Fashionable Pets
1 Garden State Plaza Blvd
Paramus, NJ 07652
(201) 368-7878
Date and time of CAPS investigation: 8/7/19; 1306
Approximate number of puppies observed at time of investigation: 10
Puppies were kept in glass-walled pen with solid floorings partially covered in shredded paper. The pens themselves acted as the wall of the pet store customers see inside the mall. Breeder and broker information was on cards for each puppy, posted on the glass walls of the pens.
An employee (Caucasian female, about 18 years old, 5’6″, 100 lbs, with long blonde hair) told me it’s illegal for stores in NJ to buy puppies from puppy mills. I asked to see a USDA inspection report for a puppy, since they weren’t posted anywhere within sight, and she said I would have to sit in a playroom and show my ID before I could see a report. Another employee (Caucasian female, about 24 years old, 5’8″, 100 lbs, with curly brown hair partially dyed blonde) told me I had to also fill out a form with information including my phone number and email address to see an inspection report. I asked several times if I could simply see the report without giving personal information and sitting in a room with a puppy, and the employee repeatedly refused (56:8-95 Deceptive practice; minimum standards c. (6)).
I asked the employee with curly hair, who said she’s worked at the store for five years, what knowledge she had about the store’s breeders, and she said dogs have outdoor kennels with access to outdoors and indoors, puppies have their own area without outdoor access for health reasons, and dogs are not kept in cages. I asked how long dogs are bred for, and she said a maximum of two times, while female French Bulldogs are often only bred once. She claimed the amount of dogs breeders have depends on the season, and that breeders focus on specific breeds instead of having lots of dogs. I asked her what brokers are, and she told me brokers hand-pick puppies and drive them to the store.
Breeder info:
The following were obtained from cards on puppies’ enclosures at the store:
- Sammy LZ Schwartz, 2453 Burnett Rd, Seymour, MO 65746, 43-A-6326, broker: Select Puppies, 1215 215th Ave, West Point, IA 52656, 43-B-0314
- Fannie I Schwartz, 3659 Normandy Rd, Seymour, MO 65746, 43-A-6110, broker: Select Puppies, 1215 215th Ave, West Point, IA 52656, 43-B-0314
Evidence of false claims about breeders by the store employee:
- A CAPS investigation of Fashionable Pets on 8/10/18 showed the store buys puppies from AJ’s Angels in Cushing, MN. A CAPS investigation of AJ’s Angels on 7/10/19 revealed hundreds of dogs of numerous breeds 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 store’s breeder list submitted to the state in 2018 shows the store uses Jerry L Miller (31-A-0638), whom CAPS investigated 7/15/19 and documented dogs living in elevated wire cages with no exercise area or access to the ground. This contradicts the employee’s claim that dogs are not kept in cages, and that breeders “focus on specific breeds of instead of having lots of dogs.”
- The employee’s claim that the amount of dogs breeders have depends on the season is false. CAPS has investigated hundreds of USDA-licensed puppy mills, and none have changed the amount of dogs they keep based up on the season.
