BOCA RATON, Fla. — The owner of a defunct South Florida pet store is accused of animal cruelty after a dead puppy and several sick puppies were found at the store last year, authorities said.
Marc Rosenbluth, 37, was arrested Tuesday, according to online records with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. He was released after posting bail, records show.
Rosenbluth was charged with eight counts of animal abuse, including four counts of tormenting animals and four counts of depriving them of food and water, according to an arrest affidavit.
According to the Boca Raton Police Department, Rosenbluth and his wife were caught selling sick dogs in their store, Poochie Couture, in November, WPEC reported. At the time, the Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control unit found a dead 3-month-old puppy, along with several other animals, the television station reported.
Investigators said that of the 58 dogs found inside the shop, there was one dead puppy and six French bulldogs that were sick, WPTV reported. Rosenbluth surrendered some of the dogs to the animal control officials, the television station reported. Thirty-seven of the puppies were taken to the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League, where they underwent rehabilitation, WPEC reported.
“Had we not gotten there with Boca P.D., most likely the death toll would have (been) much higher,” Dianne Sauve, the director of the ACC. told WPTV.
Rich Anderson, the executive director at Peggy Adams, told WPEC that many of the puppies had ear infections, problems with their eyes and intestinal parasites.
“These poor puppies had been living pretty much their entire young lives in small cages,” Anderson told the television station. “They actually did not know how to drink from a water bowl.”
According to an arrest report, Poochie Couture lacked prevention of injury and did not assist with ongoing veterinary care.
“It is a shame some animals had to die in (sic) a result of this,” Kelly Evans, who called police in November and claimed the shop was not taking care of the dogs, told WPTV.