Pets for profit: An in-depth investigation
A deep look into exploitation within the nation’s multibillion-dollar pet industry, from the unregulated pipeline of puppies and other animals imported to California, to lax oversight that enables abuses, and a public that is often left in the dark about it all.
A Times investigation has found that truckloads of dogs from profit-driven mass breeders pour into the state from the Midwest, feeding an underground market where they are resold by people claiming to be small, local home breeders.
A Times investigation found California officials destroy veterinary records that track dogs imported into the state.
California’s puppy pipeline: Where is your dog from?
The Times obtained scores of dog export records, law enforcement and animal control investigative files and federal inspection reports.
Little-known Wagmor Pets got famous by adopting dogs to stars such as Ellen DeGeneres and Sandra Bullock. Other rescue groups have cried foul.
