A wealthy tech boss is under fire for his unusual sideline: selling puppies that animal welfare groups say are raised in cruel, factory-like conditions.
Praveen Tipirneni, a Boston-based biotech expert, has a track record of closing multimillion-dollar deals.
However, in May 2023, a Puppy Palace franchise opened in New Hampshire.
Their elegant store has about 20 glass-covered display cases with puppies for sale, some for more than $3,000.
A Boston Globe investigation alleges that the company sources dogs from ‘puppy mills,’ which animal rights groups consider cruel and unhealthy, and has passed on sick pets to unsuspecting customers.
Biotech chief Praveen Tipirneni, 55, has an unusual side business: a puppy store in New Hampshire.
Animal welfare activists carry signs of Gus, a puppy who they say died in the store due to poor conditions.
The Animal Rights League of New Hampshire has protested at the store, at a Manchester shopping center and in front of Tipirneni’s home in Lexington, Massachusetts, the group’s president, Joan O’Brien, told DailyMail.com.
“We remain baffled as to why a man with a medical degree and an MBA from Wharton, who lives in a wealthy city that bans puppy stores, would choose to cheapen himself by purchasing a puppy store franchise,” O’Brien said. Unlike Manchester, where the store is located, Lexington banned the sale of puppy mill animals in July.
State legislation to ban the sale of dogs and cats in retail pet stores was introduced in January 2024, but has since stalled in the state Senate.
Protesters wave signs that say ‘RIP Gus’ with a photo of a puppy they say died in the store due to poor care, after a customer paid the down payment for the animal.
“Since our New Hampshire legislators failed to pass common sense legislation to protect puppies like Gus, who tragically died in the store, the onus falls on groups like ours to continue fighting for these dogs,” O’Brien added .
Tipirneni and his store did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
A Boston Globe investigation alleges that the company sources dogs from ‘puppy mills,’ which animal rights groups consider cruel and unhealthy, and has passed on sick pets to unsuspecting customers.
Tipirneni and his store did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
he said The Boston Globe is an “investor” in what he called “the Apple of pet stores with the highest standards.”
A LinkedIn profile that was deleted suggested he was its owner.
The 55-year-old has a medical degree from McGill University and a master’s degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
He is now the CEO of Morphic Therapeutic, a drug research company that was bought by Eli Lilly for $3.2 billion in June.
Customers give their store a rating of 4.5 out of 5.0 on Google, based on 624 reviews.
Many say they bought a beloved pet there; But critics say it is “incomplete” and that its canines are not cared for.
Photos online show adorable English springer spaniels, West Highland terriers, dachshunds, beagles and other breeds.
Derek DuBois, a medical administrative assistant at North Andover, says the purchase of Puppy Palace turned into a nightmare.
Tipirneni’s Puppy Palace franchise opened in Manchester, New Hampshire, in May 2023.
The elegant store features about 20 glass-covered display cases with puppies for sale, some for more than $3,000.
He bought a four-month-old Siberian husky named Chili there for $2,000 in August 2023.
Within two days, DuBois said Chili collapsed, had trouble breathing, struggled to stand, had gray gums, diarrhea and was vomiting.
“I absolutely believe The Puppy Palace sold me a sick dog,” wrote DuBois, who says he paid a $4,300 vet bill to keep Chili alive.
Fears about canine welfare prompted a former employee to give damning testimony about the store before two New Hampshire legislative committees in January.
Ellie Stariknok, who quit working as a kennel assistant in disgust after less than two weeks last year, told senators that dogs with hookworms and other parasites were being sold to customers.
“They didn’t really see dogs as animals or living beings,” Stariknok, now 19, told lawmakers.
Many say they bought a much-loved pet at The Puppy Palace; But critics say it is “incomplete” and that its canines are not cared for.
‘They looked at them like, ‘How much money can we make on each dog and how quickly can we get them out the door so we can get another dog in here?’
The committee weighed whether to support a bill to ban the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores.
Members voted to study the document further; a House committee killed him.
Eight states have adopted such bans since 2017, including New York, Maine and Vermont, the Humane Society of the United States says.
Nearly 500 towns and cities across the country have also banned sales.
Proponents of the bans say commercial kennels where puppies are raised for stores are often inhumane and resemble factory farms.
Critics say puppies often contract illnesses when they are transported in crowded trucks from kennels, many of which are located in the Midwest.
Animal rights groups warn against so-called puppy mills because of their poor conditions. Pictured: a man sitting in a van full of puppies.
Dog lovers are encouraged to adopt dogs or visit responsible breeders rather than purchasing puppies from commercial breeding operations.
Protests have been held at the store, at a shopping center in Manchester, New Hampshire, and in front of Tipirneni’s home in Lexington, Massachusetts.
O’Brien calls them “commercial breeding operations that put profits before animal welfare, confining mother dogs in cages for continued breeding.”
Pet stores “give them to anyone willing to pay their exorbitant prices,” he added.
The Puppy Palace website says the dogs come from breeders licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and are registered with the American Kennel Club or other trusted groups.
But Globe investigators discovered that at least five dogs came from large commercial breeders in the Midwest.
Two dachshunds in the store, for example, were traced to S&R Sawmill Holler Kennel in Vanzant, Missouri, where dogs were allegedly found languishing in feces and curled up trying to stay warm.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says stores that sell puppies often rely on “cruel breeding operations.”
These puppy mills “typically house hundreds of dogs in overcrowded, unsanitary cages throughout their reproductive lives,” the New York-based group says.
Puppies often languish without “veterinary care, food, water and socialization,” he adds.
Animal rights groups say people should adopt dogs or visit responsible breeders instead of buying puppies in stores.