1-10-11 foia docs on nys pet store raising rover, now known as barking babies
DESCRIPTION
NYS Department of Ariculture response to Attorney Susan Chana Lask's FOIA request after pet store raising Rover, now known as Barking Babies, refused to give her client paperwork on a puppy purchased for thousands of dollars and later discovered with congenital defects. the case is now in litigation in New York City Civil Court.TRANSCRIPT
STATE OF NEW YORK
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS
10B Airline Drive, Albany, New York 12235
1-800-554-4501
www.agriculture.ny.gov
Office of the Counsel
(518) 457-1059 January 10, 2012 Via Email Only To: Susan Chana Lask, Esq. [email protected] Dear Ms. Lask: This is in response to your Freedom of Information request for current owned and licensed establishments operating as a pet dealer in New York State associated with Jeffrey Silverstein and all documents in the two files of Raising Rover, Ltd. under license 00583 and 00874. Of the documents gathered by the Department’s Division of Animal Industry, the following documents are being released: pet dealer licenses; pet dealer inspection reports and letters sent to the pet dealer in conjunction with those reports; penalty letters; copies of websites; warning letters; a summary of penalty assessments; a rabies vaccine certificate; a purchase contract; an application for dog registration; ancestry report for a puppy; and a certificate of veterinarian inspection. Of the documents gathered by the Department’s Division of Animal Industry, the following documents are being released with redactions: license applications; some of the pet dealer licenses; and consumer complaints. Regarding the license applications and some of the pet dealer licenses, the redacted information consists of social security numbers, residential addresses and federal identification numbers. The release of the social security numbers and residential addresses would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (Public Officers Law §87(2)(b)) and as such, are being redacted. The federal identification numbers are “trade secrets or ….. information obtained from a commercial enterprises and which if disclosed would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the subject enterprise” (Public Officers Law §87(2)(d)) and as such, are being redacted. Regarding the consumer complaints, the redacted information consists of the names, addresses, telephone and cell numbers and in some cases, narrative portions of the complaints themselves which might identify the complainants. The release of this information would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (Public Officers Law §87(2)(b)) and as such, is being redacted. Of the documents gathered by the Department’s Division of Animal Industry, a number of internal memoranda are being withheld due to the fact that they are “inter-agency or intra-agency materials which are not: i. statistical or factual tabulations or data; ii. instructions to staff that affect the public; iii. final agency policy or determinations; iv. external audits, including but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the federal government.” (Public Officers Law §87(2)(g)).
Susan Chana Lask, Esq. Page 2 You have the right to appeal this decision within thirty (30) days if you so desire. Your appeal should be addressed to First Deputy Commissioner Robert Haggerty at the above listed address. If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me at (518) 457-2449. Sincerely, Rick Arnold, Esq. Records Access Officer FOIL # 12-6 cc: DAI
