Chelsea Pet Store Accused Of Cruelty Closes

CHELSEA, NY — A Chelsea pet store has closed its doors two months after an undercover investigation by the Humane Society alleged it was mistreating its dogs.

The Humane Society of the U.S. released a report in July accusing the high-end Chelsea Kennel Club of mistreating animals and hiding illness in puppies from buyers. On Wednesday, the store’s owner Dana Derragh told Patch that she was retiring.

She said that she had been planning to close before the Humane Society released its investigation.

“That helped close it earlier, but it was something I was planning to do anyway,” she said during a brief phone conversation on Wednesday.

The Humane Society sent an undercover investigator to work at the store for about two months, documenting what she saw with a notebook and a hidden camera. The investigator said the Chelsea Kennel Club routinely failed to properly treat sick dogs and often lied about longterm illnesses in dogs to buyers.

The investigator also said she witnessed at least three employees “smack at puppies, pick them up by the scruff, yell at them or forcibly hold them down while the puppies cringed and sometimes cried out in fear.”

The store closed over the weekend. Workers could be seen packing up merchandise inside at 213 Seventh Ave. on Wednesday. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The city’s health department and the NYPD both sent investigators to the store in July after the Humane Society published its report. Officials did not immediately respond to emails from Patch about whether they launched formal investigations into the store.

The Humane Society started its investigation as part of its broader push to stop the use of puppy mills and discourage aspiring dog owners from shopping at pet stores, which the group says often mistreat animals. Some of the dogs sold at the Chelsea Kennel Club were linked to puppy mills, the Humane Society said.

In a blog post on Tuesday, the Humane Society’s CEO Wayne Pacelle called for more stringent regulations for puppy mills.

“While we certainly want outliers in regard to animal care and cruelty to change their ways or to go out of business, we cannot do in-depth investigations at the hundreds of places throughout the country that are supplying stores like the one in New York,” Pacelle wrote.

“That’s why the nation needs sound policies that set measurable standards of care and assure that these standards are enforced.”

Lead image: Ciara McCarthy / Patch