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PASCO -- Owners of the Pasco Petland store on Monday denied charges the store gets its puppies from mills and brokers who mistreat animals that they crank out for profit.
"I never would've opened this (store) if there were shady things going on," said co-owner Dan Miner. "I mean, there's too much money at stake to do things like that."
Miner's comments were in response to a report the Humane Society of the United States released Monday that claimed more than 95 percent of Petland stores have bought dogs from large-scale brokers or directly from puppy mills in the past few months.
The Humane Society, a national animal protection organization separate from the Benton-Franklin Humane Society that operates a shelter in Kennewick, used public documents to trace shipments of more than 15,000 puppies from commercial brokers to Petland stores.
The Humane Society said the Pasco Petland -- the only Petland store in Washington -- gets its puppies from Mid-America Pet Broker LLC of Neosho, Mo.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year cited the broker for buying from breeders without verifying that they were licensed, for using expired and incorrect medications and for using cages that were too small, the Humane Society reported.
Miner acknowledged the Pasco Petland gets the majority of its puppies from Mid-America, but he said the broker hasn't mistreated animals as the Humane Society portrays.
"Absolutely not," Miner said. "I would stake my building on it. I wouldn't do business with them if that was the case."
Miner said he wasn't concerned with Mid-America's past citations, saying just because a driver gets a traffic citation doesn't mean they shouldn't drive anymore. If anything, the citations showed the USDA was doing its job, he said.
He also showed a March 2 inspection record of Mid-America that reported no violations at the time.
All puppies sold at Pasco's Petland receive three parvovirus shots before the store even gets the animals, and they receive physical exams from Coleman Animal Health Center before they are made available for sale.
Of the 700 puppies that have gone through the store since it opened last July, only three were found to have parvo, Miner said.
Nevertheless, the Humane Society recommended consumers not buy puppies from pet stores or internet sites, but instead buy from an animal shelter or a breeder's facility that they can inspect in person.
Puppy mill dogs typically receive little to no medical care, live in squalid conditions with no exercise, socialization or human interaction and are confined inside cramped wire cages for life, the Humane Society said.
