A new retail pet store is opening in Bentonville, sparking concern among some residents. 

Citipups, Inc. filed for a business license in the city of Bentonville on Jan. 8, 2025. A sign outside the building at 709 SW A St. reads, “Citipups Opening Soon,” and barking can be heard from outside the door. 

Posts on Reddit and Facebook have elicited a number of responses. Many commenters feel that retail pet stores contribute to the issue of "puppy mills"— high-volume breeding operations that may subject animals to inhumane conditions.

Holly Brookhouser, a resident of Rogers, spoke out against Citipups at the Feb. 25 Bentonville City Council meeting after seeing a post online about the store opening. Brookhouser became active in rescue efforts several years ago after discovering from news articles that the puppy she purchased from a retail store in the early 2000s had come from a puppy mill that had been raided.

“I was just sick at what I was reading and basically supported when I bought my perfect puppy on demand,” she told The Bentonville Bulletin.

During the City Council meeting, Brookhouser said that the Citipups chain has an “F” rating on Better Business Bureau for failure to respond to customer complaints. 

“It’s just a stain on the community, and it’s a slap in the face to rescuers here,” Brookhouser told Council members.

Citipups Owner Says Company Buys From Responsible Breeders

David Barton has owned Citipups for almost 40 years. Citipups had a physical location in New York until the state banned the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in December 2024, he said. 

He moved to Bentonville with his family to reopen Citipups, as Arkansas state law prevents local governments from regulating pet stores. He said Citipups will be opening in about two weeks.

According to Barton, he does a thorough vetting process of his licensed breeders, which includes an onsite visit along with researching them online and talking to other companies who work with them. Many of the puppies are purchased from breeders in Arkansas, he said. 

Barton said they work with a local veterinarian that examines each puppy upon arrival. In New York, Citipups had a 14-day guarantee that if the puppy needs veterinary care, they will pay for it as long as the buyer calls their help line first and brings the puppy to one of their veterinarian partners. He expects to have the same guarantee in Bentonville.

“The number one thing is, why would I buy from some crappy breeder that's inbreeding and mistreating animals when I'm the one that’s going to have to pay for it?” he said.

Citipups has a 24-hour hotline that customers can call if they have an issue with the dog at any time.

“I don't care if it's six months from now, if you have an issue, call us for anything, we probably know. We’ve been doing this for 40 years," he said. 

He said the local police have already checked out the store and the welfare of the puppies multiple times after receiving complaints from people who walked by the store and heard barking. 

Barton said is willing to have a conversation with anyone about his business.

“They think they’re going to close the pet stores down, and then that will close puppy mills down,” he said. “They just think anybody who breeds dogs for profit is a commercial breeder — large scale, selling sick dogs. Do people like that exist? Of course they do, but that's not the majority of the breeders.”

How Arkansas’ Law on Pet Stores Came to Pass

In 2022, Fayetteville City Council passed an ordinance that banned the retail sale of dogs and cats, sparked by the opening of a different retail pet store in the city. The store sued the city over the ordinance, according to news reports. 

While the lawsuit was proceeding, the state of Arkansas enacted legislation that made it so local governments could no longer regulate the retail sale of pets. Fayetteville City Council was forced to rescind its ordinance in May 2023.

“As far as what the City of Bentonville can do, their hands are really tied because we’re not even allowed to regulate the retail sale,” City Attorney Nick Henry said at the Feb. 25 City Council meeting.

Council member Beckie Seba said during the meeting that people who oppose this practice still have a voice, but it’s up to the community to take action.

“You can educate people, you can protest, you can do things like that to say you don’t like this,” she said.

Brookhouser told The Bentonville Bulletin there is a plan to host a protest, which she will announce on her PawsofOz pet rescue Facebook and Instagram pages.