Local Pet Stores Dispute Alleged Consumer Affairs Violations

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By Jay Cook
The state’s newly amended Pet Purchase Protection Act is designed to create transparency between pet stores and customers. The law aims to give prospective pet buyers the animal’s veterinary history, breeder or broker information, as well as prohibit New Jersey pet dealers from doing any business with unlicensed breeders or animal welfare violators, also known as puppy mills.
But two local stores that recently got slapped with violations, hefty fines and bad publicity for alleged failure to offer required cage label signage are howling mad and fighting back.
On Jan. 4, the Division of Consumer Affairs cited 17 pet stores statewide with 683 violations, with fines totaling more than $400,000. Among them was Bark Avenue Puppies, 4 West Front St., Red Bank, which was issued 50 violations, and The Pet Shoppe, 1284 Route 35, Middletown, which had 19 violations.
The pet shops must comply with the law and pay a reduced civil penalty. For Bark Avenue, that is at total of $10,000, and The Pet Shoppe, $2,500. Pet shops that fail to address the notice they received, or contest the violations, face higher civil penalties. For Bark Avenue that could be as much as $25,000, and for The Pet Shoppe, $9,500.
An attorney representing both pet stores says the charges are unreasonable. “None of the violations pertain in any way to the safety of the animals, the animals’ health or its well-being or care,” said Dean Schneider, attorney with Schneider Freiberger, P.C. of Red Bank and Long Branch. “The squeeze on these local pet stores, who really have nothing but a clerical violation, is just extreme and it’s unwarranted.”
Gary Hager, owner of Bark Avenue Puppies, which carries toy and designer breeds in downtown Red Bank, also says he was “ticked off” by the 50 alleged violations, and called it “a money grab.” The store was cited for improper cage labeling, failure to post a “Know Your Rights” statement for consumers, and USDA reports on the cage.
“There was no communication between the state, in any way, shape or form, with us to tell us ‘Hey, this is the way you need to run things, post things, and communicate things,’” said Hager, who has owned the store for just six months.
The owner of The Pet Shoppe in Middletown, a store that specializes in rare and unusual breeds, vehemently denies any wrongdoing. “It was one violation – because we didn’t have the color of the dog on the card,” said Dana West, who has owned the store for 8 years. “When the new law came out for the cards, they [New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs] gave us a sample card to go by, and ‘color’ wasn’t listed on there. So we made up our cards like the sample card.” She says she explained this to a state inspector who visited The Pet Shoppe on Oct. 14.
Mike Bober, president and CEO of Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council of Washington D.C., which supported the bill and gave input to lawmakers, said better communication is essential. “The first round of enforcement was done without consultation with the stores,” said Bober. “As is the case with new legislation, the law has yet to be interpreted. To put in plainly, this is just growing pains.”
Meanwhile, the stores say they’ve been dogged by bad publicity after the announcement of the alleged violations was circulated. “It’s a shame because this thing has really cost a couple of these businesses an extraordinary amount of goodwill with the public,” said Schneider, the attorney. He said the state will consider the way it announces alleged violations, “so that it doesn’t give the appearance of 50 violations, 19 violations or 70 violations, whatever the number may be for each individual pet store.” He added, “We have to keep in mind that these violations are only alleged.”
Hager says he is dismayed by the experience. “New Jersey just threw a blanket up for all of us, and said ‘You’re all the same,’” said Hager. “I’m not saying there aren’t bad people out there – bad breeders and bad brokers. But the truth of the matter is that there are good ones out there too.”