The Puppy Patch
502 W Church St
Elmira NY 14905
607) 732-1107
Facebook page with puppies for sale
Date and time of CAPS investigation: 7/16/25, 1138
Previous owner said the store can’t break the law, then offered to break the law
The store had no puppies in it but had several dog grooming stations and pens with dogs presumably waiting to be groomed or picked up. I spoke to a woman at the store who identified herself as Nancy (Caucasian female, about 60 years old, 5’8″, 130 lbs., with short blonde hair), who said she was the former owner of The Puppy Patch. I asked Nancy if the store sells puppies. She said, “We can’t sell them at the store anymore. New York state put a stop to that. But the owner has private breeders and she’s able to, yes, there are puppies available. But, so what we’ll do is we’ll give you her direct number. And then she will set up an appointment to meet you down here. But yeah, we used to, for years and years.” I asked, “But she can meet me to buy a puppy here?” Nancy said, “Yes. Yes. Yes.” She added there’s a “big show room” in the store I can play with a puppy in once I’ve picked one. Nancy said the current owner is a woman named Hannah, and gave me a phone number to call Hannah directly.
No puppy mill claim
I said that I wanted to make sure the store doesn’t buy from puppy mills, and Nancy leaned forward to say, “No, sir. No.” She added that she and her husband started the business forty years ago, and claimed the breeders they used back then are still with the store. However, she also said that Hannah breeds puppies as well. I asked about breeding conditions, and Nancy kept talking about puppies instead of the dogs. She said puppies are in cages at night but also have “large play yards.” I asked her to specify about the breeding dogs, and she said, “Oh, pretty much the same setup.” Nancy claimed some of the breeders’ use kennels and “Some of them are straight from homes.”
The Puppy Patch is in violation of NY G.B.L.§753-f for featuring puppies for sale at a retail store, even if the puppies were bred at the owner’s house. The store’s Facebook page features a variety of breeds, making it unlikely that Hannah, the current owner, is breeding all of these dogs herself. When the CAPS president called The Puppy Patch in January 2025, an employee told her that they use several local breeders.
https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._general_business_law_section_753-f states the following:
A retail pet shop as defined in this article shall not sell, lease, offer to lease, offer to sell, barter, auction, or otherwise transfer ownership of any dog, cat or rabbit. This section shall not be construed to prohibit a retail pet shop from collaborating with the following entities to provide space to showcase dogs, cats or rabbits owned by such entities for the purpose of adoption; any duly incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, duly incorporated humane society, duly incorporated animal protective association or other duly incorporated animal adoption or animal rescue organization that ….
