Petco can rebrand itself all it wants, but to become a “full-fledged health and wellness company” it will need to do a lot more than just ban shock collars. The store name may have changed, but these three things haven’t:
1. PETA’s investigations into Petco suppliers are still relevant
When PETA revealed Petco’s partnership with Holmes Farm– a major Pennsylvania pet dealer that supplied the company with hamsters, rabbits and other small animals – the chain made it clear that its priority was profit, not “health and welfare” animals. Even after Petco representatives visited the farm — where animals were confined in plastic bins, frozen alive and crudely gassed to death — the chain continued to order and receive animals by the hundreds from the dealership.
Then there was the time a PETA investigator infiltrated Sun Pet Ltd., an Atlanta-based pet wholesaler and longtime supplier to Petco. Our investigator documented that rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, mice and rats were forced to eat, sleep, urinate and defecate in the same space. Video footage showed workers mishandling hundreds of animals and cruelly killing others. During more than three months of employment, not once did the PETA investigator see anyone from Petco headquarters inspecting Sun Pet’s house of horrors. As Sun Pet’s parent company’s 2019 annual report reveals, Petco continued to be a “significant customer” of shoddy pet dealers.
In December, the Colorado Department of Agriculture was overwhelmed recordings echoes what PETA has been saying all along: Animals suffer and die in Petco stores. Between January and July 2019, 12 Petco stores were affected by over 80 violations of the state’s Pet Care Facilities Act, including for neglect, filth and poor recordkeeping. At one Petco store, a thin leopard gecko was denied veterinary treatment for nine days, as was a ferret at another store that suffered from a painful rectal prolapse and suspected upper respiratory infection. Both animals died.
2. Betta fish at Petco are not In good health Or GOOD
Unless Petco plans to stop selling betta fish, “Suffering + Death Co” would be a new, more appropriate nickname for the company. PETA video expose based on visits to more than 100 of the chain’s stores across the US revealed dead and dying fish floating in cups of contaminated water – some had to suffer painful or debilitating health problems.
We even extended an olive branch to Petco earlier this year with an offer to purchase all Betta fish in its stores and end our campaign against society. The company’s silence speaks volumes: it doesn’t matter that these fish feel, think, and have their own desires—it treats them as mere items to be stored, stacked, valued, and unloaded. At Petco, profit is always the top priority.
The chain clearly doesn’t care about the living, emotional beings it sells – don’t trust it to care about the companions you share your home and heart with, either.
3. Petco grooming centers are death traps
We have also documented a long list of incidents involving animals that have been traumatized, allowed to escape, seriously injured and even killed. Petco Grooming Salons. In November, for example, a Petco groomer tied a rubber band around the ear of a dog named Baylee, cutting off circulation and requiring amputation.
That same month, Dali – an “active, healthy and hyper” dog – was dropped off by his guardian, Mafang Yao, at a Petco grooming center in California. It was the last time Yao saw Dali alive: when she returned to pick up the dog, she was told that he had had “breathing problems” during his appointment and later died.
Then there was Simba, who was allowed to escape from a kennel at a Petco store in Pennsylvania; Sarge, 1 year old, died while being groomed after “protocols were not followed” at a Petco store in New York; Baboo, a 7-year-old shih tzu who reportedly suffered a broken jaw during a grooming appointment at a Petco in New Jersey; and Oliver Buttons, an 18-month-old cairn terrier who needed stitches for lacerations to his face and neck as well as surgical glue for cuts all over his body inflicted by a Petco groomer in Wisconsin. You got the idea. Whether selling pets or grooming them, Petco deals in volume.
Don’t Fall for Petco’s Cruelty-Free Washing Trap
As part of its rebranding, Petco has pledged to stop selling shock collars, devices that can cause extreme distress to dogs, are known to malfunction and should never have been sold in the first place . Banning these torture tools is a step in the right direction, but if the chain Really wants to continue on a humane path, this will also address the multitude of atrocities above. As consumers, it’s up to us to help those who can’t help themselves: put your money where Petco says nothing: with retailers who don’t do it exploit live animals. OUR list of online pet supply stores This makes it easier: