The Middle Men
One of the largest sales outlets for breeders in Missouri and other states is The Hunte Corporation, located in Goodman, Mo. According to news reports, Hunte buys and sells 90,000 puppies a year, transporting them by 18- wheeler to pet stores across the country. Hunte’s 25 trucks logged 2 million miles in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Hunte refused to verify the sales figures. In glowing terms on its Web site, the company describes how well it takes care of the puppies once they are in its possession. However, many sources disagree with the words of self-adulation.
For example, the Web site notes: “All Hunte puppies come from USDA licensed and AKC inspected professional breeders and hobby breeders.
(Two other Missouri dealers--Mid-America Pet Broker of Neosho and Hidden Valley Farms of Greencastle—also ran afoul of federal inspectors when they purchased puppies without obtaining certification that the breeders did not require a license.)
” But in January 2008, an administrative law judge in Washington, D.C. found that a
division of Hunte had paid $3,036 for 19 puppies to a Missouri dealer between March and October 2003, although the dealer had not had a required USDA license since September 2002. The dealer is now selling puppies on the Internet. The Hunte Web site also states: “They (the puppies) receive the best food and veterinary care and constant attention from a highly-trained support staff focused solely on the puppy's wellbeing.” This is disputed by several sources. Hunte is a principal supplier of puppies to Petland, the national chain pet store. The former owners of three Petland stores in Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio, in separate suits, charged that they received sick puppies from Hunte. One franchisee said that prior to his grand opening on Aug. 5, 2006, he received 60 to 65 puppies from Hunte, more than half of them sick when they arrived. Another said three puppies in the initial shipment for his opening on March 31, 2007, died within weeks and others were sick. The third franchisee said in a class action suit that he had to spend about $40,000 in veterinarian bills because puppies from Hunte were sick The three suits are pending.
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In a class action suit filed in September 2009 in Arizona against Petland and Hunte, 31 consumers alleged that they had purchased sick puppies from Petland, four of them traced back to Hunte. In its denial of the accusations, Hunte noted: “It is clear that HSUS (Humane Society of the U.S.) desires a public forum in which it can advocate its position that pet stores should not sell puppies. Trying to squeeze their allegations into an actionable claim appears to have been simply an afterthought.” The suit is pending. Breeders also market directly to pet stores, relying on other companies to transport the puppies to the stores. These “intermediate handlers” are licensed by the USDA. Eighteen individuals or companies in Missouri hold such licenses, and are subject to inspection by authorities. One of these is Puppy Ship LLC of Monett, Mo. On July 8, 2009, A driver for Puppy Ship, was arrested in Massachusetts for cruelty to animals. Authorities confiscated 27 puppies that were on their way to pet stores. Seven of the puppies needed veterinary care, three for dehydration or infections, and have incurred $14,000 in vet bills, according to news reports. The driver’s attorney told a judge that his client delivers puppies to Massachusetts once a week.
One of the largest sales outlets for breeders in Missouri and other states is The Hunte Corporation, located in Goodman, Mo. According to news reports, Hunte buys and sells 90,000 puppies a year, transporting them by 18- wheeler to pet stores across the country. Hunte’s 25 trucks logged 2 million miles in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Hunte refused to verify the sales figures. In glowing terms on its Web site, the company describes how well it takes care of the puppies once they are in its possession. However, many sources disagree with the words of self-adulation.
For example, the Web site notes: “All Hunte puppies come from USDA licensed and AKC inspected professional breeders and hobby breeders.
(Two other Missouri dealers--Mid-America Pet Broker of Neosho and Hidden Valley Farms of Greencastle—also ran afoul of federal inspectors when they purchased puppies without obtaining certification that the breeders did not require a license.)
” But in January 2008, an administrative law judge in Washington, D.C. found that a
division of Hunte had paid $3,036 for 19 puppies to a Missouri dealer between March and October 2003, although the dealer had not had a required USDA license since September 2002. The dealer is now selling puppies on the Internet. The Hunte Web site also states: “They (the puppies) receive the best food and veterinary care and constant attention from a highly-trained support staff focused solely on the puppy's wellbeing.” This is disputed by several sources. Hunte is a principal supplier of puppies to Petland, the national chain pet store. The former owners of three Petland stores in Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio, in separate suits, charged that they received sick puppies from Hunte. One franchisee said that prior to his grand opening on Aug. 5, 2006, he received 60 to 65 puppies from Hunte, more than half of them sick when they arrived. Another said three puppies in the initial shipment for his opening on March 31, 2007, died within weeks and others were sick. The third franchisee said in a class action suit that he had to spend about $40,000 in veterinarian bills because puppies from Hunte were sick The three suits are pending.
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In a class action suit filed in September 2009 in Arizona against Petland and Hunte, 31 consumers alleged that they had purchased sick puppies from Petland, four of them traced back to Hunte. In its denial of the accusations, Hunte noted: “It is clear that HSUS (Humane Society of the U.S.) desires a public forum in which it can advocate its position that pet stores should not sell puppies. Trying to squeeze their allegations into an actionable claim appears to have been simply an afterthought.” The suit is pending. Breeders also market directly to pet stores, relying on other companies to transport the puppies to the stores. These “intermediate handlers” are licensed by the USDA. Eighteen individuals or companies in Missouri hold such licenses, and are subject to inspection by authorities. One of these is Puppy Ship LLC of Monett, Mo. On July 8, 2009, A driver for Puppy Ship, was arrested in Massachusetts for cruelty to animals. Authorities confiscated 27 puppies that were on their way to pet stores. Seven of the puppies needed veterinary care, three for dehydration or infections, and have incurred $14,000 in vet bills, according to news reports. The driver’s attorney told a judge that his client delivers puppies to Massachusetts once a week.
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