PUYALLUP, Wash. — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against Puppyland and its owners on Tuesday.
The suit alleges the pet store knowingly sells customers sick puppies, offers predatory loans and misrepresents its advertised health guarantees.
Over 7,000 individuals purchased puppies from Puppyland’s Washington stores since the company started operations in 2018, according to the lawsuit. The owners formerly owned Puppyworld in Olympia and have Puppyland-branded stores in Georgia, Idaho and Texas.
The lawsuit details multiple instances of customers who bought a puppy that got very sick or died shortly after they took it home.
The sttorney general’s lawsuit alleges that Puppyland deceived consumers about the health and breeding standards of the puppies it sold them. Puppyland advertised its health guarantees as providing meaningful coverage for healthcare costs, assuring consumers that they were "always covered.”
Puppyland offered a two-year guarantee for costs if a puppy developed a “life-altering congenital or hereditary condition.” When consumers alerted Puppyland that their puppies had become ill, however, the company was unresponsive, even when puppies developed severe health problems. Many consumers incurred thousands of dollars in veterinary bills before Puppyland would consider covering any costs.
According to the lawsuit, Puppyland also tried to prevent customers from writing truthful reviews about problems they experienced.
Puppyland’s standard purchase paperwork included an illegal non-disclosure provision. Individuals who signed the paperwork agreed not to “disparage, defame, sully or compromise the goodwill” of Puppyland, or face the threat of legal action.
One Washingtonian bought a puppy that later died and said she wanted to write a negative review but decided not to because she feared Puppyland would sue her.
The lawsuit also alleges Puppyland staff would force customers to take out loans with extremely high interest rates if they could not afford to pay in full.
Puppyland employees were not allowed to provide any price estimates when consumers contacted them, and Puppyland did not display prices anywhere in their stores. Once a customer had committed to purchasing a puppy, employees would finally disclose the price, which ranged anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 per dog.
Employees were encouraged to pressure the buyer into financing the purchase if they could not afford to pay for the puppy outright. Puppyland’s chosen loan providers charged annual percentage rates as high as 198%.
“The purchase of a family pet is a significant and meaningful transaction,” Ferguson said. “Businesses that sell puppies and other pets have an obligation to consumers not to deceive them or take advantage of them. We will continue working to ensure Washington families seeking to purchase a household pet are treated fairly.”
Puppyland Owner Kayla Kerr provided this statement to KING 5 Tuesday afternoon:
"We received a copy of the lawsuit, and we are not yet in a position to comment on specific allegations. In general, however, the premise of the lawsuit is inconsistent with our values and business practices. The health and welfare of our puppies has been and remains our first priority, and we give more people the ability to buy their next 'forever' pet."
The lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court seeks penalties and restitution under the state Consumer Protection Act. Puppyland faces thousands of dollars in penalties.
A bill that passed the Senate last week would work to protect customers who buy or adopt cats or dogs.
The bill will end financing of pet sales and require pet stores to obtain their animals from a U.S. Department of Agriculture licensed breeder or licensed broker. For each dog purchased, the pet stores would have to show that the dog was not separated from its mother prior to the age of eight weeks and that the breeder complied with Washington state’s dog breeding laws.
The bill will require that advertisements for sales include the range of prices for each dog, its age and information regarding the breeder.