I just wept!!!.......and then promptly filled out the provided email (customized). I want to throw up - I'd just bought some supplies for an animal sanctuary here.....from PetSmart.....inadvertently helping to fund this horrible, horrible abuse on behalf of their profit margin. I'm gonna be sick.....

See the undercover footage and further info. here:
PetSmart Cruelty

Here's the email I sent to their CEO (fill out the form on the right-hand side of the webpage to send directly to him) on the animals' behalf:

PetSmart,

In a world where millions of animals are killed off as surplus for lack of suitable homes, abandoned, neglected, and abused, no company that honestly cares about animals would contribute to their suffering by breeding and selling them, most especially by the manner in which the warehouses you are known to use treat them as mere "products".

When I viewed what happens at your main supplier's warehouse, I almost vomited, and then my tears flowed as I shook with rage and pity for the horrid treatment these poor creatures suffer at the hands of man. In this day and age, when animals are considered family members by an ever-growing number of people, it is inconceivable and disgusting that PetSmart is sanctioning , funding and abetting such Draconian, Cartesian practices, all for the sake of profit. It is abundantly clear that PetSmart does not give a damn about the creatures it sells and considers them nothing more than commodities, and attempting to buffer this shameful practice by offering adoptions of larger animals through your outlets is nothing more than 'spin.' I'm ashamed I EVER bought anything for my own fur-family at your stores.

It's no small wonder the birds I've seen at your stores look so ill and uncared for. And they are the 'lucky' few who even SURVIVED!.....

The animals you sell suffer and feel pain just as dogs, cats and humans do. You must now do the responsible thing, as you have done at least for dogs and cats: Unquestionably, you must put an immediate end to the sale of ALL live animals, no matter the species or size. I will never be shopping at PetSmart ever again until all live-animal sales are abolished, and I am telling ALL my friends and family members to follow suit immediately, as well as posting this information on animal-friendly websites for all to see. I REFUSE TO FUND SUCH ATROCITIES AND BARBARISM through the purchase of any supplies at your stores, period. I've never bought a live animal from any store and you've just proven to me that this is exactly why not!


Man.....my hands are STILL shaking......

Thanks for your interest - the animals depend upon this from the too-few humans who care.

Anyone who can post this info. anywhere else where it would be allowed, and forward it to all your friends, whether they LOVE animals or not (it would help educate them & make them more aware of what's really happening to animals out there).....please do! The more the better, since a good number of people will most likely just delete it and refuse to take a look, much less DO anything to help......in their own words, as I too often hear, "I don't WANT to know!"

I also called PetSmart's 1-800 Customer Service line the same day and left a scathing message for them (since no one answered in person).

I'm still furious......would that these absolute heathens, and most especially their CEO, have a dull knife used on THEIR internal private parts, w/o anesthetic!!!!!!! This is just as bad as the farmers who stick a cat's head in a boot and castrate them with THEIR dirty knives, just to save a few bucks. (and don't anyone tell me "surely NOT!", cuz I've heard it directly from people from farms around here - they think it's very amusing...)

Oh, these poor, poor souls.......

OMG!
Why in the @##$ are these people even in business ? They need to be shut down and arrested for animal cruelty! I cant believe that someone could be that cruel and inhumane. I was deeply disturbed by what I viewed. The baby ##atoo broke my heart. I have owned birds in the past and the way that this baby was treated made me sick and VERY ANGRY!.

Why where these animals not being seen or treated by a vet? Lets see maybe they where afraid that if word got out that Petsmart was selling sick animals to the public that there profit margin would be affected! It all came down to money not what the animals needed.

I am saddended that this kind of deplorable cruelty had been allowed to continue. Thank god for Peta. I may not agree with everything that this organization does but, in this case PETA has done everyone a favor by exsposing what is going on with this corporation.

Petsmart, is defrauding the public when they say that thier animals are being seen by a vet. From what this video shows WE SEE NOTHING BUT LIES!

THEY CANT BE ALLOWED TO LET MORE ANIMALS DIE OF DISEASE & NEGLECT!
THIS IS UACCEPTABLE!

I will be boycotting Petsmart stores untill this problem is corrected. And I have let my voice be heared as well.

nyzki

Thank you, Nyzki. (your moniker gives me chills every time I see it, since it's sooo close to what I called my darling girl so often ~ Niski )

Garbage like this will never be shut down until the majority of people both KNOW about it and protest it like hell, in one way or another. But money does talk more than anything else in this world, at least so far, so that remains one of the more powerful ways to force change faster....as well as ALWAYS speaking up.

Just this week, I've had to be writing letters like crazy on behalf of more animals caught in a horrific case of animal abuse in our Province, where 27 or 29 horses died of starvation and dehydration, so did a number of small animals, and the over 100 horses still left on this breeder's farm (they were Arabian horses being bred) were to be taken to an auction yard, by the direct and totally inappropriate direction of the SPCA, who had seized them. You would not have BELIEVED the horrible shape they were in - it was absolutely ghastly. I have NEVER seen horses in the kind of shape these poor guys are in.....coats falling out in clumps, dull, mottled and filthy; hooves overgrown and curled up so they could not walk, sides that were nothing BUT ribs, eyes with no shine, open wounds/sores.....I was crying and swearing all at once. Three more have died since being seized.

It turned out that they'd had nothing but straw to eat, probably for at least 2 years. No water, no food at all for the small animals was found. It was so disgusting, it was beyond words. The owner and one other man has just been charged with 12 counts of violations under the Animal Protection Act here (which is also quite the farce, actually) and supposedly is prohibited from owning any more animals, plus facing up to a $20,000 fine (this was recently increased here as the maximum penalty for abuse - not high enough, if you ask me). In fact, this guy even had a record of infractions for animal neglect or abuse as well!, and yet the SPCA wasn't interested in watching his activities, despite complaints against him. They are as s%%-baggy as he is and are implicitly to blame for all this.

Here's the rub - neighbours had complained to the SPCA as far back as about 3 years ago, yet the SPCA did nothing of any use. (now they're claiming they needed some kind of "monitoring" warrant in place, or some such B.S. - they have their own officers with the power to act) Auctions for horses most often means they'll be sold off for meat, at least in most places. The SPCA and the government did nothing to halt this directive, and as of today, another breeder stepped forward to take the horses instead. I just hope this doesn't mean that this new owner only means to cash in on selling off these horses &/or using them further, once again, for breeding stock. So it's not necessarily any happy ending for these poor creatures. Personally, I don't see how in the world many of them could ever even recover from such a hellish life.

Plus, NOT ONE media report on all the OTHER smaller animals that were on this farm. For all I know they were left there and not even seized. Goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens, and others......all forgotten. Many of them were dead already, too, like the horses, piled underneath a manure pile or wherever they happened to fall.

This heathen of a man (who I'll just bet is as well-fed as Santa) needs to be jailed, not just fined....but I'll bet he gets off with no penalty whatsoever, just like that evil, evil kid did after he dragged his brother's dog to death behind his friend's truck about a year ago. Mankind as a whole stinks, plain and simple. I think it would also help greatly if everyone either cut drastically down or totally eliminated using animals as meat sources.

I thought that this might interest you. In todays Yahoo news there was a story about a woman who is sueing PETSMART over the death of her Husband who died after recieveing a organ transplant from a woman who contracted a virus from a hamster that she had purchased from PETSMART.

Apparently three other people have also died after recieving organs from this woman as well. It seems that PETSMART never notified anyone of this virus.

And anyone with a weakend Immune system should not be handleing these animals as the chances of contracting this virus is high.

Boo nyzki Poppy

This might be different, though. Lawyers go after the deep pockets, and Pet Smart has more money than the donor.

That said, I had posted on another thread about the time my wife had managed a pet store for a chain. BRIEFLY. She was buying animals just to rescue them.

HERE are some brif cases and reviews of pet shop chains.

The particular pet shop chain had a policy like a car dealers' LOT CHARGE. If a pet was not sold in a certain time frame or had expensive issues, they were killed.

From what we have seen in our long Pet People Lifetime, none of them are any damned good, and such a story could probably be produced on any of them.
If moral equivalency were examined, Stalin would be ashamed of them.

I wish it was a class action lawsuit instead, so it would get better press, but I still hope she wins, just to possibly shed some light on this industry. I'm not hopeful about that, though.

I'm not surprised at all about either this story, or Jon's (wise) assessment. There's a local pet shop here that my no-kill shelter friend found out something about years ago (she's an excellent sleuth with such matters). The woman who runs the pet store took feral kittens from their feral mother, whom she just left outside w/o spaying, naturally, and too soon for such weaning, I might add, which would alone cause its own set of health problems...and sold them in her store, claiming they came from a breeder.

As well, my shelter friend regularly got calls from employees of Petland (another big chain I hate) asking her if she had any kittens up for adoption. Always kittens of course, never just young and certainly not adult cats. When she'd press these 'anonymous' callers, she'd find out they actually worked for Petland, and really just wanted cheaper kittens to sell at the store, under the guise of having come from a "reputable" breeder. Of course, she never allowed any of hers to get into their greedy, unethical hands. I also note with disgust, that Petland has been losing large parrots on display to theft for YEARS, on and off, and yet has not once changed their policies or security measures to avoid such occurances....and this happens in their stores all across Canada. These poor birds are most often never recovered, and I'm sure Petland only cares due to the MONEY lost, not because they actually care about the poor birds themselves. Most of them likely died, as they were invariably on "special" diets or medication because they were already in bad shape. I can just imagine how many of them come from the wild jungles ILLEGALLY in the first place, torn away from their natural habitat, friends and family. (I'm not in favour of exotics sales, breeding or keeping, either, unless they're rescues) Petland has a yearly pet expo here, featuring booths with breeders, etc. and while I'd love to take part in something that would bring AID to ailing animals, I won't have anything to do with anything THEY sponsor...nor could I stomach seeing all the breeders there, adding to the problem.

So, oh yes, the pet stores are rife with immorality and underhandedness.

I'm sure I'll tick plenty of people here off, but after having helped with and delved into animal causes for so long now, HERE'S WHERE I STAND ON THESE ISSUES, like it or not:

I now don't believe that there's anything inherently okay about either breeding or buying (versus adopting the homeless) for 'regular' purposes that ultimately really only satisfy selfish, human desires (chunk it down and that's how it always come out). I honestly don't really feel sorry anymore for anyone who buys from a store or breeder and then whines about problems with their animal, unless they've bought, like your wife did, Jon, strictly in order to rescue them and not because they just "had" to have a certain type of animal to satisfy their desires. For one, because I believe no one ought to be buying 'fresh stock' (not including animals up for adoption through shelters w/i the store) from stores or breeders in the first place until there are enough homes for ALL of the already-abandoned animals, and two, MOST especially if they're either 'stuck' on having to have purebreds (a "status" problem that causes its own huge subset of problems) OR even worse, intending on using their OWN animals for FURTHER breeding purposes. Talk about being part of the PROBLEM and not a part of the SOLUTION of animal overpopulation and suffering! So if they buy under these circu*mstances, and then have problems, ti*t for tat, I say - that's karma coming right back around, and the lesson they should be picking up on (but don't) remains the same - DON'T BUY FROM PET STORES OR BREEDERS, no matter how 'good' they might be, unless you want to be part of the cause of that whole sorry chain-reaction of present and future suffering.

For every single animal bought from a breeder, directly or indirectly, that's one less home for an animal in a shelter who will then be killed to make room for the next one. Or one less animal that a no-kill shelter can take because they're just as overcrowded as the next one. In every single case, an animal somewhere pays for this HUMAN problem with their very life. If anyone can live with that knowledge, be a part of the problem and still sleep nights, then I don't want to know you anyway.

I tow a hard line because I'm tired of people not THINKING about what they're doing nor wanting to factor in the cause and effect/consequences of their actions, or taking responsibility for their choices, especially those that put animals' lives SECOND to their own. And frankly, even IF there was no more surplus of animals in shelters, I for one could not in all good conscience MAKE an animal breed (for MY purposes) and then add insult to injury by ripping their OWN babies away from them in order to sell them off to line my own pockets. What an egregious assault (read "rank treachery") to a living, loving, sentient MOTHER! Apply this same standard to humans.....well, we all can imagine the outcry that would be heard from the public if this were done en masse, or even when it IS done in only ONE instance! But for other species that share our world with us???.....not a peep, no conscience, because it serves HUMANS' selfish desires to have what they want, when they want it, no matter the true cost.

There are plenty of the same kinds of animals/birds/reptiles, etc. either in shelters already, for sale (or for free....ugh!) in the classifieds or available from breed-specific rescue groups - already have somewhat of a problem with THAT whole narrow mind-set, mind you...and those people often have friends in the breeding business, too, I've noticed. There should be no need or excuse to line the coffers of those who choose to USE animals to their own ends. The entire bigger picture is simply despicable.

A friend of mine wanted a dog. She was considering buying one. I told her that Heaven gives you extra credit for rescuing one, and if the pet has half a brain it will realize what you did.
She adopted a "Used Dog", and lived happily ever after. The dog was found wandering in NYC after 9-11.

My friends who sadly lost their first cat ever, was the cat that "Humanized" that lawyer I wrote about on another thread.

In their grief they saw an ad for pedigreed cats..Burmese. They visted the breeder and fell in love. The breeder appeared to be destitute, though, but they went ahead and bought a brother and sister. (Never do business with someone desperate for money!!!!)
Both cats are adorable, but are sick with FHV1. Great.
I said, "You are _Lawyers_!! Take their damned house!", but they were so depressed they did not care. They wil not give up the kitties, and will give them good lives..but it was a bitter lesson for them.

My Best Friend and Cat Wife was a stray. When I rescued her, she knew she won the lottery, and no pet ever gave me so much in return. I had one animal in my life from a "Kitchen Breeder"...But I was young and foolish.

There are heartbroken betrayed pets out there who will give you their soul-literally.
Why pay hundreds or thousands of dollars, unless one only wishes a possession to impress their peers? If someone wants that, buy diamonds.

Give me a healthy homeless old farm cat, who for generations bred to be healthy, and who knows a good racket, any time.
And as for the big Pet Chains..well, what my wife saw managing one (BRIEFLY!!) brings me as close to (Deletedfor family venue and violent content). Puppy Mills, and all the rest.
If the people who started them have enough Taurine in them, maybe they would make good cat food. it would be poetic justice.

Or maybe one of us will eventually end up as a Boiler Room Foreman in Hell, and we can _PLAY_ with them....

Good ones, Jon. Love your sarcastic rejoinders.

I must have missed that story about the lawyer (or have forgotten). Can you provide the link to that?

I'm glad, though, that your friends are at least dedicated to their poor, ill, bred and bought cats. Too many people simply either have them "put down" (hate that stupid phrase; makes it sound like nothing worse than insulting them!) or dump them at a shelter, or in the middle of nowhere...all so they won't have to 'bother' with the care or decisions that would be required. So yes, unfortunately some people find out the hard way...but they're sometimes the ones who learn these lessons well and never repeat them, or even end up championing for animal issues.

Every time you mention your "Cat Wife"....my heart just melts....it's SUCH an venerable title and is so indicative of your relationship together.

I searched and searched and found it. I will just paste it here to save the troubel of a link:

__________________________________________________________________
I have a friend who is a successful attorney. We call him "The Reptile". He lived without a shred of human emotions. Everything was lived from a script, from the Brooks Brothers suits onward. He had a prior marriage that failed. We introduced him to a happy lady lawyer with a good disposition, in what we called "Our Lawyer Breeding Experiment".
One day, she brought home a little black kitten, a Bombay.
Despite how he felt, the kittten attached himself to the lawyer...Played with him, chased him, ambushed him from under the bed and from dark corners.
In a while, The Reptile melted. He would be on the floor playing with the cat. The cat moved himself into the bedroom, "Without authorization or invitation". The Reptile trained the cat to fetch, and began to laugh at the cat's capers and tricks.
He developed a warmer personality and sense of humor.
The cat made a human being out of him...a very GOOD Human Being with FEELINGS.
Maybe he always had them, but the cat showed him they were good things to have.

Were it not for the cat, he would have lived on as he always had, an attenuated life in shades of grey. In a sense, the little cat gave him a life he never would have had.

He dd pay terribly in the end, as we all do. They lost their cat after six years, and he had Human Feelings to handle. Yes, they "Hired" two new kittens.

GIBRAN :
...
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. ...
__________________________________________________________________




She really meant it, and was far more jealous than my Human Wife.