Kelly Frolo arrived at the Orlando International Airport 30 minutes early to greet her new bulldog puppy, Peanut.

The St. Cloud resident had been drawn by the website and telephone pitch from a Loxahatchee pet dealer, promising a "miniature" bulldog born and bred in Palm Beach County. Frolo couldn't wait to take him home.

Then the plane arrived, and she opened the cage.  The 8-week-old dog's white fur was covered with blood and pus, Frolo wrote in a sworn complaint to Palm Beach County animal control.  "It was caked in his head and embedded in his fur," Frolo said afterward. "I was crying. The flight attendant was crying."

Frolo rushed the dog to her vet and tried to call the dealer, The Bulldog Exchange. Eight months later, Frolo said none of her calls, e-mails or letters have been returned.

County authorities call that an all-too-common experience for customers of The Bulldog Exchange, which since 2003 has reported selling nearly 2,000 dogs to customers as far away as Iraq.

Operating from a three-bedroom house in Loxahatchee, the company imported bulldogs from Hungary and Alabama -- many of them suffering skin problems, stomach viruses and other ailments, Animal Care and Control Capt. Dave Walesky said.

New owners paid as much as $2,400 for the so-called miniature bulldogs, which the company's website said would grow to a maximum of 40 pounds.

In fact, there is no recognized miniature bulldog breed. But a company with ties to one of The Bulldog Exchange's owners set up a website for something called the "Miniature Bulldog Club of America," which claimed to be "the parent organization to the Miniature Bulldog breed in the United States."

Some owners said they were surprised to see the dogs outgrow their "miniature" status in months, reaching about 60 pounds.

Even worse, some owners had to spend thousands to nurse their puppies back to health. Some never made it.

Now the company is at the center of two state investigations, following a year-long inquiry by county animal control. The Florida Attorney General's Office has launched an inquiry into whether the company violated the state's unfair-trade laws, while the Palm Beach County state attorney has opened its own investigation.

Bulldog Exchange owners Evan Quintavella and Michelle Scharmer could not be reached for comment in recent weeks. E-mails to the company were not returned.

The company's phone numbers have been disconnected and its websites are offline.

Update 7/15/09:  Animal care officials are outraged at the discovery of a neglected bulldog -- now they're fighting for prosecution against the dog's owner.

It's just the latest development in an investigation against a Loxahatchee man accused of running a million-dollar miniature bulldog scheme.

  (Photo of Tulip Belle, courtesy of WPBF)  A bulldog found abandoned at a South Florida home was so starved, yet so sweet, that Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control is even more determined than ever to bring criminal charges against the people who left her behind to die. They said the people involved were swindling thousands of dog owners, and they had no regard for the puppies they used to do it.

The emaciated female bulldog has already stolen the hearts of PBCACC workers just one day after she was rescued from a cage behind the house. Officials said her owner, Evan Quintavella, left the dog locked up with no food and water after he abandoned his foreclosed house.

Even though there was a large bag of food next to her cage, animal care said it was apparent that the dog hadn't been fed for weeks.  "(It was) in one word: Horrific," said Dianne Sauve, of PBCACC.

Finding the dog so wantonly left behind to die was like the nail in the coffin for Sauve and her investigators, she said.

  (Photo of Evan Quintavella courtesy of WPBF)

"The people responsible for this need to be in jail," she said.  They're already seeking prosecution against Quintavella and his partner, Michelle Scharmer, for defrauding the public with their million-dollar, so-called miniature bulldog business.

Miniature bulldogs are not a recognized breed by the American Kennel Club.

The pair ran an Internet company called the Bulldog Exchange, advertising "home-raised puppies." In reality, PBCACC said the two were importing thousands of often sick dogs from puppymills in Alabama and Hungary.

The microchip implanted in the abandoned bulldog came from Europe.  "This is most likely one of the dogs that originated from Hungary," Sauve said.

The bulldog is affectionate and sweet after what officials said must have been months or even years of neglect and abuse. It is about 20 pounds underweight.

The bulldog motivated investigators to go after Quintavella with even more determination.  "It deserves someone sitting in jail and being held accountable for it," Sauve said.

No one knows where Quintavella has gone. His house is in foreclosure. The Internal Revenue Service has a tax lien against him.

Quintavella stated a few months ago that he was out of the bulldog business and looking for a new venture. Animal care workers said they found several how-to books in his house on how to grow your own marijuana.

Update 7/16/09:  Quintavella and his business partner Michelle Scharmer were subpoenaed in May by the Florida Attorney General's Office as part of an inquiry into whether the company violated the state's unfair-trade laws.

Animal control received a complaint that there was an abandoned pet outside the home.  When officers arrived, they found the 3-year-old dog without any food or water. They were given a search warrant to enter the home and remove the dog.

Neighbors reported seeing a moving truck at the home about three weeks ago, Walesky said.

Update 8/5/09:  A Loxahatchee dog breeder facing criminal charges agreed to give up custody of a starving bulldog that he left caged up to die.

Faced with a court hearing, Evan Quintavella settled. He gave up custody of the starving bulldog that he left locked in a cage with no food or water and he agreed not to own any dogs or run any dog business for the next five years.

Three weeks ago, the bulldog left locked in a back yard cage was only 17 pounds.   Tulip Belle has gained almost 20 pounds. She's being treated for her skin condition and she loves running in the grass, something officials said she might never have done before.

"We're very happy that finally we'll be able to take this animal from the bad situation and put her in a good situation," said Capt. David Walesky, of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control.

Walesky said Quintavella agreed to several conditions.  "Both parties have reached a settlement," Walesky said. "He's going to reimburse us for costs of medical expenses. He's not going to own animals for five years."

Quintavella moved out of his Loxahatchee house after he got notice of foreclosure. His neighbor, Dave DePadro, discovered the dog days later by accident.  "I think it's wrong," DePadro said at the time. "I think we need to go get this guy."

Animal control investigators think so, too. They've initiated investigations with several local, state and national agencies, both on the cruelty charge and on the Bulldog Exchange business.  "The state attorney is still looking into the report that we turned in," Walesky said. "The sheriff's office is looking into the animal abandonment.  Hopefully, we'll see some prosecution."

Quintavella's whereabouts are unknown, and his lawyer would not comment.

DePadro will be adopting Tulip Belle.

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