Business & Tech

Protesters Eyeballing 'I Heart Puppies' Store in Corona del Mar

An animal-rights group wants the store to put its animals up for adoption with a nonprofit rescue organization by Friday.

I Heart Puppies in Corona del Mar is expected to reopen today after being closed by the city for two days to comply with safety regulations. However, the animal-rights group that has been investigating the store is requesting that all its animals be put up for adoption citing findings from a USDA inspection report.

The Companion Animal Protection Society—a national nonprofit, investigative group—began its investigation into I Heart Puppies on July 5 after receiving complaints from residents. The group says its investigation shows that the store gets some of its dogs from Cricks Kennels in Nebraska, according to Carole Davis, the organization's West Coast director. I Heart Puppies refutes that claim and says it gets its dogs only from Critters and Pets in San Diego. In a letter issued to I Heart Puppies and Patch.com last week, CAPS asked the store owners to review evidence gathered from a USDA probe regarding one of the store's breeders and requested the store put its dogs up for adoption with a nonprofit rescue organization by Friday or risk being the subject of a protest. 

"In the middle of a freezing Nebraska winter, your breeder tied up a dog and shot her in the head. (See attached document. USDA says the animal was a golden retriever.) We have much more from our internal undercover investigations with video footage," Davis said in the letter. "You do not do your research and you are duping consumers by telling them that you are selling animals from 'reputable' breeders."

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Suzanne Bradford, the store's owner, did not return calls seeking comment but has stated she does not support illegal kennels or those with a history of problems with USDA requirements. Davis said she has not received a response from Bradford but hopes she will place the animals up for adoption with a rescue shelter.

“I think it is wrong to make money off of all the backs of cruelly mistreated breeding dogs," Davis said. "I think it would show some good faith and it would help them to be good citizens of Newport Beach and be a part of the solution and not part of the problem."

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