TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) — More customers of a Tucson pet retailer are coming forward telling the News 4 Tucson Investigators they spent thousands for dogs that quickly came down with serious illnesses.
Cathleen Doolittle purchased a boxer from Pets at Park Place, located inside Park Place Mall, she named Darla back in September. Doolittle paid $2,500 but said Darla got sick almost as soon as they left the store.
“We spent thousands of dollars on her. We expected her to be happy and healthy, no past traumas. I have children; that’s very important to me,” Doolittle said. “She had kennel cough so bad we took her back, and they had to put her on a nebulizer for three days.”
That was only the beginning.
“She was pooping blood nonstop, so I took her to our vet, and we did the rabies vaccine, and they did fecal tests. She had campylobacter and giardia,” she explained.
The continued medical care has been costing her thousands of dollars.
“She will be on medication the rest of her life,” she said.
When Doolittle informed the store of the bigger issues, she said they insisted Darla was healthy before being sold and refused to help. Doolittle showed our Chief Investigative Reporter Chorus Nylander Darla's medical records, which show Pets at Park Place gave Darla five deworming treats within a month and a half. She believes this proves they knew something was wrong.
“Why else would they be treating her for worms and parasites and then insist she’s healthy,” Doolittle said.
Looking at the records, it shows that Darla came from a commercial breeder in Missouri, but it offers little more about what conditions she may have come from.
Many states have now banned the sale of commercially bred dogs at retail stores, such as California. Arizona has some of the most lenient laws and state law prevents local governments from making their own ordinances.
“We have real concerns about where they’re sourcing their pets from; the fact is the law doesn’t have any teeth so we can’t go in there and request their records,” Tucson City Councilmember Steve Kozachik told us.
Pets at Park Place as been facing backlash since it opened a few years ago by animal activist groups like SPEAK, which holds regular protests outside the store.
“The current makeup of the state legislature has led to Arizona being the virtual dumping ground for what we call puppy pushers,” said Gary Vella, a leading member of SPEAK.
Doolittle is not the only customer that has spoken to the News 4 Tucson Investigators. Last month, the News 4 Tucson Investigators reported on another woman's issues with Pets at Park Place.
That woman, who requested to be anonymous in fear of retaliation, purchased a dog for $2,500 during the holidays. Her dog also got very sick, and she has been spending thousands of dollars to keep the dog alive.
“This is more of a pattern versus a one off,” she said.
The News 4 Tucson Investigators have made several attempts to hear Pets at Park Places' side of the story. We sent emails and made phone calls more than a month ago without any response. This week, we called again and spoke to a manager who referred us to the company's owners and provided the same email address we used before. We sent another email but received no response.
As we have previously reported, a national bill has been introduced, cosponsored by Congressman Juan Ciscomani, that would impose more regulations for pet retailers and commercial breeders across the country.
