Broc's Puppies raided

6/09 unedited tahoe mt. news

By Kathryn Reed

Broc’s Puppies may be allowed to stay in business as long as the current owners want.
Even though the city voted to enact an ordinance to ban retail outlets that sell dogs and cats, the original plan was to allow the lone store selling puppies to do so for two years before having to close.
An April 20 letter from Michele L. Giguiere, a Sacramento attorney representing Broc’s owner Dennis Frank, threatens the City Council with a lawsuit.
With a search warrant served on Broc’s June 2, Giguiere has more work to do for her clients and the future seems less clear.
Lt. Robert Gerat with El Dorado County Animal Control is sifting through boxes of evidence that was seized from the South Lake Tahoe store. He expects to go through it in a couple weeks and then send a complaint to the district attorney’s office.
“It has nothing to do with quote unquote puppy mill puppies or where the animals came from,” Gerat said. He had no comment when asked if the investigation has to do with the number of sick puppies reportedly sold by the store.
No animals were taken and the store is open during the investigation.
In May, the City Council met behind closed doors to discuss the potential litigation from Broc’s in relation to the ordinance. Sources told the Tahoe Mountain News the council voted 3-1, with Kathay Lovell the nay vote and Hal Cole absent, to allow Broc’s to operate indefinitely. The caveat is owners would not be allowed to sell the business.
Attorney Giguiere’s letter in part says, “My client is prepared to bring legal action against the City Council and the City of South Lake Tahoe at this time …. (Frank) is also prepared to have the ordinance challenged as to its constitutionality and recover all damages, including attorney’s fees and court costs occasioned by the acts of the City and City Council. As a compromise, I would suggest that the City exempt my client from the ordinance and grandfather him in since his store was established prior to the ordinance.”
When contacted May 20, Giguiere said she was not aware of the council’s closed session vote. That day she said the ball was in the council’s hands. She did not return calls before deadline for a June update.
Mayor Jerry Birdwell refused to comment on Broc’s because it’s caught in litigation. He deferred to City Attorney Cathy DiCamillo, who did not call back.
Issues brought up by the store’s attorney include the lack of definitions of puppy mill and kitten factory, the state and federal constitutional validity of South Lake’s ordinance, and whether more emotion was used than fact in crafting the law.
Giguiere questions whether council members Hal Cole and Kathay Lovell should have voted on the ordinance because they have bred dogs. Cole’s Malamute had puppies 30 years ago – that’s the extent of his breeding experience. Lovell’s last successful breed was 19 years ago. Her dog was neutered after his last attempt three years ago.
“I will always consider myself a breeder,” Lovell said. “I’m a mother but not having babies anymore is my analogy of it.”
Cole said he cast his vote for the ordinance “as much for moral and ethical issues” as for legal.