Animal Kingdom pet store closes Santa Maria location

A pet store that was accused of doing business with puppy mills in violation of State law announced they are closing their Santa Maria location.

Animal Kingdom in the Santa Maria Town Center announced that it has closed up shop and moved into its Grover Beach location.

The store is at the center of multiple lawsuits that allege that the company was doing business with an illegitimate nonprofit that was illegally doing business as a puppy mill.

In previous years, the store sold purebred puppies for a premium price point. Recent California law requires all pet stores to only sell puppies, kittens and other small animals that come from animal shelters or nonprofit organizations.

Animal Kingdom still operates two stores in Grover Beach and Pismo Beach. It’s unclear if those stores will continue to sell cats and rabbits, although the company previously announced they would no longer sell puppies.

We reached out to the store for comment, but were denied our request.