By: Tim Darragh, The Morning Call

A New Jersey couple and a Lancaster County dog breeder who filed lawsuits against each other in New Jersey court over complaints that the dog the couple purchased was sick and had to be euthanized have settled out of court.

Chester County lawyer Garen Meguerian, representing Lewis and Stephanie Ostrander of Upper Township, N.J., said Thursday that the suits were settled amicably just before their case was to go to trial. Terms are confidential.

The couple spent more than $4,000 in veterinarian bills soon after buying Maya, a labradoodle, from CC Pets of Peach Bottom. The dog had contracted parvovirus and had to be euthanized not long after they bought it.

The kennel owners, Joyce and Raymond Stoltzfus, denied responsibility for the dog's illness and countersued the Ostranders over comments they had made online and to local news media.

CC Pets, formerly known as Puppy Love Kennels, has been subject to a number of state consumer protection actions in recent years.

In the most recent case, PA Commonwealth Court earlier this year shut down CC Pets and fined it $166,000 for violating prior consent decrees regarding its advertising. The ads, which were required to clearly identify CC Pets by name, appeared in classified advertising sections in newspapers around the region, including The Morning Call.