AR-News: (CO - US) Controversy swirls around pet shop

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Controversy swirls around pet shop
 
 by Sabrina Henderson write the author 
 
 Photo by NOAH BRYANT
Patricia Mack shares a hug with her dog, Victoria, after a game of fetch in the back yard of their Golden home. Mack has been in an ongoing dispute with Pet Ranch owner Ansel Walters over the condition of the animals at his pet store.
  
Golden resident Patricia Mack named her pointer-mix puppy Victoria because she hopes they will be 

victorious in what has become an ongoing battle against a Golden pet store.

Mack is determined to do whatever is needed to ensure that puppies aren’t kept in what she calls the “filthy, inhumane conditions” in which she found Victoria at Pet Ranch, 17121 S. Golden Road 


 
 
  

 
   
  
 A deep gash over pointer mix puppy Victoria’s right eye was diagnosed by a vet as an external skin parasite called mange after she was purchased from Pet Ranch in December.   
in Golden.

Unable to leave an injured and sick puppy in the conditions she observed, Mack purchased Victoria in early December and has been treating a case of heartworm ever since. 

Pet Ranch has a policy that sick animals can be returned within 10 days of purchase, but Mack said she would never return her dog. After reporting Pet Ranch to the Golden police and the state’s Department of Agriculture (which is responsible for the oversight of pet care facilities), Mack called the Sentinel and Transcript Newspapers. An investigation revealed a long history of violations at Pet Ranch that have resulted in little more than continuous written warnings to the owner. 


 
 
  

 
   
  
 Photo by Noah Bryant
Victoria’s eye has healed, but her owner, Patricia Mack, said she is still treating her dog for heartworm.
  
Pet Ranch owner Ansel Walters said people are overreacting.

“It’s the same old nonsense. We’re a pet store, and a lot of people just don’t like pet stores,” he said. “This is a pet store, and some people think it should be a hospital.”

As a result of ongoing investigations on Pet Ranch, inspectors are considering toughening some of the state’s standards. The state has filed for a hearing against Walters and is working to improve communication with the Golden Police Department.

Mack said she won’t rest until state laws are changed to ensure that pet stores can’t continue to get away with what appears to be the legal, but what she calls “immoral” treatment of animals. 

Victoria’s story

In late November, Mack said she wandered in to the pet store while her husband was doing some grocery shopping at King Soopers. She said the stench was overwhelming, and a brief walk around the store revealed numerous unsanitary items. She decided to go back over a period of three days to document what she saw, and she took a camera in with her. 

She said she observed garbage piled by the back door, fish tanks covered in algae, birds missing many of their feathers, animal cages full of feces and a puppy with its head stuck between the metal bars of its cage. The puppy she later bought had a deep, large gash over its eye.

On Nov. 30, Mack reported her findings to Golden police code enforcement Officer Michele Evans. Evans visited the store and reported that she “found no violations of our city of Golden ordinance in regard to neglect or cruelty.” 

As is standard procedure, she referred the case to Colorado Department of Agriculture inspector Cynthia Thompson, whose job is to ensure pet stores are following the rules and regulations of the Pet and Animal Care Facilities Act. 

Evans was particularly concerned that Walters gave Mack medication he said was a dewormer for the puppy because pet stores are not allowed to distribute prescription medication. The greenish pill Walters gave Mack is undergoing testing to determine what it was. 

As her case was researched, Mack took Victoria to her own vet, rather than the one Walters refers his clients to for a free well-puppy exam. The vet confirmed that Victoria had heartworm. Dogs can get heartworm from being exposed to worm-infested feces in unsanitary conditions. The cut over the Victoria’s eye was determined to have been caused by an external skin parasite called mange. 

Walters said he doesn’t know who Patricia Mack is, but that she had 10 days to bring her puppy back if she had a problem.

The police record

Walters operates the store in Golden. His son and brother own and operate several other Pet Ranch stores in the metro area, including stores in Arvada, Thornton, Littleton, Boulder and Colorado Springs. 

Evans said the Golden Police Department has received complaints about the local Pet Ranch about once a month since 2000 — not unusually high, she said.

In addition to Mack’s report, multiple complaints about unsanitary conditions in the Golden store were reported, along with several more serious allegations. 

Evans said Pet Ranch has never been found in violation of the city’s animal cruelty ordinance. She said that things pet owners sometimes find uncomfortable are not necessarily illegal.

Golden’s animal cruelty ordinance is fairly vague. It says caregivers must provide shelter, food and water for animals and may not overwork an animal. It can be found online at www.ci.golden.co

.us/Code.asp?CodeID=376.

Mack said the conditions at Pet Ranch may not be illegal, but they are “morally reprehensible.” Others have been concerned enough to report the following incidents to police:

On May 16, three students from Compass Montessori School went to do their weekly community service project by volunteering at Pet Ranch. The police report said the girls “found a half-dead dog in a plastic box with the lid on … at the back door of (Walters’) shop,” according to the girls’ statements to police. “The container was under a bunch of trash cans and other things, … the dog was suffocating.” Crying, the girls confronted Walters, who they said became “outraged.” 

Walters said the dog was in a plastic quarantine kennel because it was sick. Pet stores are required by the Department of Agriculture to isolate sick animals so they do not infect healthy ones.

The police report states that Walters told the girls the dog had been purchased and someone was coming to pick it up, then inserted a catheter into the dog’s leg and injected it at least eight times, according to the girls. The students called their teacher, Jorja Bennett, and asked her to pick them up. Bennett told police she also saw Walters injecting the dog. 

Bennett reported that Walters followed her and the girls to her car and banged angrily on her vehicle’s window, yelling as she drove away. 

The dog died later that day, according to the police report.

Walters said the school was only supposed to send one student to volunteer in his store, not three. He said the girls were completely unhelpful and “their teacher was as out of control as the girls were.” He said he told the girls to leave the sick dog alone, but they refused. He said he no longer accepts volunteers from that school to help at the store.

The police investigation revealed that the dog had been sold, but was returned because it had Parvo virus, which is deadly if not treated immediately. There was “not substantial evidence to serve a summons for neglect or cruelty,” according to the police report. 

In another incident, on Dec. 10, bird enthusiast Karen Nickle, reported to police that she purchased a parakeet from Pet Ranch because she was concerned for the bird’s health. She pointed out to Walters that the bird was unable to use one of its legs, and he reportedly told her it was “no big deal.” 

Nickle took the bird to her vet, who told Golden code enforcement Officer Jamie Segal “the (ID) band on the bird’s leg was so small that it had actually grown into the bird’s leg.”

“The leg above the band was swollen and extremely obvious to even the casual observer,” the police report reads. “Below the band, the bird’s leg had become gangrenous and necrotic … no skin remaining, only muscle and tendon.” 

The vet noted that the bird appeared malnourished, which he said could have been due to lack of food availability or a loss of appetite because the bird suffered “intense pain and suffering.” The vet conducted an emergency surgery to try to save the bird, but it died. 

Walters was unable to provide required paperwork for the bird, which violates PACFA regulations. He said he knew the bird was sick and was taking care of it, but Nickle insisted on purchasing the bird.

“That bird should have never died, in my opinion,” Walters said. “She wanted to take care of it and spent four hours in here being a real pain in the neck. She said she’s an expert when she really couldn’t handle it.”

According to police reports, many other people discovered the pets they purchased from Pet Ranch were sick after the 10-day return period, many with Parvo virus. 

———
This is part one of a two-part 
series. Next week’s story examines the state inspector’s records for Pet Ranch and whether current laws and regulations are protecting animals.
  
Thursday 
02 - 27 - 04
11:45   
  
Golden News 
     
Sentinel & Transcript Newspapers
Jefferson County, Colorado