Family Accused Of Breeding, Selling Sick Puppies Dyed To Look Like Designer Dogs

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA) — A lawsuit was filed Wednesday against a family accused of illegally breeding and selling sick puppies over the internet.

The Kenney family of Phelon has been accused of misrepresenting puppies as Goldendoodles or Labradoodles, misrepresenting the sex, and advertising them with fake immunization records.

"We filed this lawsuit to shine a light on this problem and to try and stop this family because they're ruthless," said attorney Gary Praglin.

The Loy family is one of several families involved in the suit. Manuel Loy, 11, worked at his dad's barbershop to raise $600 towards a $1200 Goldendoodle puppy named Penny.

According to the Loy family, as soon as they brought Penny home, they found that the puppy was very sick, that she wasn't a Goldendoodle, and that Penny wasn't even a girl.

"We took him to the shower and his red hair dye came out," said Manuel. "The next morning I took him outside to use the restroom and he couldn't even walk straight."

The puppy, renamed Bear, was suffering from Parvo and had to be euthanized.

"I don't know what's running through the Kenney family's heads, just scamming people out of their money for a dog," Manuel said.

Several other families say that was they had similar experiences after buying puppies they from the Kenney family.

CBSLA spoke with one of the Kenney's named in the lawsuit in April 2018 after dozens of dogs were confiscated from the family's home. Veterinarians say the dogs all tested positive for parasites.

"It makes me really sad to hear that. I do the best of my ability to take care fo the dogs. I de-worm them and give them the shots that are needed and take care of them," said Elijah Kenney. "If they were getting sick, it's from their poor care, not mine."

Attorneys say their clients could not get a hold of the Kenney family and if they did get through, they got threatening responses from the family.

"I would just ask them a bunch of questions. Mainly why? Why would they do this to other families including us? Hopefully, we can put an end to this," Manuel said.

The Kenney family had not responded for comment.