S.F. alleges cruelty at 2 Petcos/Abysmal conditions led to deaths, suit says

[Guest guest]

The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/a/2002/06/19/MN193239.\

DTL

----

Wednesday, June 19, 2002 (SF Chronicle)

 

 

S.F. alleges cruelty at 2 Petcos/Abysmal conditions led to deaths, suit says

Ilene Lelchuk, Chronicle Staff Writer

 

 

Inspectors and customers found sick finches, a moldy dead turtle, dead

birds and a toad " cooked to death " at two San Francisco Petco stores,

according to a lawsuit the city filed Tuesday that claims the nationwide

chain kept some animals in deplorable conditions.

 

 

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera claims in the suit that the

stores have ignored repeated warnings and citations about their care of

animals since 1999.

 

 

Herrera hopes to bar Petco -- which calls itself San Francisco's " coolest "

pet store -- from selling animals in the city. The suit focuses on Petco

outlets on Bryant Street and Sloat Boulevard, and Herrera will seek a

court order to block the stores from selling animals.

 

 

" What was most disturbing was the fact that the cruelty and pattern of

brazen violations of San Francisco health and safety standards continued

over three years, " Herrera said.

 

 

Company spokesman Shawn Underwood said he was surprised by San Francisco's

lawsuit, especially because Petco's own regional managers regularly visit

their local stores and perform spot inspections. " So I would think if a store

was cited for something, it would come up the chain, and we would have some

knowledge about it, " he said. Petco is committed to training its staff under a

program called " Pet

Authority, " Underwood said. " As a retailer it doesn't do us any good to

have dead animals in the store, " he said.

 

 

But Petco does have dead animals, sometimes in the display cases and cages

and sometimes in its backroom freezers, said city Animal Care and Control

Capt. Vicky Guldbech, who conducted many of the store inspections.

" The cause of all this is the lack of training and not taking animals'

lives as seriously as you should, " Guldbech said.

 

 

" The kids who worked there didn't know the light fixtures (provided for

warmth in reptile cages) were turned off, or how to turn them on. The

didn't know how old the food was in the cages, " she also said. " They are

untrained young adults who don't know animal husbandry. "

The local store managers declined to comment and referred questions to

corporate headquarters.

 

 

FIRM IN EXPANSION MODE

The company, whose motto is " Where the Pets Go, " is a leading nationwide

retailer with an aggressive expansion plan. The company hopes to open 60

stores a year for the next three to five years, Underwood said.

The draw is convenience, with aisles filled with pet food, treats,

shampoos, leashes, toys and smalls pets for sale -- snakes, birds, hamsters. The

stores also offer grooming services on site. Plus, you can bring your dog

in to shop.

 

 

The city attorney's lawsuit comes at a time when national animal rights

activists are gearing up a boycott campaign against Petco's 573 stores

across 42 states.

 

 

" Petco treats their animals like office supplies, like paper clips and

staplers, with absolutely no regard for their well being, " said Dan

Mathews, vice president of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals.

 

 

PETA receives several calls a month from the public about dead or sick

animals found at Petcos, Mathews said, yet Petco employees rarely respond.

At Petco's two local stores this week, the untrained eye might see little

wrong except a few dead fish floating in tanks, which is not so unusual in

any pet store.

 

 

At the Bryant Street location, at least 37 small white mice crawled over

each other or slept in piles in a single case.

" Mice can't trample all over each other and urinate on each other all day

long, " Guldbech said.

 

 

Customers interviewed Tuesday said they'd witnessed no inhumane

conditions, however. " The two animals we bought here were in healthy

condition, " said Peter Susoev, who took home two bearded dragons from the Sloat

store a few

months ago. Dave Collins, who was picking up supplies for a new puppy at the

Sloat

store, said he would stop shopping at Petco " if I saw animals were not their

first priority. "

 

 

OTHER FINDINGS

But San Francisco's lawsuit cites other findings that Herrera says shows

Petco doesn't seem to care:

-- Petco employees reported to Animal Care and Control officials that they

were ordered by a store manager to place sick and dying animals in the

freezer at the Bryant store.

-- Animal Care and Control seized three green iguanas and two rufus dwarf

chameleons from the Sloat store. The iguanas, dehydrated and lethargic,

had to be euthanized.

-- A customer visiting the Bryant Street store reported toads had " cooked

to death " on heated floors of their enclosures because they had no water.

The customer also said a dead, moldy turtle was floating in a tank with

live turtles.

-- Animal Care and Control officers found three dead finches and four sick

finches in a cage with dirty water at the Bryant store. They were

dehydrated and had pneumonia. One of the sick birds died at a veterinarian

hospital.

 

E-mail Ilene Lelchuk at ilelchuk.

----

Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sign-up for Video Highlights of 2002 FIFA World Cup