A South Florida Pomeranian went viral after showing up courtside at a Miami Heat game Monday.
"It’s made NBA history because nobody’s ever seen a Pikachu dog sitting next to an NBA player before," said the dog's owner Erik Torres.
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But it is Pikachu's fur color that is now making headlines.
The dog had already gotten the attention of Miami-Dade Animal Services during an inspection at his owner's Doral puppy store on December 21st.
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"Pikachu was in the store," said Assistant Director of Miami-Dade Animal Services, Kathleen Labrada. "There was a staff member holding the dog in her lap. We obtained a photograph at that time."
Labrada told NBC 6 it is "unlawful for any person to possess, sell or otherwise transfer within the County any dyed or artificially colored rabbit or other animal."
A few days after the initial inspection at World Famous Puppies, on December 28th, the County told Torres they would be issuing a citation.
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"No animal should be dyed, regardless of whether there’s an ordinance prohibiting that or not" said Labrada. "You don’t really have any guarantee or any assurance that the chemicals they’re putting onto your pet are safe."
Miami-Dade Animal Services said they have issued 16 citations against World Famous Puppies since they were licensed in March 2021 with many of those citations stemming from customer complaints alleging the sale of sick dogs.
Torres disputed the allegations and said he does what he can to keep the dogs healthy.
"Puppies are very delicate," Torres said. "They do tend to have very low immune systems as they develop and so it’s the nature of the business that dogs do get sick.
Pikachu, however, is his family dog and not for sale.
He said he bought a bottle of dye and maintains it is even safe enough for him to eat. He plans to appeal the citation.
"At the end of the day, I had no idea this ordinance even existed," Torres said.
He also told NBC 6 he is staying outside Miami-Dade County for now and has no plans to remove the dye for now.
"We’re not allowed to have possession of it so it’s been kind of freaking me out," Torres said.
NBC 6 shared Torres’ concerns with Miami-Dade Animal Services. A spokesperson said, at this time, they were not planning to remove the dog from Torres.
The citation issued carries a fine of about $200.
