Dog rescue favored by celebrities is an 'illegal commercial enterprise,' L.A. claims
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Set us as preferred The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office is suing an animal rescue organization that was once a favorite among Hollywood celebrities, alleging that its owner purchased dogs from puppy mills and portrayed them to adopters as animals that were rescued.Melissa Bacelar, chief executive and owner of Wagmor Pets in Studio City, bought and resold “hundreds if not thousands of dogs purchased from breeders,” charging customers up to $1,500 for so-called adoption fees, city prosecutors said in the lawsuit filed last week.
They allege that she was operating an “illegal commercial enterprise” disguised as a non-profit animal rescue.Some dogs she sold had serious health problems and died within days or weeks of purchase, according to the city lawsuit.
“Consumers who believed they were giving rescued dogs a home instead became unwitting financial supporters of the very breeding industry they sought to avoid,” the lawsuit said.The lawsuit seeks to bar Wagmor and Bacelar, as well as two other organizations she controls, from engaging in fraudulent business practices and fine them more than $7 million for violating various city and state laws.Bacelar disputed the accusations, and said the lawsuit is filled with recycled claims that were previously litigated and dismissed.She called the case a “money grab” and questioned why the city is spending resources prosecuting her when the state is facing a crisis of unwanted stray animals.“It seems like they’re trying to make me into the bad guy when I’m just trying to save dogs,” Bacelar told The Times Tuesday.The lawsuit follows reporting by The Times in 2024 about Bacelar’s operation.
Customers filed lawsuits claiming Bacelar was buying dogs on the cheap from breeders, then misrepresenting them as rescues and charging high adoption fees, The Times repor...