Sharing Petland’s “model” breeders

The Barking Boutique (Grandville, Mi) is sharing Petland’s “model” breeders in Iowa

The Barking Boutique’s website claims their new puppy store operates with full transparency, yet the store only features (8) of the 50+ kennels supplying puppies to the store. 

These are "showcase" kennels. 

The Barking Boutique sources from many
other undisclosed suppliers 

The plot thickens. These (8) “model” kennels are also shared by Petland – the pet retail giant. Petland is currently being sued for pet store retail fraud and is linked to the 2017 Campylobacter widespread outbreak creating a public health risk. 

Just last fall, Petland owner, Brad Parker introduced (10) model Iowa kennels on their franchise blog. Eight of these are The Barking Boutique’s featured kennels as well. 

The Barking Boutique misleads families by stating they are more trustworthy as a result of being a “locally owned” business - not a franchise. However, the Barking Boutique operates under the same business model as Petland by using brokers and transporters through the PetKey management system. 

	The Barking Boutique	Petland
Online Software	Petkey Online Pet Management System used by the pet industry including, brokers/breeders/transporters	Petkey Online Pet Management System used by the pet industry including brokers/breeders/transporters
Broker	Blue Ribbon Puppies Levi Graber	Blue Ribbon Puppies Levi Graber
Transporter	Bateman Diversified	Bateman Diversified
Model Kennels	8 Model Kennels Cloveridge Kennels Daynes Ridge Hillview Kennels Shadey Lawn Kennels Shadow Valley Kennels Stoney Creek Kennels That’ll Do Kennels Yoder Kennels	10 Model Kennels Cloveridge Kennels Daynes Ridge Hillview Kennels Shadey Lawn Kennels Shadow Valley Kennels Stoney Creek Kennels That’ll Do Kennels Yoder Kennels Howling Hill Oakridge Kennels

These “model” kennels, located in Iowa, are the industry’s response to intense public opposition to warehousing dogs and selling ill puppies for profit. 

Petland Kennesaw Breeder Teaser

Petland and broker Levi Graber (Blue Ribbon Puppies) also use the same marketing package shown in The Barking Boutique’s breeder brochures. Identical photos and kennel descriptions are shared among the three parties. Brochures were posted on The Barking Boutique’s website in April 2017, but were quickly removed and replaced with one-page brochures with the kennel descriptions removed. The initial Howling Hills brochure still had the Blue Ribbon Puppies logo.

Who is Levi Graber?

Puppy Broker, Levi Graber (Odon, IN) owns Blue Ribbon Puppies and is no stranger to the puppy pet trade. He was featured in Channel 13’s investigative story exposing Indiana’s Puppy Pipeline in 2007. Graber continues to lobby against laws that will protect pets and families from irresponsible pet sellers.

Indiana's Puppy Pipeline

Sarasota, Florida City Council Meeting

Graber is part of Petland’s new coalition to create “model” kennels…

As part of an effort to improve the pet industry’s neglectful reputation, ten Iowa kennels were selected to be built, expanded, or upgraded under Petland’s new “coalition” initiative. 

Kennel Name	Kennel Status
Cloveridge Kennels	2015 expanded
Daynes Ridge
Hillview Kennels	2016 New
Howling Hill
Oakridge Kennels	2015 new facility
Shadey Lawn	2015 updated
Shadow Valley	2015 updated
Stoney Creek	2015 new
That’ll Do	2015 training lessons from AKC completed
Yoder Kennel	2015 new

Once the model kennels were constructed or remodeled, Petland organized tours of those kennels in 2016. Will Yoder, a consultant with Blue Ribbon Puppies, provided tours in 2016. Yoder is featured in this 2018 article exposing rescues which will be used in the industry's fight against retail bans. 

 

Petland Iowa Breeder Tour

 ~The kennel buildings might be new and spacious,
but the puppies still have problems.~

While the small number of model kennels offer indoor/outdoor runs and play yards, there is still little oversight and no guarantee that the puppies will be healthy. Some of these featured kennels shipped puppies to The Barking Boutique with abnormalities listed on the Certificate of Veterinary Inspection.  

Kennel Name	Veterinary Inspection Date	Abnormality Noted
Cloveridge Kennel	4/13/2017	Luxating Patella Grade 1 L Latfral
	5/24/2017	Small open font.
		Open font
	6/8/2017	Moderate open font (all 3 dogs)
	8/31/2017	one of the three female cockapoo had mild underbite
	12/20/2017	Puppy 174655-04 has a moderate open font
	1/10/2018	Puppy 174656-06 has a mild open font
Oakridge Kennels	11/22/2017	Unilateral Crypt Orchid
	2/7/2018	Crypt orchid neuter done 1-31-18
Shadow Valley	Not provided	Left knee grade 5 patella not in trochlergroorse
	5/15/2017	Open Font ~ 3mm
	6/2/2017	Double inguinal hernial repaired
		Castrated, double inguinal hernia repaired
	7/13/2017	Underbite
	7/19/2017	Very small double inguinal hernia
		Unbilical hernial repaired by Dr. McClintock
	10/18/2017	Umbilical Hernia and double inguinal hernia
	10/25/2017	Umbilical hernia repaired by Dr. McClintock
		Castrated by Dr. McClintock
	11/1/2017	Neutered by Dr. McClintock had an abscess on right side of chest - healing
	11/8/2017	Right testical not fully descended into scrotum
	12/6/2017	Very small open font, left knee grade 2 patellar luxator, right knee grade 1 patella lux
		Umbilical hernia repaired by Dr. McClintock
	12/19/2017	Grade 1 right knee, small open font
	12/27/2017	Umbilical Hernia repaired Dr. Mcintock, Umbilical Hernial repaired Dr. McClintock
	1/31/2018	Double inguinal hernia, open font ~ 4mm, extremely small underbite 1 mm
Walnut Ridge Kennel	1/3/2018	Puppy has a moderate overbite
Ervin Lee Mast	7/13/2017	Overbite
	1/17/2018	Grade 3 knees right and left
David Troyer	6/16/2017	Castrated by Dr. McClintock
	1/31/2018	Umbilical Hernia..small amount of fat on the outside.
Melvin Nisley	1/24/2018	Puppy had crypt orchid neuter done 1/10/18

~Even after puppies were shipped with abnormalities,
The Barking Boutique continued to order from these kennels.~

Cloveridge Kennel is the The Barking Boutique’s featured kennel and has a long history of violations…

Cloveridge Kennels has been highlighted many times by The Barking Boutique as a model kennel. The store began boasting about Cloveridge Kennels at the May 8, 2017 Grandville City Council meeting, inviting the council members to visit and see for
themselves.

The Barking Boutique also features Cloveridge Kennels on their Facebook page. There are only two videos posted of the store’s 50+ kennels, and they are both from Cloveridge Kennels.  

~The Barking Boutique used no discretion when choosing Cloveridge. The kennel has a history of violations.~

Cloveridge Kennels LLC (Corydon, IA) is owned by Marvin Mullet and had 90 breeding dogs in 2015.

• 18 USDA photos show multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act: veterinary care, matted dogs, untreated eye, rusted cages, expired / unlabeled medications, goat medications (2011, 2015).
  
  
• Puppy health certificate at The Barking Boutique notes patellar luxation - the dog's kneecap is dislocated from its normal position, usually caused by a genetic malformation. Petmd.com (April 13, 2017)
• Matted hair on dog # 516 (January 28, 2015)
  
  
• Link to USDA Photos. 

~This is just the same bad breeder in a different building.~

It is unclear why The Barking Boutique would choose to follow Petland and feature Cloveridge Kennels as their model kennel. When confronted with these violations and photos, the owner of The Barking Boutique invited us to come see for ourselves and never mentioned any new building or upgrades.

~Unless all breeders step up, make huge investments and
agree to higher standards, these kennels will simply be used as “showcase” kennels while the pet stores
continue to source from sub-standard breeders.~

Learn more about The Barking Boutiques missing vaccinations and the Michigan Department of Agriculture's investigation which includes some of these “showcase” kennels. 

Learn more about The Barking Bouique’s bad breeders on our boycott website.

If you purchased a sick puppy, had warranty issues, genetic problems, were sold the wrong breed, discovered the puppy is not a purebred or were misled by the financing package, please contact Pam Sordyl at 734-718-7100.