA-licensed facilities, we document violations. USDA has made it very easy for licensees not to have violations. In response to regulatory ordinances, USDA started using teachable moments, self-inspections and a trial announced inspection program. Their recent guidelines also instructed inspectors not to cite ear, eye and dental diseases as veterinary care violations (this requirement was recently changed back). It is for these reasons that USDA Animal Welfare Act violations have significantly decreased.
