A California animal welfare group has sued an Iowa animal shelter, claiming it's really a puppy mill masquerading as a rescue group so it can gain access to the West Coast pet market.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund calls the setup a "puppy laundering scheme" designed to get around California's ban on pet stores selling animals from commercial breeders, or puppy mills.

The organization says a California group called Bark Adoptions is buying puppies from Rescue Pets Iowa to sell at Animal Kingdom pet stores in California.

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California was the first state in the nation to bar pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits unless they come from animal shelters or rescue groups.

"Despite the ban, Animal Kingdom has continued to sell 8-week-old purebred and designer puppies for over $2,000 into 2019," Animal Legal Defense Fund says in a statement.

The lawsuit says that Bark Adoptions of California "masquerades as a nonprofit animal rescue organization even though it actually acquires purebred and designer puppies that are only a few weeks old from puppy mills, including Rescue Pets Iowa Corp., and then conveys those puppies to pet stores for profit."

Rescue Pets Iowa owner Russell Kirk of Ottumwa hung up the phone Wednesday when contacted by the Des Moines Register and didn't return a voicemail message.

Animal Kingdom and Bark Adoptions couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

The lawsuit seeks to stop Animal Kingdom from buying or selling dogs from Bark Adoptions, Rescue Pets Iowa or any other "sham rescue" groups in California.

It also asks that Bark Adoption and Rescue Pets Iowa no longer be allowed to sell dogs in California.

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Animal Kingdom, the suit says, has "historically obtained puppies from puppy mills that produce a large number of puppies as efficiently as possible without adequately accounting for the health and welfare of the animals."

The lawsuit said mother dogs typically live in row upon row of tiny cages, "covered in waste and exposed to the elements," giving birth to several litters of puppies a year.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed the lawsuit on behalf of Bailing Out Benji, an Ames-based animal welfare nonprofit that worked with California volunteers to uncover how Animal Kingdom was obtaining its animals.

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The Animal Legal Defense Fund says Bark Adoptions is a newly formed group that incorporated in November 2018 and filed its registration for state nonprofit status on Jan. 18, 2019.

According to the IRS website, Bark Adoptions is not a federally registered nonprofit, the Animal Legal Defense Fund says.

“Puppy mills are cruel and see animals as cash crops — breeding mother dogs constantly, regardless of their health or veterinary needs,” says Stephen Wells, executive director of Animal Legal Defense Fund.

“Retail pet sales bans, like California’s, are intended to combat puppy mills and their deplorable practices. Attempts to circumvent these laws will not go unchallenged,” Wells said in a statement.

California was the first state to pass a pet retail sale ban in 2017, with Maryland following in 2018. California's law became effective in January.

Retail pet sales bans are intended to reduce the number of animals that are killed in shelter facilities each year by decreasing the commercial demand for animals bred in puppy and kitten mills.

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