16 puppies stolen from East Orlando Petland store

Sixteen puppies valued at roughly $100,000 were stolen in an early-morning break-in Thursday at Petland Waterford Lakes — barely 12 hours after the store’s owners were sued by the Florida Attorney General’s office for allegedly selling sick dogs, some of whom died days after they were purchased.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, two unidentified suspects took six English bulldog puppies, six French bulldog puppies, two young Yorkshire terriers, a poodle puppy and a dachshund puppy.

Neither the store’s manager nor its two owners responded to requests for comment, and it’s unknown if the break-in was related to the consumer complaints.

On Wednesday afternoon, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office sued Hoof’s Pets — doing business as Petland Orlando East and Petland Waterford Lakes — and its owners and directors, Geoffrey M. Hoofnagle and Ben W. Hoofnagle. The civil lawsuit alleges the business sold what it claimed were “high quality” puppies for as much as $9,000 that had a range of serious health problems.

Whitney Ray, a spokesman for the attorney general, said that consumers have filed 28 complaints against the store since January 2014.

According to the sheriff’s incident report, the break-in occurred shortly after 3:30 a.m. Thursday when two people threw a brick through the glass front door of the business, located at 453 North Alafaya Trail in East Orlando.

“The suspects ran to the back of the store and grabbed a food cart that was hidden behind a curtain in the employee-only storage area,” the report said. “The suspects began placing puppies on the cart and rolled them to the damaged front door. … The suspects were seen placing the puppies inside a big bag before leaving the scene with the food cart as well.”

An envelope with more than $2,500 in cash — presumably from the store’s sales — was left untouched on the shop’s floor, and another English bulldog puppy was roaming freely by the store’s front door, the report said.