Fourth lawsuit filed against Williamsburg pet treat maker

A Tennessee investment firm is the latest in a growing list of companies that has filed a lawsuit against a Williamsburg-based pet treat maker American Pet Food Manufacturing (APFM) and its owner, Kim Monday, claiming a failure to pay outstanding bills.

J.B.&B. Investments, LLC filed the lawsuit against APFM, Monday and Dog Gone Jerkey Inc. on Sept. 26 in Whitley Circuit Court. At issue is payment for hundreds of thousands of dollars in leased industrial equipment that APFM got from the company, and some of which it claims was never returned.

According to the lawsuit, APFM signed the lease agreement in August 2013 for roughly 24 pieces of industrial equipment utilized in its production of high-quality meat jerky treats for dogs. Items leased included things like large coolers and freezers, a forklift, industrial slicing machine, worktables etc.

As of Aug. 27, the lawsuit claims APFM owes approximately $308,052 on the equipment to J.B.&B. Monday appears to have personally guaranteed payment on the items when the lease was signed.

J.B.&B. has apparently reclaimed most of the equipment, but is still seeking the return of a 2-truck smokehouse and a 1-truck smokehouse — items with a combined value of $95,000.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the company by Lexington attorney Stephen Barnes.

The lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal entanglements for APFM and Monday.

In July, FoodPros Marketing Inc. won a default judgment in U.S. District Court in London against APFM for $155,000. The company accused APFM of failing to pay for chicken breast meat it used in its products. Pre and post-judgment interest caused the amount to balloon to $166,117.

Corbin attorney Seth Reeves, who represents FoodPros, filed legal action in Whitley Circuit Court to force the sale of APFM’s manufacturing facilities, and surrounding land, to pay the debt. The outcome of that case is still pending.
APFM has been sued twice by staffing services that provide temporary employees.

In January, APFM was ordered to pay $91,254 to settle a lawsuit brought against it by The Job Shop. The company provided temporary employees to APFM from February through July 2013. It sued APFM accusing the company of failing to pay money owed for supplying the employees.

Another staffing service, Nesco Resource, filed its own lawsuit against APFMC on Feb. 26 claiming the company owes it $146,016.65 for temporary employment services it provided. Nesco recently won a default judgment in that case.

APFMC is operating out of buildings that form the old Lion Apparel manufacturing facility in Williamsburg. The site was donated to the City of Williamsburg in 2012, and the city in turn did some work to upgrade them, then sold them to APFMC for a dollar. In previous interviews, Monday said she’s spent between $800,000 to $1 million of her own money to make the buildings usable. Before she took them over, they were magnets for vandals and vagrants and were in varying states of decay and disrepair.
Monday did not respond to requests for an interview Tuesday.

APFM is perhaps best known for its signature product, Dog Gone Jerky, which is a “human grade” jerky treat made with 100 percent USDA certified meats. It is marketed as a healthy alternative to other pet snacks. The company has expanded its product line and is also in the process of producing “private label” pet snacks for other companies.