Owner of pet shop caught peddling dogs

SHUT DOWN. LIVE IN FORT LAUDERDALE, LOCAL '10 NEWS'. ANIMAL FOR SALE RIGHT NEXT TO THE ELECTRONIC CLOTHES AND BAG. PUPPY SOLD AT THE SWAP SHOP BUT IS ANYONE OVERSEEING THE SALES OR HEALTH OF THE D THE SALES OR HEALTH OF THE DOGS. I STARTED RECEIVING CALLS AND E-MAILS ABOUT PUPPIES CRYING AND BEING KEPT IN UNSANITARY CONDITIONS AT THE SWAP SHOP IN LAWED HILL SO ARMED WITH MY CELL PHONE CAMERA I WENT TO CHECK IT OUT FOR MYSELF. WALK INSIDE THE OZ PET SHOP REVEALED BIRDS, CHICKEN, SHOP REVEALED BIRDS, CHICKEN, CHICK EVEN RABBIT. BUT ALL THE WAY IN THE BACK PUPPIES ARE FOR SALE, TOO. IN THIS CELL PHONE VIDEO YOU CAN SEE THEY ARE KEPT IN A CAME. BALANCING ON GRATE FORCED TO SIT RIGHT OVER THEIR OWN URINE AND FECES. NO BLANKET NO BED NO COMFORT. THE PUPPIES BEG FOR ATTENTION. AND ALL OF THIS IS HAPPENING HERE AT THE BACK OF THE SWAP SHOP RIGHT UPPED THE MOVIE SCREEN. SHOULD YOU HAVE THE PUPPIES HERE. Reporter: AFTER VIDEO WAS MADE I WENT BACK TO TALK TO THE OWNER WITH LOCAL 10 PHOTOGRAPHER. YOU SELL PUPPIES HERE. SOME TIME. NOT NOW. WHERE DO YOU GET THE PUPPIES FROM? I BREED THEM. Reporter: BUT THIS TIME THERE WERE NO PUPPIES IN THE BACK AND THE SHOP OWNER WAS NOT AROUND. WILLFUL THE OWNER CALL ME AND ASK HIM ABOUT THE ANIMAL. SO I PULLED UP THE OZ PET SHOP RECORD IN LAUDERHILL. TURNS OUT OWNER OSCAR HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN BEFORE. BACK IN 2010 FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY. ACCORDING TO THE REPORT MULTIPLE BIRDS AND CHICKEN SHOWED SIGNS OF ABUSE AND NEGLECT. THAT SEPTEMBER HE WAS ORDERED TO CLOSE. DUE TO PERMIT LISTENING CODE VIOLATIONS. HE ALSO TURNED OVER A LARGE NUMBER OF HIS SICK AND INJURED BIRDS TO THE SPCA. AT THE TIME HE TOLD LAUDERDALE POLICE HE WAS NOT AWARE OF THE RULES AND REQUIREMENTS. SO WE WENT BACK TO THE OZ PET SHOP. STILL TRYING TO TALK TO THE OWNER. WHEN DOES OSCAR COME HERE TO THE PET SHOP. I DON'T KNOW. Reporter: BUT STILL NO ANSWERS. THE SO WE WENT TO HIS HOME. AND HIS CENTRAL OFFICE. STILL NOTHING. YOU HAVE TO HAVE PAPERWORK FOR THE ANIMAL. HERE TO PROOF THAT THEY ARE VACCINATED AND THEY HAVE SEEN A VET. THAT'S THE LAW. SOUGHT ANIMAL ARE PROPERLY CARED FOR. THIS EMPLOYEE SEEMED TO PLEAD THE SAME IGNORANCE OZ DID 4 YEARS AGO. EVEN THOUGH THIS IS NOT ALLOWED. I GOT HOLD OF THE CONTRACT AND RIGHT ON THE FRONT PAGE IT SAYS NO DOG ALLOWED. SO I CONTACT SWAP SHOP MANAGEMENT TO SHOW THEM MY VIDEO. DO THEY HAVE VACCINATION. PAPER ALL THAT IS REQUIRED BY LAW AND I DIDN'T GET ANY PROOF OF THAT. Reporter: TURNS OUT THE OWNER IS NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO SELL PUPPIES ON THIS PROPERTY. WHAT ABOUT THE DOG. HE DOESN'T HAVE A LICENSE TO SETTLE DOG SO NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE THEM. THEY ARE NOT HERE NOW I SEE YOUR VIDEO SO HE IS SELLING SOMETHING NOT ALLOWED WE WON'T LET HIM OPEN AGAIN. QUO TO SCREEN NO. 2. PET VENDOR SHUTTING DOWN. WE HAVE VIDEO OF YOU SELLING DOG. WE'LL SHUT HIM DOWN AND NOT LET HIM OPEN AGAIN. Reporter: JUST LIKE THAT. OZ SHOP IS OUT OF BUSINESS. DO YOU THINK HE WAS HIDING THE DOG IN THE BACK SO THAT YOU WOULDN'T SEE THEM IF YOU CAME BY. ABSOLUTELY. THAT'S WHY THEY WERE ALL THE WAY IN THE BACK ON THE INSIDE. THEY KNOW WE CHECK THEM CONSTANTLY. Reporter: DAILY CHECK OF MORE THAN 2000 VENDOR ACROSS 88 ACRES. IT'S EASY TO SEE HOW THESE PUP COULD BE PELTSED QUIETLY. BUT NOT ANY MORE. BUT NOW THAT I HAVE SEEN THE VIDEO OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE GOING BEHIND OUR BACK SO WE HAVE TO HANDLE IT DIFFERENTLY. WE TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OF OUR ANIMAL AND MAKE SURE NOBODY ELSE IS MISS STREETING THEM. GUESS. WHAT NEW LAW JUST PASSED IN FLORIDA THAT NOW PROHIBIT THE SALE OF DOG AND CAT SPECIFICALLY AT FLEA

LAUDERHILL, Fla. -

Animals for sale right next to old electronics and knock-off bags -- puppies are being sold at the Swap Shop, but is anyone overseeing these sales or checking on the health of the dogs?

Local 10's Jacey Birch started receiving calls and emails about puppies crying and being kept in unsanitary conditions at the Swap Shop in Lauderhill.

A walk inside the OZ Petshop reveals birds, chickens, chicks and rabbits, but all the way in the back, puppies are for sale, too.

In a cellphone video, the puppies are seen kept in a cage, balancing on grates and forced to sit right over their own urine and feces. With no blanket, no bed and no comfort, the puppies beg for attention.

All of this happened at the back of the Swap Shop under the movie screens.

After the video was made, Birch went back to talk to the owner, bringing along a Local 10 photographer.

'You sell puppies here?' asked Birch.

'Oh, sometimes, not now,' said an employee.

'Where do you get the puppies from?' Birch asked.

'I breed them,' said the employee.

But this time, there were no puppies in the back and the shop owner was not around.

'Will you have the owner call me so I can ask him about the animals?' asked Birch.

'Yeah,' the employee said.

Birch pulled up the OZ Petshop records in Lauderhill. As it turns out, owner Oscar Zepeda was shut down before in 2010 for animal cruelty.

According to the report, 'multiple birds and chickens showed signs of abuse and neglect.' That September Zepeda was ordered to close due to 'permit/licensing code violations.'

Zepeda also turned over 'a large number' of 'his sick and injured birds to the SPCA,' or Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. At the time, Zepeda told Lauderhill police he was not aware of the rules and requirements.

Local 10 went back to the OZ Petshop, still trying to talk to the owner.

'When does Oscar come here to the pet shop?' asked Birch.

'I don't know,' the employee said.

Local 10 then went to Zepeda's home and his central office but still couldn't find him.

'You have to have paperwork for the animals here to prove that they're vaccinated and they've seen a vet,' said Birch. 'That's the law so that the animals are properly cared for.'

The employee seemed to plead the same ignorance Zepeda did four years ago, even though this is not allowed.

Birch got ahold of the dealer rules contract, and right on the front page it says: 'No dogs allowed.' Birch then contacted Swap Shop management to show them her videos.

'Are these dogs vetted? Do they have vaccinations? Do they have papers? You know all that is required by law, and I didn't get any proof of that,' said Birch. 'Nothing, right?'

It turns out Zepeda is not even allowed to sell puppies on the property.

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