Strongsville — Animal rights advocates are taking their case against SouthPark Mall's Pick of the Litter pet store to Strongsville City Hall on Oct. 1.
Owner Tom Collins invited Channel 3 cameras in on Monday and candidly addressed the protestors' concerns.
Maybe you've seen the before picture of the bulldog with a makeshift splint on social media recently.
Maybe you saw the picture of “Itty Bitty” more than a year ago.
Maybe you even shared it.
On Monday Collins shared pictures of Itty Bitty happy and healthy in a home in Avon.
Collins, up front and straight forward, agreed to an interview in the story of the little girl that's the face of the call for change in Strongsville and beyond.
"I got Itty Bitty from a breeder and the front leg bone was bowing out. We took him to a vet in Litchfiled. We put the cast on him and he chewed thru it the first day. That’s why I had to take gorilla duct tape and tape it on his leg," said Collins.
"He had a deformity. Another peril of breeding,” says rescue advocate Gia Campola.
The picture of Itty Bitty back in the day is the face of her Facebook post today.
"And he was deformed, suffering and electrical tape probably wasn't the best remedy for that," Campola says.
"I take care of them like my kids. They get top-of-the-line dog food. They are vaccinated. I have three vets I work with. I have had the USDA in here, the health department in here, the City of Strongsville," said Colllins.
The City of Strongsville told Channel 3 the same thing. They found no violations or broken laws at Pick of the Litter.
"Unfortunately, the USDA governs breeding regulations and the conditions in this pet store are acceptable under the law. It all boils down to the fact that the laws are so poorly lacking in Ohio," said Campola.
The Strongsville City Council has agreed to have Campola and advocates speak at their October 1 meeting.
“We aren’t asking to close down Pick of the Litter. We are asking the city of Strongsville to set an example of compassion to its citizens in saying, 'yes this is all legal, but is it ethical'?"
"These animals are more than lethargic, they are unresponsive sometimes. A former employee told me the dogs were given Benadryl,” said Campola.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Collins said emphatically. “God as my witness, why would I drug a dog? I need them to be up for people to see them. I don't want them to be sleeping," Collins points out.
On Monday, when we showed up at Pick of the Litter with an hour's notice, all dogs and cats were awake and barking.
Campola said, "I think so many people have complained or reported it, that perhaps they have stopped that."
Collins said he has nothing to hide.
“You can’t please everybody. I please the animals. I have been for 35 years."