Lawsuit Alleges Crossgates Mall Pet Store Mistreats Animals

The state has filed a lawsuit against the company and the owners of The Pet Zone stores; one of the chain pet stores is located in Guilderland’s Crossgates Mall.  A former employee claims she was terminated because she spoke out against the store and their unethical practices. She claims that The Pet Zone was all about making money and didn't care at all about the dogs.

In an interview with News 10 ABC, Tayla Baldauf said. “It was never about the dogs. There was a lot of times I wanted to quit there, and I would sit there and look in the kennels and look at these dogs, and I was like, ‘I can’t leave them. I really can’t,’” she said. “They pretty much fired me because I was exposing the indecent practices of what was going on,” she said

A Supreme Court justice issued a temporary restraining order preventing The Pet Zone from getting new dogs and adding oversight to the sale of puppies currently in their stores. The lawsuit claims - among other things - the store sold puppies that weren’t examined by a veterinarian, failed to inform customers of illnesses, and other fraudulent practices.

A source claims the Pet Zone is still operating.  They have denied any wrongdoing.