PINE GROVE TOWNSHIP, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY -Six dog owners in three states tell the I-Team the dogs they spent thousands of dollars for suffer from numerous genetic illnesses. Skin problems, hip dysplasia, congenital defects that hinder breathing and even seizures. Mattie Rodriguez of Chester County bought Lola. She says “the vet told me what you have is a lemon.”

Brenda Moncrieff owns the Schuylkill County business. She claims her dogs are healthy and vet checked. But the I-team has learned there may be other concerns. Customers say they were never told the puppies were born in Europe. "If i would have known she imported him. I never would have bought him," says Mingo Lincoln of Corning, New York.

Moncrieff says customers must read her website. "It's clearly on my website. Three different places. “European Champion Sired.” Europe isn't in the united states. I can't make it any clearer." But Stephanie Shain of the Humane Society of the United States says “European Champion Sired isn't clear enough. There's nothing there that makes me think these animals are actually shipped as very young puppies from another country to the U.S."  Shain says puppy importation is a relatively new, growing and profitable industry. She says animals are being bought from other countries for $50 to $200 and resold for thousands of dollars in the United States. Shain says many imported pups come from mass breeders. They're taken away from their mothers very young; experience stressful flights and some develop health problems.

The I-Team asked for the names of the foreign breeders she uses but Moncrieff refused. "I don't give personal information like that," she says. Shain says it’s a red flag when a “breeder” is not willing to give you information about where puppies originate or references.”

When Lincoln called Moncrieff to report Cosmo's illnesses she says "[Brenda Moncrieff] was very curt with me. She didn't want to take the time to talk to me. She said I knew the risks with a bulldog when i bought him." All the customers the I-Team spoke with have had similar experiences with Brenda and her husband, Evan.

Customers do have some rights to compensation under the Pennsylvania puppy lemon law . Breeders are supposed to provide a written explanation of these rights to all customers. Brenda says she does but each of the six customers we spoke with deny getting any information about their rights.

The I-Team found another problem. While we were undercover, Evan Moncrieff revealed that dogs arrive at five weeks old. Experts say that's too young to be removed from a mother. Brenda says her husband doesn’t know what he’s talking about. “My husband doesn't run the business. My husband cleans poop. He doesn't do paperwork. This is my business"

But the I-Team has obtained papers showing three European-born dogs were sold by Bulldog Ravine between 7 to 12 weeks old. That's too young to sell imported pups according to Centers for Disease Control Regulations. But Shain says there isn’t much enforcement of these laws. In 2006 alone Bulldog Ravine sold nearly 400 bulldogs. On her website, the week of June 10th, 2007, pups sold for an average of $2,500. That's nearly a million dollars in sales. Meanwhile, the pet owners we spoke with struggle to pay thousands of dollars in vet bills and they question the ethics of Brenda Moncrieff who they say has profited at the expense of their dogs' health.

On her website Moncrieff claims to donate to a local humane society. We called both SPCA agencies her husband mentioned during our investigation. Both say they've never received a donation in the Moncrieffs’ name. Tell us your thoughts on the issue of puppy importation. Go to the pahomepage.com Community Forum .