Nassau SPCA officers seized nine sick puppies from a delivery truck outside Shake A Paw pet store in Hicksville.

Gary Rogers, of the SPCA, says it was part of an ongoing investigation into a pipeline of sick animals being transported from out of state for sale on Long Island.

"What you have here is you have brokers that travel across the country, they travel from different spots, they come to the stores and say, 'Do you want to buy puppies?'" says Rogers.

Rogers says SPCA detectives developed intelligence that a shipment of puppies would be made at Shake A Paw's Hicksville and Massapequa locations. News 12 is told detectives were waiting when a delivery truck with Missouri plates arrived at the back entrance of the Hicksville location.

"One of our SPCA detectives was here and watched the animals being offloaded by a van from Missouri," says Rogers. "At that point we made a stop."

Rogers says more than 30 puppies were inside of the truck, nine of which were determined to have upper respiratory problems and pneumonia symptoms, according to a veterinarian.

"It's illegal to sell and bring sick animals that can affect other animals and the public," says Rogers.

Shake A Paw owner Gerard O'Sullivan says he had no prior knowledge of the out-of-state shipment and is cooperating with the investigation.

The Nassau SPCA says no charges are being filed yet because the investigation is ongoing.