An undercover investigator for the Humane Society of the United States worked at six pet stores across Nevada—including Puppy Heaven in Las Vegas, Petland in Henderson, and four different Puppies for Less stores in Las Vegas—during late 2024 and found unsafe housing, managers failing to seek necessary veterinary care for sick puppies and in-house medical treatments like force-feeding and a makeshift nebulizer.
At Puppy Heaven, the investigator immediately took note of Cindy Lou, a brown and white Havanese puppy kept in a pen in the employee bathroom (shown at 0:11-0:32 of video the HSUS released today), who appeared lethargic and was rarely eating. Even when her condition worsened, the store manager refused to take Cindy Lou to a veterinarian, so the investigator reported the issue to local law enforcement. Humane agents visited the store to assess and directed the store manager to take the puppy to a vet that night. Sadly, it was too late for Cindy Lou, and she tragically died at the vet. Cindy Lou’s photograph remained on the store’s social media site for many weeks after she died, and a secret shopper who called the store was told she had “been adopted.”
The investigation findings include:
- At Puppies for Less in Las Vegas/Cheyenne, a Chihuahua named Drumstick was having trouble breathing, coughing and not eating well. Instead of being taken to a veterinarian, staff at the store force-fed him with a syringe and treated him in a makeshift nebulizer in the back room (1:42-1:51). The “nebulizer” was made from a plastic storage tote with holes drilled in the top and balanced on top of piles on a desk.
- Staff at Puppies for Less in Las Vegas/Sahara who trained our undercover worker on the forms that customers purchasing dogs would need to complete stated that “your puppy WILL get sick, it WILL happen,” but added that if buyers decide to keep a terminally sick dog, the store pays “NO vet bills. Nothing, nothing,” (2:56-3:25). The employee added that the store only takes back “terminally ill” puppies, and when a sick puppy is returned, he or she “usually gets put down.”
- At Puppies for Less in Rancho, breeder information showed that puppies came from known puppy mills, including a facility operated by Jake Kruse in Salem, Iowa, and another run by Milton Lewis in Newport, Nebraska, both of whom appeared in the HSUS’ Horrible Hundred report (Kruse in 2022 and Lewis in 2018) for filthy and unsafe housing conditions. State inspectors also noted egregious problems with sick and injured dogs on Lewis’ property in 2017One puppy had a leg torn off, another was found with puncture wounds on her back leg and a swollen eye after reportedly getting into a fight with other dogs.
- At the Petland Henderson store and several other pet stores, sick puppies were seen in back rooms, sometimes wheezing or showing other signs of illness. Despite the risk of spreading illness, the investigator documented Petland staff at the Henderson store soaking used oral syringes in the sink with other utensils to be later re-used on puppies, risking the spread of diseases.
- Also, at Petland Henderson, research by the HSUS revealed the store received puppies from known puppy mills and puppy mill brokers in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The store’s manager told the undercover investigator that the store pays about $800 per puppy. The puppies are later sold for thousands of dollars, with prices varying depending on the breed. Prices over $3,000 were common.
- At Puppy Heaven, puppies were kept in dangerous open-topped wire pens (0:50-1:04), from which puppies regularly climbed out and fell several feet, hitting the hard floor. This sometimes occurred overnight, in one instance leaving a scared puppy to be found under a desk in the dark the next morning.
Cindy Lou’s death highlights the cruelty of puppies sold for profit in pet stores, where staff are often tasked with providing DIY treatments to fragile, ailing puppies, and stores often wait until puppies are deathly ill to seek emergency care. The HSUS and humane partners are working with Nevada legislators to prepare a bill tentatively named Cindy Lou’s Law, that would end the sale of puppies in Nevada pet stores, shutting down the puppy-mill-to-pet-store-pipeline within the state and preventing further needless suffering.
“The well documented pipeline of puppy mill dogs to pet stores in Nevada is a nightmare for animals and consumers. Puppies like Cindy Lou never make it into a loving home, but for many of those puppies who are sold, their new families suffer an immense emotional and financial toll,” said Rebecca Goff, Nevada state director for the Humane Society of the United States. “Our state lawmakers can right this wrong by swiftly passing commonsense legislation to curtail Nevada puppy-selling pet stores that prioritize profit over an animal’s wellbeing.”
If Nevada lawmakers stop the sale of puppies in pet stores, the state will join eight others that have already passed similar laws, including Nevada’s neighbors, California and Oregon. Humane pet store laws push consumers toward more ethical sources of pets, including shelters or rescues, or responsible breeders who encourage prospective buyers to visit in person and screen the conditions the animals are kept in.
Media Assets:
- Full Report
- Photos/B-roll (email eheffner@humanesociety.org for access to download)
- YouTube Video
- Blog
- Erica Heffner