Pet Shop Springfield Park

John Stottle, co-owner of the pet store chain with his wife, Debbie, said Mr. Hasenfratz is a “disgruntled employee” and did not inform the owners of his concerns.

THE BLADE
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A former employee of The Family Puppy store in Toledo’s Franklin Park mall is speaking out about what he claims are a number of issues with the pet store.

Casey Hasenfratz took to social media Tuesday night to air a number of concerns including allegations of dirty cages and store staff lying to customers. His public Facebook post, which also serves as his notice to the store that he has quit after nine months working there, had already been shared more than 1, 400 times by 11 a.m. today.

Mr. Hasenfratz was not immediately available for comment. John Stottle, co-owner of the pet store chain with his wife, Debbie, said Mr. Hasenfratz is a “disgruntled employee” and did not inform the owners of his concerns.

“He’s never voiced any concerns to me personally, ” Mr. Stottle told The Blade. “He can pick up the phone and call me. It’s not like we’re not attainable.”

In his post, Mr. Hasenfratz alleged the puppies are left alone in the store overnight for up to 12 hours, and “their cages are disgusting by the morning. The employees lie about this on the daily to customers.”

Mr. Stottle said the puppies are left alone for about 10 hours each night.

“They sleep just like when we sleep at night and put our dogs in a crate, ” he said. “We’ve been doing it for 35 years and we’ve never had a problem.”

He said the puppies do relieve themselves in their cages at night.

“That’s why the shredded paper is there, ” he said. “The paper absorbs it. We don’t typically see dogs matted with feces or anything like that.”

Mr. Hasenfratz also said employees are not properly trained on the company’s health warranties, resulting in customers being deceived.

Mr. Stottle said the store’s warranties are clearly written.

“The warranties are on our website. It’s been there since 2006 and hasn’t changed, ” he said. “It’s kind of hard to lie when you give [customers] a written copy of the warranty.”

The Family Puppy, a southeast Michigan chain, opened its Toledo location in October, 2013, amid controversy. Just two months after it opened, Toledo City Council passed an ordinance that bans the sale or exchange of companion animals in pet shops, retail businesses, and commercial establishments not in operation on or before Jan. 1, 2014, unless the animals come from a "legitimate animal shelter or animal-control agency, humane society, or nonprofit rescue organization, and the animals are spayed or neutered."

The Family Puppy, which buys its puppies from primarily Amish breeders in northern Indiana, opened before the ordinance went into effect. It must pay the city a $50 fee for every animal it sells that has not been spayed or neutered.

A grass-roots group of puppy mill critics, Boycott The Family Puppy Store, has been at the corner of Monroe Street and Talmadge Road to protest the store each Saturday for more than two years.