Pet Ranch at the Burnsville Center was opened by the original owner's Husband in 1978 it was run by Sue and Jenny as managers until 1993 when it was Purchased by Marty and he kept Sue and Jenny on as managers. In the years following 1993 Pet Ranch expanded to 3 locations 2 owned by Marty and 1 owned by the original owner in North Town Mall. The Knollwood Mall location was open for 3 years and was closed due that mall's horrid location. Pet Ranch was forced by CBL (mall owners) to relocate to the Lower Level by the arcade because of Proex wanting to expand. The move gave the store more room and a larger area for the Dogs and Cats. In the 8 Years the store was owned by Marty ALL of the Dogs were purchased from Private breeders located within 200 miles of the stores. Before any dog was purchased and sold in the store the Breeders had to allow us to view there properties and have the animals vet checked. Most of the vet checks were done in Prior Lake Pet Hospital. In the 8 years of ownership there were many breeders whom we would NOT purchase from because of the conditions they housed their animals in. In 2001 the new owner took over the operations and immediately Fired Sue and most the original staff, After 2001 I can not say the store was run the same way or that the animals were treated the same. I can tell you in the 8 years that my family owned the store we had to take a few animals back because Customers Abused them or could not handle the responsibility of pet ownership.Our original store policy was to keep the animals in a safe larger then required or needed space until sold to a loving family. The kennels were all custom built to Martys specs and were even given their own ventilation system on the roof of the mall which circulated the air too keep the animals healthy. Most Puppies and Kittens that were sold in the store spent an average of 1 day to 3 weeks before being sold. I surely hope the new owner in 2001 did not ruin the reputation of a store that has such a history in Burnsville. Just some interesting facts. Pet Ranch was the 20th store opened in Burnsville Center. Pet Ranch was the only Pet Store in Dakota County to remain open after the invention of Big Box Store(pet smart) Pet Ranch worked with Many other Small pet store in the Metro to have laws Toughened against puppy mill owners and stores who purchased from them. I hope this information sheeds some new light on the way the store was run. Thank You
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