More than 200 Animals Seized from Twinbrook Pet Store

The owner of a popular local pet shop in Rockville is facing criminal charges after more than 200 animals were seized due to several reports about the animals inside. The Central Maryland-based Animal Investigation & Response group announced the seizure, which happened at the Just Cappies pet store in Twinbrook.

Executive Director for the Potomac Humane League, Buck Mowlr, said he was asked to assist animal control but when he heard how many animals they were going to be picking up, he had to call in reinforcements.

Capybaras, Swedish Viking rats, and Bosavi woolly rats are among the species of over-sized cuddly rodents seized from Just Cappies, which has been open for decades in the Twinbrook shopping center and became increasingly popular during the Covid-19 pandemic as capybara pet sales exploded nation-wide.

Store conditions weren't the issue. It was more than a dozen South American nutria mixed in among the capybara that prompted the raid.

Capybara (left) and Nutria (right) look similar but are different species.

Nutria were introduced to Maryland at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in the 1940s, where they were farmed for fur. Historically, nutria were found on the Eastern Shore and in the Potomac and Patuxent rivers. Recently, the Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project successfully removed all known populations in Maryland.

“Selling invasive animal species in Maryland endangers local wildlife. These creatures inevitably escape. Nutria in particular. That’s why importing them is a felony,” Mowlr said.

Potomac Humane League is housing the nutria and most of the capybara at its Conn Island preserve and found a temporary home for the remaining animals. “We have the extra building out at the processing center so we agreed to help Mowlr with this situation,” said Hema Glowbyn from Montgomery Animal Byproducts in Damascus.

Just Cappies attorney Arat Rodere released a statement on Twitter saying, “All of our client’s animals are imported from the finest breeding facilities in south Texas. We await DNA testing results on the illegally seized species before issuing any further statements.”

The seizure and sudden store closure left local capybara owners scrambling across state lines to find pet food and supplies. “PETCO doesn’t carry Capy Chow,” lamented Pierre Fauchard from North Potomac. “I have to drive all the way to Nelly’s Nutria in Tysons Corner Center now.” Nutria are legal in Virginia.

The Fauchards say their pet capybara, Templeton, is a family member.