Ask Joe: Can Puppy Love and Puppies Plus stay open during criminal investigation?
RENO, Nev. (News 4-Fox 11) — From the Ask Joe file, we are looking into a question about the criminal investigation involving the owners of two local pet stores.
Alyna wrote in to ask if the two pet stores have been shut down as part of the criminal investigation into the treatment of the animals there?
Here's what I found out:
The owners of Puppy Love in Sparks and Puppies Plus in Reno have been indicted on several felony charges. But the businesses are still open. We went by and took a look for ourselves.
Puppy Love on Sparks Boulevard and Puppies Plus on South Virginia Street are both open for business.
The Washoe County District Attorney's Office announced the indictment last week but the businesses are allowed to remain in operation.
I checked with Julie Duewell over at the city of Sparks and she says the Sparks business license is still valid for Puppy Love. Once a verdict is reached then the city will get involved and make a decision as to whether the business has been operating legally or not.
As for Puppies Plus in Reno, city spokesman Jon Humbert also said they would not revoke a business license in this case unless the owners are found guilty. Humbert said even though the owners have a city of Reno business license, the pets that are being sold are under the purview of Washoe County so the city is letting the county take the lead on this.
So a lot of people are surprised to hear this but the businesses remain open. The District Attorney's Office isn't saying much since this is an open investigation. The charges right now include animal abuse and the illegal practice of veterinary medicine. I'm told more information is coming in from people who've purchased pets at those businesses so the case could be growing.
And one other note, a few hours after we reached out to the city of Reno about with our questions we learned the city of has scheduled a meeting for Thursday, September 19th at 6:00 pm to discuss the general issue of puppy mills and how the animals are treated. So the issue seems to be heating up at City Hall.
The case involving Puppies Plus and Puppy Love involves serious charges but at this point, the owners can keep selling animals while the investigation unfolds.
