A group of Golden State pet stores is violating a statewide order closing all nonessential services to slow the spread of the coronavirus and tricking customers into buying rescue dogs that actually come from commercial breeders, according to a lawsuit in California federal court.

In a complaint filed Friday, Maryland-based PetConnect Rescue Inc. — a nonprofit founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to rescue animals — said the pet stores and their owners are "well known puppy mill dealers and con artists" who are trying to profit from the illegal sale of puppy mill dogs in California, following the enactment of a 2019 state law that bans the retail sale of non-rescue dogs, cats and rabbits.

The pet stores are owned by defendants David Salinas, Veronica Salinas, Richard Robles Pena, Alysia Rothman, Ray Rothman, Jase Demetrius Shamore, and Rickie Gallardo, according to PetConnect. The defendants' stores include locations in Escondido, Santee, Corona, and Temecula.

Two of the pets store owners, the Rothmans, also have an allegedly fake nonprofit they use to buy "mass produced" puppies from commercial breeders in Missouri, according to PetConnect. The owners then label the puppies as "rescues," take them from their mothers at 8 weeks of age or younger and ship them by the truckload to sell in California, PetConnect said.

"The sole purpose ... is to continue supplying puppy mill puppies to the [pet store owners] ... who fraudulently label the puppies 'rescues' in order to evade laws prohibiting the sale of non-rescue dogs in pet stores, and to deceive the public into believing they are supporting animal rescues ... when they pay thousands of dollars for one of the purebred and designer puppies sold by defendants," PetConnect said.

On top of that, amid the coronavirus pandemic, PetConnect said the pet stores remain open for business and continue selling the dogs, despite a statewide California order closing all businesses except for essential services.

The rescue group said the stores are putting the public at risk.

"In the face of the COVID-19 public health emergency, defendants are continuing to take advantage of an unsuspecting public, and defrauding consumers into believing they are supporting animal rescue during this crisis by purchasing puppies from defendants' stores," PetConnect said.

Two San Diego Superior Court judges have already shut down two pet stores not related to the instant lawsuit for continuing to sell illegal non-rescue puppies, and a hearing was scheduled for this week to shut down other stores, but instead the court shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to PetConnect.

The suit includes claims of unfair business practices, trade libel and negligence.

PetConnect is seeking temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and permanent injunctions stopping the defendants from shipping any dogs into California for the purpose of selling them in a pet store and from falsely representing that they are selling rescue puppies.

The rescue group also wants to permanently bar the defendants from selling any dogs in California.

"As nurses, doctors, grocery store and delivery workers risk their lives to provide essential services, and other businesses sacrifice by shutting down to protect public health, these illegal puppy stores continue selling purebred and designer puppies for thousands of dollars each, trucked in from Missouri, and fraudulently labeled as 'rescues' so the owners can continue to profit from their illegal scheme," PetConnect's attorney, Bryan Pease, said in a statement Monday.

Lizette Chanock, the founder of PetConnect, told Law360 on Monday that she was "angry beyond words" when she heard pet stores in California were selling puppies that were misrepresented as rescues.

"We have received numerous calls and emails from unsuspecting new pet owners wanting assurance that the animal they bought was indeed an animal in need of rescue," Chanock said. "When they find out they have been duped, they are both upset and in a quandary, as returning the dog to the store seems equally inhumane to them."

"It's despicable to think that animals coming from what appear to be inhumane puppy mills are being sold under the guise of being rescue animals," she said.

A representative for defendant Pet Connect Rescue Inc. in Missouri did not immediately respond to a request for comment and contact information for the other defendants was not immediately available.

Maryland-based PetConnect is represented by Bryan W. Pease and John T. Maher.

Counsel information for the defendants was not immediately available.

The case is PetConnect Rescue Inc. v. David Salinas et al., case number 3:20-cv-00527, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.

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