ALBANY---The state Attorney General's office has reached a settlement with a Queens pet broker that had sold puppies with inaccurate pedigrees.

Rare Breeds Inc., located in Ozone Park, buys dogs from other brokers and sells them to retail pet stores in New York and New Jersey. Some of the puppies sold by Rare Breeds had been imported from Hungary with inaccurate documentation that led customers to believe the dogs purchased were of champion lineage, when in fact they were not.

The AG's office began an investigation after receiving complaints from consumers who said that the pedigrees provided with the puppies they had purchased contained material misrepresentations. The investigation determined that the puppies had been imported by Rare Breeds Inc. from Hungary through a Hungarian broker, Bela Mustov, who operates a business known as Hungary Pets, PT. Although all the puppies were purebreds, the pedigrees provided with the puppies from the European Kennel Club Hungarian Division contained misrepresentations concerning the dogs' lineage, kennel names, or breeder names, so that consumers were misled into believing the puppies had champion lineages.

In resolving the investigation, Rare Breeds agreed to discontinue importing dogs from Hungary with pedigree documents from the European Kennel Club Hungarian Division, or other kennel clubs with which Bela Mustov is affiliated, and to use reasonable care to ensure that the representations in the pedigrees provided to consumers are true and complete. Rare Breeds also agreed to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $20,000.

The agreement will help ensure that a consumer receives full and accurate information regarding a dog's pedigree so that the consumer can make an informed purchasing decision, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said.
3-26-07

© 2007 North Country Gazette