Puppy Buyers Seek To Close Mount Clemens Pet Store / The Macomb Daily

Puppy buyers seek to close Mount Clemens pet store

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts holds a rescue puppy at the new Greenwood Pets & Plants store. He later wrote on Facebook that he was tempted to buy the pooch. “It was really adorable,” he wrote. DAVE ANGELL -- FOR THE MACOMB DAILY 

By Mitch Hotts, The Macomb Daily

POSTED: 08/23/15, 7:51 PM EDT | UPDATED: 4 DAYS AGO

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Jill Fritz, senior state director for the U.S. Humane Society, is flanked by Warren animal control officers Lisa Taylor and Nicole Fear at Saturday’s ceremony at Greenwood Pets & Plants. DAVE ANGELL -- FOR THE MACOMB DAILY 

A law firm on Monday will seek a permanent injunction in Macomb County Circuit Court in an attempt to bar a Mount Clemens pet store from selling allegedly sick animals.

Jennifer Measel of Farmington Hills-based Haas & Goldstein, P.C. wants a judge to issue a cease-and-desist order to prevent the operators of Little Dogz from the further sale of any animals.

“We want to be sure they can no longer sell pets to the public,” Measel said.

Thirty-one plaintiffs are now included in the lawsuit that was filed in March seeking monetary damages for multiple violations of the Consumer Protection Act after purchasing puppies that were allegedly defective, suffering from infections or highly contagious diseases.

Little Dogz formerly operated as Pollywood Pets inside of the weekend market at Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens. It has since moved to a Gratiot Avenue storefront.

According to the lawsuit, numerous owners bought dogs at the store only to have them quickly demonstrate serious health problems. Three died from parvovirus.

The plaintiffs accuse David and Shelley Myers of fraud and seek unspecified monetary damages.

Jeffery VerBeck, the attorney for the pet shop operators, could not be reached for comment on Friday.

For more than a year, Pollywood Pets was the target of weekly protests by Puppy Mill Awareness of Southeast Michigan. After 24 years in business at the trade center, the pet shop’s lease was not renewed.

Gibraltar Trade Center recently announced a new “puppy friendly” policy that calls for allowing rescue organizations to sell puppies and kittens inside the facility in a move that complies with Humane Society of the United States practices. 

The center will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday with Mayor Barb Dempsey, state Rep. Marilyn Lane (D-Fraser), Gibraltar president Robert Koester, Macomb County Animal Control Officer Jeff Randazzo and others in attendance. Gibraltar Trade Center is located at 237 N. River Road, Mount Clemens.

A similar ceremony was held this past Saturday at Greenwood Pets & Plants in Warren where rescue groups will be allowed to showcase pets for adoption. 

Greenwood’s past owner was convicted on animal cruelty charges after a police raid uncovered dozens of pets being kept in unsanitary conditions.

The new owner, Fadi Quaish, has pledged not to take in any pets from puppy mills.

After attending the ceremony, Warren Mayor James Fouts praised the move on his Facebook page. He said he was tempted to buy a small rescue dog.

“The new Greenwood Pets & Plants store has pledged not sell puppies and cats from those so-called puppy mills,” Fouts wrote. “Instead, they will offer a chance for people to acquire a rescued animal....This is the route to go.”