A Brooklyn pet retailer offered a whole lot of commercially-bred canine whereas making an attempt to dodge a state pet mill ban by falsely posing as a rescue heart, based on a brand new lawsuit from the Lawyer Normal’s workplace.
Pet Boutique — often known as High quality Canines Inc. — illegally marketed and offered puppies from their Dyker Heights storefront, regardless of retail pet gross sales being successfully outlawed, the go well with alleges.
The operators — who allegedly masqueraded underneath a dizzying array of on-line identities like “Maxies Infants,” “NYC Maltese,” and “NYC Yorkies” — claimed their pooches have been all rescues from an out-of-state charity, and that they have been complying with the pet mill ban.
Investigators say it was all a ruse to keep away from compliance with the regulation, claiming the supposed non-profits have been by no means registered as animal rescue organizations whereas they have been truly sourcing their puppies from breeders — together with identified notoriously dangerous pet mills.
The lawsuit calls for the unlawful operation not solely be saddled with large fines, however to additionally pay again “their ill-gotten good points,” based on court docket filings.
“Pets are valued members of our households, and anybody who brings a brand new pet into their house deserves a wholesome animal,” mentioned Lawyer Normal Letitia James, who filed the go well with in June. “Pet Boutique illegally offered puppies to New Yorkers, exposing them to heartbreak and exorbitant veterinary payments for animals raised in inhumane situations.”
The Dyker Heights store was already slapped with a short lived restraining order that fully freezes the store’s financial institution accounts, a gag order on their commercials, and to cease promoting the pooches fully, based on an order from Brooklyn Supreme Courtroom decide Menachem Mirocznik.
The Pet Mill Pipeline Act was signed by Gov. Hochel in Dec. 2022 and banned promoting canine from business breeding amenities, typically referred to as pet mills, at retail storefronts.
Whereas successfully outlawing the traditional “doggie within the window” store, the regulation doesn’t influence rescue organizations or accountable breeders who promote on to households, and likewise gave retailers till late 2024 to adjust to the brand new regulation.
However the go well with claims that Puppie Boutique ignored repeated orders from state officers to adjust to the brand new regulation.
The AG’s workplace discovered at the very least 174 canine listed in vet inspection information “have been all puppies,” based on a sworn affirmation by a NYS Dept. of Agriculture veterinarian.
“I do know of no authentic rescue group who solely adopts out puppies,” the affirmation reads.
An undercover investigator who poked across the operation was advised by co-owner Philip Reinhardt {that a} recent “cargo of canine would arrive quickly” and that puppies might be taken house the identical day — no appointment needed, the lawsuit claims.
Monetary information sourced from the store’s cost processor revealed their black-market pet enterprise was booming, based on court docket filings, slinging at the very least 373 puppies in a blistering two-month span between December 2025 and February 2026 alone.
At a mean price ticket of $1,000 per pet, which means they allegedly pocketed practically $400,000 in that brief window.
Additional financial institution information present that for the reason that regulation went into impact, at the very least 83 checks have been made out to pet breeders — together with some flagged as “horrible” by animal welfare teams.
“My workplace will proceed to implement the Pet Mill Pipeline Act to make sure that animals throughout the state are protected, wholesome, and free from mistreatment,” James mentioned, “and that abusive breeders are stopped.”
House owners of the shop didn’t reply to requests for remark.
