Ginger Turk booking photo
SACRAMENTO — A Sacramento woman has received a one-year jail sentence for running a puppy mill operation that she advertised online as a “teacup” puppy business under numerous names.
Ginger Turk, 46, was sentenced on Friday, November 18, 2016 in El Dorado Superior Court on charges that included felony animal cruelty, operating without a license, and selling puppies from South Korea.
Turk, who formerly lived in El Dorado Hills, as well as other locations in Sacramento and El Dorado counties, was selling tiny, underaged and unweaned pups for exorbitant prices ($4,000 and up). Some of her business names included Teacup Couture, La Chic Puppy Boutique, and Beverly Hills Teacups.
According to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, Turk’s one-year sentence stems from a felony probation search of her home in El Dorado Hills in May 2014. At that time, animal services officers and sheriff’s deputies found puppies that were malnourished and living in small plexiglass cages in the laundry room of her residence. The room lacked proper ventilation and smelled strongly of urine and feces.
Turk had previously been on probation after being convicted in Sacramento Superior Court in 2012 on felony charges related to forging the signature of a Folsom veterinarian on a puppy’s health document. After being purchased online, the puppy died days later from parvovirus. Her name was included on the “101 Puppy Mills” Humane Society of the United States list in 2014.
She is required to report to El Dorado County Jail on January 13, 2017. In addition to jail time, Turk cannot sell, possess, transport, or import dogs for a least 10 years. She must also pay restitution for the investigation and other penalties.
