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Alleged "Puppy Mill" Pet Shop Sues Protestors For Harassment
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 18, 2013
Modified Oct 18, 2013
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Courtesy Michael Feldman
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 18, 2013
Modified Oct 18, 2013
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A Chelsea pet shop is suing two protestors for allegedly menacing and harassing patrons and employees—but the defendants say the store purchases its canines from puppy mills, and they are animal rights activists who will continue to protest peacefully until the owners change their ways.
Citipups, which has locations in Chelsea and in the West Village, has been previously cited by the Humane Society for obtaining their animals through questionable sources. For the past three years they've been targeted by protestors accusing them of farming from puppy mills, which often keep and breed animals in deplorable, cramped and inhumane conditions before they're sold to pet stores for a profit. Citipups' owners say they're being falsely accused, and that all their puppies come from reputable breeders; they allege at least two protestors, Kristi Schrittwieser and Michael Feldman, "have crossed the line from peaceful protest of one of the stores to trespass and physical nuisance."
Manager David Jacoby said in the affidavit, for instance, that Schrittwieser allegedly called him at the store and said, “I know you have a baby granddaughter and I know where you live.” She was also arrested in 2010 for kicking him, and she allegedly told another staffer, "You should watch your back. People like you get into accidents," (Schrittwieser told the Post these allegations are "a lie"). Schrittwieser and Feldman are also accused of hiring kids to run through the shop screaming, “Puppy mill! Puppy mill! Puppy mill!” while knocking down displays.
But Feldman says the suit is "based on a totally fabricated version of events," and that he and his fellow protestors have been involved only in peaceful protests; in fact, Feldman says store employees have been harassing the protestors, not the other way around. "Our activists have had garbage bags thrown on them, been physically assaulted, sexually harassed and have their pictures scrolled on a TV screen in Citipups' store front window claiming that we 'do nothing for animals' and that we are 'career protesters' and 'liars,'" he told us.
Feldman notes that his animal rights group, Puppy Mill Free NYC, has run its own investigation into Citipups, finding a number of unhealthy puppies sourced from breeders with poor USDA inspection results. "We're out in front of Citipups and will continue to be out there until Citipups adopts a humane business model of only having rescue dogs in their windows and are no longer contributing to the cruel cycle that keeps puppy mills in business," Feldman told us.
Citipups, meanwhile, launched its own website defending its reputation against the protestors, citipupsisnotapuppymill.com. They're suing to keep protesters 100 feet away from any of their stores and seeking an unspecified compensatory sum.
Tagged
Chelsea
citipups
Kristi Schrittwieser
michael feldman
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west village
Rebecca Fishbein
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