Downtown Raleigh puppy store closes with note from owner to critics

A controversial pet shop in downtown Raleigh has closed just weeks after opening.

A handwritten sign on a table announced the news from the window of Petopia, the store that had opened on Martin Street in January.

“Petopia is closed forever,” it said. “Congratulations.”

Owner Jacklyn Barefoot did not respond to a phone call or text message from The News & Observer seeking comment.

The store, which sold Aussiedoodle puppies for up to $6,000, faced opposition even before it opened.

A petition calling it a puppy mill gained more than 15,000 signatures and led to at least one protest, with more planned.

Puppy mills are “inhumane high-volume dog breeding facilities that churn out puppies for profit,” according to the Humane Society of the United States.

But Barefoot, who bred the puppies she sold, rebutted the claim.

“I am, honestly, the definition of everything that’s not a puppy mill,” she said, in a previous interview. “When I think puppy mills, I think of bad conditions for the puppies, bad conditions for mom, dad, like all of that. I don’t think any love and affection actually goes into a puppy mill, which is primarily the difference that separates me and why I wanted to do something different.”

Animal advocates applauded the news on social media.

“We did it,” said N.C. Animal Advocates United on Facebook. “After more than a week of being closed, the clearing out of the store space, insider intel shared with NCAAU and now this sign, it’s official. Pressure campaigns WORK. Progress for animals can be won when we come together as a community…”

Why are NC stores allowed to sell puppies?

New York banned the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in December. The ban does not affect breeders’ direct sales or animal shelter and rescue group adoptions.

Petopia was allowed to operate under Raleigh’s downtown zoning because selling puppies is an acceptable type of retail, according to Patrick Young, the city’s planning director. And animals may stay overnight, though Barefoot said she took her puppies home each day.

State law prohibits municipalities like Raleigh from regulating what types of retail can move into a business. It’s an issue the city has run into before.

In 2021 and 2022, the Raleigh City Council attempted to allow “accessory commercial units” in residential areas.

“I wanted to make it easier for folks to operate neighborhood based businesses, coffee shops and small grocery stores or co ops and bakeries, things that people need,” Raleigh City Council member Jonathan Lambert-Melton said in an interview with The N&O. “[So] that they could walk to and support local and not have to get in their cars and contribute to traffic and climate change. You know, all the things that we’re trying to reduce through our other work.”

It’s a frustration, he said, to not be able to specify the types of retail that can be allowed.

“There is just not a lot of flexibility for us,” he said at the City Council’s retreat. “I looked at it more as what can we provide to the public, but because there is no limitation we can’t say, ‘You can only open a corner coffee shop in your neighborhood because we can’t promise it won’t be a corner gun shop or vape shop.’”