A Henry County family is accused of running an unlicensed service dog business out of their home.
Guardian of the Night K9, based in Locust Grove, didn’t have a business license when code enforcement officials followed up on an Alabama family’s claim that the business sold them an untrained dog, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Denise Marsh, of Alabama, told Channel 2 the company quoted a price of $5,000 for a service dog that would alert to seizures. Marsh’s sons, 16 and 11, have daily epileptic seizures.
After raising nearly $4,000 in donations, they secured Blue from Guardian of the Night K9.
“It turned into getting a 10-month-old puppy who was not house trained and who did not alert to seizures,” Marsh told the television station.
The Better Business Bureau reports on its website the Locust Grove company is not BBB accredited in part because of its failure to respond to complaints.
In a multi-agency show of force from the state and local level, the property at the end of Seabolt Road in Henry County was ordered to stop conducting business.
Code enforcement officials, along with the Department of Agriculture, on Wednesday posted an order to stop conducting business and even took one of the dogs from the property to the Henry County Animal shelter.
“We don’t have any records for any kind of kennel permit or conditional use or anything to business license been issued for the property,” Arthur Weems, with Henry County code enforcement, told Channel 2.
Henry County Animal Control was holding a dog Wednesday.
“We’re impounding the dog for its safety and to properly nourish it,” Vince Farah, with animal control, said.
Code enforcement officers walked the property and noticed more violations.
”The trash accumulation, septic issues, stagnant water, you know, there’s a lot of violations,” Coleen McBrayer, with code enforcement, said.
The Department of Agriculture posted a stop movement order on the property. County code enforcement, however, must issue its citations in person.
“Once we issue the citation, they should cease operations until all conditions are met,” Weems said.
About the Author
