MANHATTAN – Two months after the Humane Society released the details of a disturbing undercover investigation into the horrors and mistreatment of dogs at an Upper East Side pet store, American Kennels has permanently closed its doors after nearly 70 years serving New York City.
Its not clear when exactly American Kennels, which described itself as an Upper East Side institution on its now defunct website, closed for good at its location on Lexington Avenue near East 62nd Street in Lenox Hill— but the longtime pet shop was under scrutiny by City investigators following the Humane Society report claiming sick puppies were hidden in a so-called ‘sick rooms’ and within the store’s cold basement.
Last December, Upper East Site reported on the Humane Society’s six-week undercover investigation which began in October 2021,claiming it documented puppies with hair loss and infections, some struggling to breathe— and animals left alone for almost twenty-four hours on Thanksgiving and Black Friday– one puppy even found dead days later, they say.
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The Humane Society accused Upper East Side pet shop of letting some of the dogs remain sick for weeks— suffering from lingering infections, pneumonia, abscesses, diarrhea and parasites— not receiving any veterinary care aside from medications given to groups of animals, not prescribed per puppy.
The Humane Society also accused American Kennels of peddling animals from puppy mills. The report said investigators were able to link American Kennels on the Upper East Side to documented puppy mills in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
American Kennels blasted the Humane Society investigation, telling Upper East Site in a statement last December that the “[the] store and all of our personnel remain dedicated to the safe sourcing, well-being and proper placement of our pets into loving and affectionate homes.”
“We are devastated by the loss of the sweet golden doodle puppy, who many of us at the store came to love,” American Kennels added.
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“The Humane Society and its manipulative plant not only falsified the entire life and death of this poor animal, but now they are using her death to fundraise. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
The Humane Society has not yet responded to our request for comment regarding the closure of American Kennels.
The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene told Upper East Site on Thursday that “following an investigation that showed that this pet shop sold dogs acquired from prohibited sources, the Health Department denied the owner’s request to renew its permit to sell dogs and cats.”
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Defensive much?
It’ll a be a wonderful day of justice for dogs when puppy mills and all their unscrupulous, inhumane and mercenary peddlers, like American Kennels, are finally and decisively shuttered.
Heartbreaking 💔