Washoe County District Attorney & Regional Animal Services work together on indictment

Washoe County Grand Jury issues Indictment against owners of local pet stores

Reno, Nev. Sept. 4, 2019. The owners of Puppies Plus and Puppy Love pet stores have been indicted on felony charges.  On August 28, 2019, the Washoe County Grand Jury handed down the six-count Indictment against Michael Schneider and Leilani Tau-Schneider, who own Puppies Plus, located at 6405 S. Virginia Street #1 in Reno, Nevada and Puppy Love, located at 5318 Sparks Blvd. #100 in Sparks, Nevada.  The Indictment, which was presented by the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office, charges the pet store owners with one felony count of Torturing and/or Killing an Animal and five felony counts of Practicing Veterinary Medicine Without a License. 

The charges relate to the owners’ conduct from May through October 2017. Specifically, the Indictment charges Michael Schneider and Leilani Tau-Schneider with routinely performing or instructing their employees to perform various veterinary techniques on the dogs in their store without a consultation from a licensed veterinarian and, in one instance, failing to provide appropriate veterinary care to a sick dog, which resulted in its death. These charges illustrate a troubling pattern of mistreatment of dogs by the owners of Puppies Plus and Puppy Love, which is explained more fully in the details of the Indictment. 

This successful Indictment was the result of a two-year investigation by Washoe County Regional Animal Services and demonstrates Washoe County’s commitment to protecting the welfare of animals in the community.

This is an ongoing investigation. If anyone has any additional information about Puppies Plus or Puppy Love that they believe may assist in this on-going investigation, please contact Washoe County Regional Animal Services at pets@washoecounty.us. 

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