Deaths at Petco spark rage

Here is a topic not so hot on the search list but of extreme importance to any pet owners out there. Petco is currently embroiled in some controversy with PETA for their unethical treatment of animals under their care.

Source: Things that Piss me Off


While looking over the hot searches I ran across the topic of "Deaths at Petco" and it caught my attention. Being an animal lover with 6 PET Chinchilla's who are treated pretty much like royalty with 3 4 foot high interconnected cages and plenty of jumping room I found this article very disturbing. Although there was very little detailed information on how it happened I can only assume Hurley was in a healthy state prior to being brought in for grooming. I did a bit of a google search for "Deaths at Petco" and came up with a few tidbits buried among some dead links. One which was particularly disturbing was a letter from a Petco Employee to Petco Head office outlining various atrocities and animal mistreatment issues at her local Petco. It is quite a lengthy post so I will only post the link http://lou1982.blogspot.com/2007/12/to-whom-it-may-concern.html
It addition I found a post from Hanna in Boulder Co who witnessed some animal cruelty in her local Petco store http://newlyindonesian.blogspot.com/2008/02/i-went-into-petco-yesterday-to-wait-for.html

There was also a blog on the topic of PETA and an investigation they had done at a Petco store. Apparently Petco is now reducing their stock of life animals and replacing them with product. http://critternews.blogspot.com/2008/02/petco-to-decrease-live-animal-inventory.html

Then of course there is a blog about a Chow which was hung to death at a Utah Petco http://mrsanonymous-nain.blogspot.com/2007/12/beware-of-veterinary-malpractice-and.html

I live in Vancouver Canada and there isn't a Petco here, but we do have several Petsmarts as well as Petcetera. Neither of which I would ever support by purchasing animals there. I have seen Chinchilla's placed in small aquariums with bright lights above them and no shelter right by noisy birds. The problem being, chinchilla's are nocturnal and are very freaked out by loud noises.

My suggestion is, if you are looking at purchasing a pet, please check out the SPCA or your local animal rescue first. There are plenty of animals waiting for good homes. Supporting these pet stores by purchasing animals there only proliferates the cruelty. You may think you are saving an animal from a pet store, but the petstores will only bring in more replacements. If the animal becomes popular this will only lead to over crowding.

Here is the original blog which started this quest. Click on the Picture to Visit Hurley's Website

Don't Support Petco by Shopping There
Hello! My name is Hurley and on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 I was taken into Petco to be groomed. Eight hours later I was dead. My human parents rushed me to an emergency vet hospital where I was drowning from the fluid that was filling my lungs and I was coughing up blood. Two vets consulted with my parents as they did everything they could to save my life. It was determined that they needed to end my suffering and so my parents made the agonizing decision to have me euthanized. Petco wants to pay for my vet bills, but they don't want to show my parents the video of me being groomed. Petco also doesn't feel that they should give my parents a reason as to what happened to me while I was in their care. If you think that this is a rare incident, please Google "animal deaths at Petco" and see the long history that Petco has of animal abuse and neglect. Don't let me die in vain. Please don't support Petco by shopping there.