HSUS Sues Petland and Hunte Over ‘Puppy Mills’
The Humane Society of the United States (Washington), which regularly takes companies to task for selling live animals, tried a new tactic in March: a racketeering complaint.
HSUS filed a federal class action complaint alleging that Petland Inc. (Chillicothe, Ohio) and The Hunte Corp. (Goodman, Mo.) orchestrated “a scheme to sell sickly ‘puppy mill’ puppies to unsuspecting consumers throughout the United States,” according to information released by the HSUS legal team, Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett & Bendesky, P.C. (Philadelphia). The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Arizona.
“This lawsuit is intended to put an end nationally to the unscrupulous conduct by Petland and Hunte, leaving the puppies and their purchasers as victims in the wake of this scheme,” said Simon Paris of SMBB. According to information released by his firm, the complaint alleges Petland uses deceptive sales practices, including the marketing and sale of puppies with life-threatening genetic defects and highly contagious parasitic and viral infections.
Petland responded immediately with an online post denying the charges, saying the company is “outraged and disappointed” with the accusations. “This is a continuing public relations campaign to smear the good name of Petland and to increase HSUS donations by utilizing sensationalized media and legal attacks,” according to the post.
The retailer also called HSUS “a radical animal rights group that has no affiliation with local humane societies.”
The Hunte Corp. had not issued a statement at press time.
The lawsuit challenges the companies under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (the RICO statute), which is part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. The statute was created to eliminate the infiltration of organized crime and racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate commerce, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, but is broad to encompass illegal activities relating to any enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce. [May 2009 PET AGE]
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