Artwork made by staffer Lowry.

Updated: April 14 2025

It’s Saturday. The outlet mall is bustling with signs for every brand imaginable competing to grab one’s attention. But nothing quite latches onto a passerby’s interest like seeing a store as different as Furever Pets. Even from the open doorway, customers’ eyes are immediately pulled to a wall of glass boxes where puppies of every color, breed, model and make are displayed like shiny new toys — ready to be snatched off a shelf, taken home, and played with. Children swarm the glass enclosures, eager to spot the puppy that will soon become their very own “furever pet.”

Despite Furever Pets’ known presence at the outlet mall, the store potentially violates Round Rock ordinances by not sharing information about breeders prior to purchase and selling dogs sourced from outside Travis and Williamson counties. Some of those breeders have been linked to puppy mills.

Puppy mills are commercial dog-breeding facilities that focus on breeding puppies quickly, often in unfavorable conditions. More specifically, puppy mills are associated with breeding grounds where puppies are kept in small, unsanitary cages, with the profit of the dogs often being prioritized over their safety.

When asked to respond to more detailed questions about their business in the form of an interview, Furever Pets did not wish to respond.

An internet search of “Furever Pets Round Rock” pulls up 466 Google reviews, averaging 2.9 stars. A Reddit thread under r/Austin features hundreds of comments discussing allegations against the store, and a Change.org petition with over 2,000 signatures accuses the business of being a puppy mill, saying the store “should not be allowed to operate in our community.”

Even with low ratings, both Yelp and Google have mixed reviews from buyers and casual observers of the store.

One Yelp reviewer, Kennya C., urged buyers to “be careful” and claimed the dog she purchased “came home with Giardia.” Another reviewer, Bianca J., noted that the store “smelled bad” and in her opinion, the “puppies looked so sad.”

However, one Google reviewer, Zachary Ali, mentions that he managed to get a “perfect dog” and had an overall “great experience” with staff.

Furever Pets is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and has an overall BBB rating of F, for “failure to respond to 3 complaints filed against [the business].” All three complaints from the BBB appear to come from purchasers who later experienced health issues with their dogs; including “kennel cough” and “severe pneumonia.” The complaints also detail dissatisfaction with Furever Pets’ response, or lack thereof, to their concerns.

According to records from the Texas Secretary of State, Furever Pets registered its business in 2022, and the founder is listed as James Pablo Decarlo. However, a search of Decarlo’s name on social media, Linkedin and Google reveals no connection to Furever Pets.

Furever Pets’ website lists three locations in Texas; Hurst, Tyler and Round Rock. Since January, both the Hurst and Tyler locations have closed for undisclosed reasons.

Visiting Furever Pets

When visitors enter Furever Pets, they can observe any dog of their choice, and inquire with employees about general aspects of the business’s operations.

According to an employee identified as the store manager, larger puppies are fed twice a day, and dogs under “10 pounds” are fed three times. The manager also reported that when the outlet mall is closed, employees let the puppies out to “free roam”; with smaller and larger dogs being sectioned off from the front and back of the store.

After this initial conversation, the manager indicated Furever Pets would be happy to answer any additional questions and provided a business card for contact information.

However, in response to subsequent phone calls and emails, no employee or representative of Furever Pets agreed to answer additional questions.

Furever Pets’ Instagram handle is @fureverpetsroundrock, which includes images of buyers with their new pets. However there is an apparent discrepancy between the number of likes reported on website posts and the official Instagram page. For example, one picture, showing two women and a young boy with their new puppy, indicated four likes on Furever Pets’ Instagram page, but the Furever Pets website indicated 322 likes.

Violations

In 2018, the City of Round Rock passed Ordinance no-O-2018-6037, which provided numerous regulations for businesses that sell pets. This ordinance mandates that business owners may only sell pets if they originate from Williamson or Travis County at a licensed and legally operating facility.

However, conversations with Furever Pets Round Rock employees cast doubt on the store’s compliance with this Round Rock ordinance. While one employee at the location stated that all of the dogs were sourced from a “local” breeder, the employee identified as the store manager stated that “some are local and some are out of state”

Additionally, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation may issue a $500 fine for “failure to prominently display a copy of the breeders license in an area easily accessible to the public” 802.151(1), 91.72.

When asked about breeder information on specific dogs, the employee identified as the store manager stated that employees, “can’t really discuss anything because there are private breeders and contracts, so there are certain terms [employees] can’t say without getting into legal trouble.”

If Furever Pets refuses to share breeder information to customers until after the purchase of a dog, then they are potentially violating regulation 802.151(1), 91.72.

Breeders and health of the dogs

Deanna Nielsen, who purchased multiple dogs from Furever Pets in the past year, provided pedigrees from the purchase of three of her pets. These pedigrees listed names of dogs in the puppy’s family tree, some of which were linked to the breeders that sourced the animals.

One such breeder, Twin Poplars, was linked to a breeder by the name of Nathan Yoder. According to CBS 19 news in Charlottesville Virginia, Yoder and two others have been indicted on several charges relating to their connection to a puppy mill.

Customer experiences

According to online reviews, customers report both positive and negative experiences with Furever Pets. Two former customers with different perspectives agreed to be interviewed for this story.

Nedra Gaskin’s Story

Nedra Gaskin and her family were first introduced to Furever Pets on Black Friday in 2023; one of the outlet mall’s busiest days. That day, Furever Pets had pets on sale for $2,500, and Gaskin soon hoped to find a new poodle puppy.

At first impression of the crowded store Gaskin reported that the dogs appeared well-kept, and she spotted the puppy that she would end up taking home.

“[The store] gave the impression that they were well taken care of,” Gaskin said. “[Our dog] was super, super happy when she came into the cage. It didn’t appear like anything was wrong with her.”

After spending some time with the dog that caught Gaskin’s eye, she was ready to purchase. According to Gaskin, Furever Pets offered various payment options and guaranteed that there would be 30 days of free pet insurance if the dog had health issues.

“[Purchasing] was very fast paced,” Gaskin said. “[We thought the insurance] sounded wonderful. I should have known it sounded too good to be true.”

The final purchase of Gaskin’s puppy, Sally Skellington, included medical records, vaccine records and contracts. The copies of the contracts were provided to Gaskin via email, and she was able to take home her puppy, along with a complementary goodie bag of treats.

Within a week, Sally got sick. She started sneezing and Gaskin suspected something was wrong.

“I [realized] she may have kennel cough,” Gaskin said. “She started declining really quickly. She was [experiencing] abdominal breathing, which is a clear sign that she could pass on.”

Gaskin claimed that Furever Pets only promised to reimburse her if she took Sally to a general practitioner vet, not an emergency vet.

In Gaskin’s official paperwork, Furever Pets stated that it “reserves the right to have the pet examined by a selected veterinarian at Furever Pets expense, to verify the pre-existing condition if necessary…,” and that “…our health guarantee includes only conditions that pre-exist the adoption.”

As Sally’s condition rapidly worsened , Gaskin resorted to the emergency vet in desperation. Each time Sally was taken off of oxygen, her health continued to decline.

“[The vet] didn’t think [Sally] was going to make it through the night,” Gaskin said. “It was heart shattering to say the least. We just got her, she wasn’t even two pounds yet, and we had to explain to our daughter that she might not come back home. That was rough and really unfortunate.”

After three days at the vet, Sally was diagnosed with pneumonia and sent back home. It took almost six months for her to recover fully, and by the time Sally’s health had finally improved, Gaskin had spent nearly $8,000 in medical fees.

“It’s very expensive,” Gaskin said. “You have to do X-rays, there’s fluid, steroids and antibiotics. There’s that aspect that you’re fighting as well. It’s very pricey. We [hadn’t gotten] her onto pet insurance yet since we just got her, so we had to pay everything out of pocket.”

Gaskin reached out to Furever Pets in hopes they would help. She called every number for Furever Pets she could find, but was unable to reach anyone. Gaskin’s calls and emails received no response.

“Not everyone’s fortunate enough or able to spend that type of money to save a puppy,” Gaskin said. “That can definitely be very traumatizing, when you bring this new puppy home and have to say goodbye within a week or so. For their customer service to be so poor on top of that, it’s already a heartbreaking experience and on top of that, you can’t even reach them.”

Gaskin’s experience prompted her to leave a review about Furever Pets, in hopes of alerting others.

“I did not sleep very well for a long time,” Gaskin said. “I would just wake up in the middle of the night just to check on her and make sure she was breathing okay. It was an interesting experience that I definitely don’t want to go through again. We’ve already ruled that we’re not getting another dog for a very, very, very long time.”

Deanna Nielsen’s Story

Deanna Nielsen was first introduced to Furever Pets in April 2024, when she spotted the store on a visit to the Round Rock Outlet Mall with her children. While pet stores exclusively selling dogs are more uncommon now, Nielsen grew up familiar with them.

“I definitely understand now why it’s more taboo, but it didn’t used to be,” Nielsen said. “To me, I don’t care. I feel like there were more pet stores when I was younger, around 20 years ago. You could walk into the mall and these things were really normal. I was excited because I used to see them all the time.”

After experiencing the recent loss of her beloved French bulldog and huskies, Nielsen spoke with employees and was soon ready to purchase a new dog, a sheltie named Bambi.

“[The employees] really knew a lot about the dogs, which I was kind of surprised by,” Nielsen said. “I’ve had a lot of dogs. Usually, our family had more than one dog at one time. They really knew a lot about the different breeds, which I appreciated. [The employees] cared about where [the dogs] were going.”

When Nielsen returned to the store to pick up Bambi, her children spotted a six-month-old French bulldog that reminded them of the one they had recently lost, and the family quickly bought him as well. Afterward, when a toy Alaskan Klee Kai was available, an employee, knowing Nielsen previously lost her huskies, reached out and held the dog, Moose for her.

“[Moose] was just my little baby, I would zip him up in my jacket and take him everywhere,” Nielsen said. “He was super attached to me. He would follow me around the house.”

Within a few months, Nielsen had three dogs that she purchased from Furever Pets. After each dog was taken home, Nielsen immediately booked a vet’s appointment and all of the puppies came back with healthy reports.

“They were clean, they were groomed and they all passed with a good bill of health,” Nielsen said. “None of them had fleas, none of them had worms, none of them had kennel cough. They were great.”

However, soon after Moose’s first check-up, Nielsen noticed that the puppy began to experience health issues and she checked him into the ER. After extensive testing, Moose was diagnosed with a genetic condition and passed away shortly after.

“I can talk about it now, but I couldn’t at the time,” Nielsen said. “It was horrible. It really, really, really, sucked, but there was no way Furever Pets could have known that.”

When Nielsen returned to Furever Pets and told them about her dog’s death, she reported the company requested the dog’s vet records and paperwork, in hopes of sourcing the breeder and preventing future issues.

“They tried their best to make it right, and they were really kind in the process,” Nielsen said. “I was standing in that store crying my eyes out and they couldn’t have been more gentle and kind about it.”

Through this, Nielsen discovered that the terms she agreed to when she purchased Moose specified that the dog was under warranty and allowed her to adopt another dog for the same price she paid for Moose. Despite the heartbreak Nielsen chose to adopt a Goldendoodle named Benson.

“I went home and thought about it because I was super sad,” Nielsen said. “I decided not to get the same kind of dog because I was not ready [and] I adored [Moose] so much” “[But] my kids and I picked out a golden doodle, so now we have Benson and he’s also a really great dog.”

Currently, Nielsen has three healthy dogs from Furever Pets and still vouches for their customer service with her positive experiences.

“I really value good customer service, and I feel like it’s so important,” Nielsen said. “They could have cared less, so from beginning to end, the overall package was my best experience, just the taste in my mouth after leaving that place.”

Additionally, while the conditions of the store are often a point of criticism for many reviews, Nielsen believes that the living spaces are better than most people realize.

“I think what people don’t know is that [the employees] take the dogs out of the boxes,” Nielsen said. “They have a back area where they let the dogs play. They don’t just sit in the cage all day. They’re not abusing the dogs; they’re not neglecting the dogs. I think it’s good that they have two dogs in one place because they can play with each other.”

Concluding Notes

The Animal Humane Society “strongly encourages” potential adoptees to “do their homework” and inquire about breeders before purchasing their pet. In unsanitary or confined conditions, it’s common for young dogs to contract diseases such as kennel cough. If one intends to buy from a breeder instead of a shelter, Gaskin urges them to be prepared for any potential health issues.

“If [a customer is] going to go that route, I would say already have an appointment set up with your vet the next day or the day after, as soon as possible,” Gaskin said. “Don’t wait, take your pet immediately, even if they seem fine.”

Gaskin said she hopes that her story will help other potential adopters.

“I personally am scared and won’t ever go back,” Gaskin said. “I’ll stick to rescuing. But if someone wants to take that route, [they should] be prepared and understand that it’s a risk you’re taking and that your pet may or may not survive because of the conditions that they’ve been in. We don’t really know what those look like because it looks all pretty on the outside, but we don’t know when we leave what’s happening behind the scenes.”

Despite potential violations of Round Rock’s City ordinance and mixed reviews, Furever Pets Round Rock is still in operation. For more general information about the store, visit https://fureverpetstexas.com.

*As seen in print