Patrick TrautfieldSan Luis Obispo’s PetSmart found itself wrapped in controversy even before its opening weeks ago. According to the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Web site, Madonna Enterprises project developer Clint Pearce received a letter from the group “urging him to look out for the mistreatment of animals” at the new store.
According to an inside investigation at the PetSmart store in Manchester, Conn., in late January, “PETA documented more than 100 small animals – including hamsters, domestic rats, lizards, chinchillas, and birds – deprived of effective veterinary care and slowly dying, out of customers’ sight.”
A press release on PETA’s Web site claims that “PetSmart store employees diagnose and ‘treat’ sick and injured animals, despite having no veterinary training or animal husbandry experience.”
PETA has since asked consumers to boycott PetSmart until they discontinue the sale of any and all animals.
Twenty-year-old San Luis Obispo resident Jessica Davali was browsing the newly-opened PetSmart last week, having recently considered adopting a dog. Davali said that if PetSmart does indeed neglect its sick animals, it would definitely dissuade her from getting anything from the store.
“I wouldn’t want to get an animal from there because, obviously they don’t take care of them,” Davali said. “I really hope that isn’t true though, I’d hate to think that they just let the sick animals die.”
“The suffering and death of animals in PetSmart stores and the pet-trade industry is the rule, not the exception,” PETA director Daphna Nachminovitch said. “We’re asking the project developer to make sure that cruelty to animals doesn’t occur on his property.”
In what PETA said was a “dishonest” response to the investigation in Manchester, PetSmart executive Bruce Richardson denied any mistreatment of animals.
“This particular store has an outstanding pet care team and an exceptional pet care record. No pet that has required a vet has been deprived of that service,” Richardson said.
In the recent letter, Pearce was asked to “help ensure that the animals in the new PetSmart are not treated cruelly.” The letter goes on to say that “untrained (PetSmart) sales clerks are left to guess at diagnoses and treatment, resulting in prolonged suffering for the guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, and other animals who are given no more consideration than widgets on a shelf.”
Representatives at the San Luis Obispo PetSmart chose not to comment on the issue of animal cruelty at their store.
The San Luis Obispo PetSmart, which opened March 31, is located at 1530 Froom Ranch Way next to Costco. Additional information on the investigation, including insider photos and videos, can be found on PETA’s Web site at www.peta.org.