Urging Iowa Attorney General to Investigate Midwest Puppy Mill Broker for Violating Court Agreement

On December 18, 2024, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) submitted a complaint letter urging Iowa’s attorney general to investigate violations of a settlement agreement between the state of Iowa and JAKS Puppies, a notorious Iowa puppy mill broker owned by Jolyn Noethe and Kimberly Dolphin. Puppy mills are large commercial breeding facilities that mass-produce dogs for sale. Mills keep animals in abhorrent living conditions, treat dogs inhumanely, and tend to produce sick dogs. 

The settlement agreement stems from a 2019 lawsuit filed by the Iowa Attorney General alleging JAKS and other defendants used shell companies masquerading as not-for-profit rescue organizations to mislabel commercially bred dogs as “rescues” so that they can circumvent laws restricting the sale of such dogs. The parties struck an agreement that prohibits JAKS Puppies from transferring dogs to another entity in order to evade state or local restrictions on the sale of commercially bred dogs. Despite this agreement, ALDF obtained evidence that the company is continuing to circumvent local and state restrictions to sell dogs from puppy mills.  

The evidence that ALDF obtained through public-records requests reveal JAKS Puppies has continued to sell dogs from puppy mills — despite local and state restrictions — to many stores, including Critters Exotic Pets in Waco, Texas; King Neptune’s Pet World in Morris and Shorewood, Illinois; Miramar Pets of Miramar, Florida; Puppy World in Olympia, Washington; Puppy Dreams of Sherman, Texas; and Wet Kisses Pet Company of Lake Worth Beach, Florida. These actions outline a clear breach of the judgment that JAKS Puppies agreed to in court.  

In December 2021, ALDF filed a class-action lawsuit against JAKS Puppies for conspiring with California pet stores to sell mill-bred puppies mislabeled as “rescues.” The lawsuit alleges that JAKS and its owners funneled dogs through fake animal rescue organizations Rescue Pets Iowa, Bark Adoptions, and Pet Connect Rescue, and worked with other associates to profit from puppy mill dogs despite California’s ban on such sales. The practice is known as “puppy laundering,” a term coined by the Iowa Attorney General’s Office in the 2019 lawsuit against some of the same defendants. The California plaintiffs are consumers who bought puppies under the mistaken belief that they were rescues. They brought claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the federal anti-racketeering statute, as well as California consumer protection laws. 

For more information, visit aldf.org/puppymills.

What action has been taken and related to what law? A complaint letter was submitted by ALDF to the state of Iowa urging the attorney general to investigate violations of an agreement the state has with JAKS Puppies. 

Why this action is important: Local and state laws have been enacted to prevent consumers from purchasing animals who came from puppy mills such as those from which JAKS Puppies — one of the country’s largest puppy mill brokers — sources its dogs. However, the scheme carried out by JAKS Puppies continues to thwart these restrictions despite an agreement made in court to cease these activities.  

The term “puppy mill” generally refers to a large-scale commercial dog-breeding facility where the emphasis is on profits over the welfare of the dogs. The goal of puppy mills is to produce the largest number of puppies as possible, as quickly as possible, without adequate regard for animal care. 

The dogs are generally kept in crowded, unsanitary conditions. They often lack good food, clean water, and veterinary care. The mother “breeder” dogs may give birth to multiple litters per year throughout their adult lives. They, and aging father dogs, are regularly abandoned or killed when they are no longer “useful” to their breeders.  

Puppy mill dogs also compete for homes with stray and abandoned dogs in animal shelters.