Warren council denies puppy store owner's kennel license request
Owner had hoped to open "Perfect Puppy" location on Metacom Avenue
The Warren Town Council on Tuesday night denied a kennel license to a puppy shop owner seeking permission to open a new location at 630 Metacom Ave.
Scott Bergantino, owner of two Perfect Puppy locations in Scituate and West Warwick, needed a kennel license in order to sell puppies in Warren.
Mr. Bergantino said at a council meeting in November that he sells healthy, happy purebred puppies from respected breeders across the country. But there was strong local opposition to his plan to open a shop here.
“There are animals dying in shelters all over the state all the time and Perfect Puppy has a reputation for selling sick dogs,” Warren resident Tina Leocadio, who is helping to organize local protest, said.
“We don’t need this kind of business in Rhode Island.
Mr. Bergantino did not return a telephone call seeking comment that was left at his Scituate store. However, he has a long history and has been involved in legal battles over his pet stores in several Rhode Island communities.
In 2014 Mr. Bergantino appealed an East Providence ordinance banning the selling of cats and dogs which was passed just one month after he had signed a lease agreement to open a new store on the Wampanoag Trail. His Perfect Puppy challenged the ordinance in court, but later that year the U.S. District Court rejected that appeal. He appealed that ruling, losing last December when it was upheld by the US First Circuit Court of Appeals.
At least eight complaints against his business have been filed with the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the business averaged one out of five stars in a business rating website.
