Royal Palm pet shop fined in puppy-sale case

Judge cites Star Pups over warranties, animal housing.

Star Pups, the Royal Palm Beach pet store under investigation by Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, has been fined for providing inadequate warranties to consumers and for housing animals in conditions that don’t meet Palm Beach County standards.

The store, located on State Road 7, has 30 days to appeal the $100 fines, both of which constitute what the count y deems to be major violations.

The county can move to revoke the permit of a pet store with two major violations or five minor ones during a five-year period. Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control Director Dianne Sauve, however, said the county is giving Star Pups an opportunity to address the violations.

The Palm Beach Post placed several calls to the store Tuesday, but when the telephone was picked up, no one came on the line.

The fines, handed down Monday evening by a Palm Beach County Court judge, stem from a former store employee’s complaint about Star Pups, one of seven existing pet stores in the county that have been allowed to continue selling puppies and kittens while new stores are prohibited from the practice.

An Animal Care and Control investigative report noted that the former employee complained last month that animals were transported to the store in poor conditions. The agency also looked into — but did not verify — a claim