ORLANDO, Fla. -- A pet store in Orange County, Fla., is under investigation after complaints from customers who say their puppies died as soon as they were taken home, according to a Local 6 News report.

Almost every Saturday, people can be seen on Colonial Drive protesting against the retail animal businesses, including the Puppy Store in Orange County.

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SLIDESHOW: Images From Investigation

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Animal rights advocates claim the majority of puppies for sale through retail stores come from places where illness and neglect are rampant.

Local 6 News aired video, provided by the group People for the Ethical Treatment Of Animals, of dogs with mange and apparent eye infections living in deplorable conditions at a so-called puppy mill in the Midwest. The video was not independently verified by Local 6 News.

"The conditions of the puppy mills are terrible, filthy, and cramped," Orlando Animal Rights Alliance spokeswoman Heather Carpenter said. "They get a lot of genetic diseases."

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RESOURCE: Human Society Of Florida
RESOURCE: Florida Consumer Services
RESOURCE: Pet Lemon Law

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The alleged diseases at puppy mills follow the dogs to the store and home with the customer.

Central Florida resident Jacqui Drago said she bought a dog at the Puppy Store and it was dead in less than 48 hours, according to the report.

"She had Parvo and severe enteritis," Drago said.

Lorna Castallero also said she brought home a sick dog from the Puppy Store and complained to the store owner.

"I said, 'OK, but what are you going to do with the dog?'" Castallero asked. "And he said, 'I'll kill him, he is no good to me anymore, he is not a puppy.'"

"I said, 'You would kill a dog?'" Castallero said. "He said, 'Yeah, I'll just break his neck. He is no good to me.'"

Castallero kept the pet and nursed it back to health, according to the report.

When Local 6 News did not get a response from store owners Don and Barbara Glatz, Problem Solver Steven Cooper went to the Puppy Store.

"Do you have any forms to indicate where these dogs originate from?" Cooper asked a worker.

"I'm not answering any questions," a store worker replied.

"Have you been instructed not to answer any questions?" Cooper asked.

"I'm not answering any questions," the worker said. "Can I ask you all to leave, please."

Former store employees, who asked to have their identities concealed, insisted that they know where the store gets its puppies.

"They're definitely from puppy mills," the former worker told Cooper. "The truck is loaded, it's packed with dogs and puppies and they're driven for two days -- nonstop."

"I'll bet there were about 70 or 80 dogs in that truck," another former worker said.

"It had an odor like a dead carcass," according to a third former worker who did not show her face.

Local 6 News uncovered complaints concerning the Puppy Store dating back to 2003, according to the report.

One item under review is whether health certificates issued by the store are fraudulent, Local 6 News reported.

One case raises the question of forgery, Cooper said. A certificate issued by the Puppy Store is signed by a Dr. Greg Murray, Local 6 News reported.

However, when Murray was confronted with the docum ent, he noted that the signature was not his.

Another problem found by animal control is overcrowding, according to the report.

"I would like for the place to be shut down and for him to never again open a store in the country," Drago said.

Puppy Store owner Donald Glatz told Local 6 News that he gets his dogs from a very reputable source -- the Central Florida Breeders Association. When asked to provide proof of that, he absolutely refused, according to the report.

The store is under investigation now by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.