Charlotte pet store shut down; at least 11 puppies died and 38 saved by rescue group

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A local animal rescue is stepping in after a Charlotte pet store was shut down.

North Carolina inspectors said at least 11 puppies died, leading officials to pull the license for Happy Puppy Universe. The pet store is also accused of not telling customers that the puppies they were buying were sick.

“So he is, Mika is a Siberian Husky, and he is about 18 weeks old,” said Colleen Sowers, the founder of Peanut’s Place Small Breed Rescue.

Mika is healthy.

“He’s one of the lucky ones that has been cleared, he doesn’t have any infections or anything,” said Sowers.

But some of the other puppies he was in the pet store with are sick, and state inspectors say others died.

“Some of them were pretty lethargic. We noticed that right away that they were pretty depressed,” said Sowers.

She took in 38 dogs from Happy Puppy Universe after the pet store in Charlotte’s University area was shut down last week by the state.

“I asked her how many puppies? She told me about 40, and we quickly started loading up crates,” said Sowers about the call she got from a manager at the pet store.

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture yanked the business’s license, saying the pet store posed an “imminent danger to the animals” in their care.

State records show that at least 11 puppies from the store died in the last two months. Inspectors add that the pet store failed to correct a disease problem noted by a veterinarian back in May, and they didn’t tell the people buying the dogs about the medical condition of the puppies.

“I’ve been contacted by no less than a dozen or more people that had just recently bought dogs from that store and all of them were deathly ill,” said Sowers.

Happy Puppy Universe is still within the 14-day window; it has to tell the State Department of Agriculture where it has taken the dogs from the store. The business cannot reapply for a license for another year.

“This is the sweetest dog I think we’ve ever taken in,” said Sowers.

Mika is up for adoption now, but he’s one of the only ones. Sowers said the rest of the puppies are being treated for illnesses, but she hopes one day all of them will be ready to adopt.