LONGMONT, Colo. -- The owner of the Pet Spot pet store in Longmont has been issued a court summons on suspicion of 34 counts of animal cruelty.

Longmont Police were dispatched to the business on June 3, when an after-hours intrusion alarm was reported.

“When we got into the back room we noticed a large amount of puppies crammed into very few kennels,” said Stacey Graham, a patrol officer who responded to the store on South Hover Road.

Graham said she found 13 small puppies in a 2-foot by 4-foot container and seven medium-sized dogs in a container that was the same size.

Graham said state regulations allow only three dogs where the seven were found. No more than six extra-small dogs or four small dogs would be permitted in the cage where 13 were discovered together.

“When the puppies were moved they began to urinate and defecate. There had been no room to do this in the tightly packed kennels,” Graham wrote in the police report obtained by 7NEWS.

Graham said one of the puppies appeared distressed and lethargic but perked up later.

According to the report, an employee had been instructed to move all the dogs off the sales floor at night.

“The animals were to be locked into back rooms in case of a break-in.” the report said.

The store’s owner aggressively denied the allegations Tuesday.

“I would never allow that to happen,” said Jeff Fortin, who also owns a pet store in Greeley and a kennel in Denver.

“I had an employee who would lie to make their jobs easier,” Fortin said.

Fortin said the employee, who has since quit, took the puppies to the back so a fellow worker would not have to clean the sales floor the next morning.

A call to the employee named in the case report was not immediately returned Tuesday night.

While police said Fortin is responsible for what happens at his business, he said it’s “unjust” to be ticketed.

“I have never been cruel to animals,” Fortin told 7NEWS.

A spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Agriculture said complaints against Fortin’s businesses have been received in the past.

“There have been a total of four complaints over the past six months on Pet Spot in Longmont,” spokeswoman Christi Lightcap said.

Lightcap said three of the cases remain open investigations and could not discuss the nature of the complaints.

Rachel Wampler lodged the complaint that was recently investigated and closed.

“I think it’s been a long time coming,” Wampler said of the latest charges.

In Wampler’s complaint, involving the treatment of ferrets in the store, the state found the Pet Spot to be “compliant” with the Colorado Pet Animal Care Facilities Act, according to a document requested by 7NEWS.

Wampler disagreed with the state’s findings, adding she continues to have concerns about the Pet Spot.

“Someone wasn’t doing their job,” Wampler said Tuesday.

Fortin said he’s never been sanctioned or fined for violations and declined to comment further on complaints received by the Department of Agriculture.

Police said Fortin was issued a summons Friday for the 34 animal cruelty counts.

Longmont Police Commander Tim Lewis said if Fortin is convicted in municipal court, the violation could result in a fine and jail time.

The Pet Spot was allowed to remain open, but action could be taken pending the outcome of the criminal investigation, Lightcap said.