(MY) pets on sale at hypermarkets

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2007/09/05 - New Straits Times

 

Sale of pets at hypermarkets: It's not like selling goods

By : WONG EE LYNN, Petaling Jaya

 

 

I DISCOVERED during a visit to a hypermarket in Subang Jaya that it sells pets.

 

What is worrisome is that this retail giant has made public its

commitment to the environment and other worthy causes.

 

I find it difficult to reconcile its lofty declarations with its

profit-making " product range " , which does not take into account animal

rights and welfare, public education on pet ownership and the

environmental cost of pet overpopulation.

 

People who buy pets from retail outlets and hypermarkets may not

understand the care, commitment or costs involved.

 

Once the novelty of having a pet wears off, many animals are dumped on

the streets.

 

It is crucial that we set tighter controls over the sale of pets. The

level of welfare standards in the pet industry is appalling.

 

Hypermarkets and most pet stores do not provide education on the care

of pets at the point of sale.

 

Most do not engage the services of veterinarians and are staffed by

unskilled workers who do not know how to work with animals.

 

New guidelines on the sale of pets should be drawn up for the sake of

animal welfare. These should include:

 

• The provision of animal-care advice and education by qualified

persons at the point of sale and as after-sale service.

 

• The appointment of a veterinarian by each pet retail outlet and

routine inspection of pet retail outlets by the Veterinary Services

Department.

 

• No indiscriminate approval of licences to sell pets and a ban on the

sale of pets in department stores and hypermarkets.

 

• Compulsory vaccination and de-worming services upon the arrival of

animals at each retail outlet.

 

• A ban on the sale of exotic animals such as reptiles and Indian star

tortoises and wildlife unsuitable for indoor life, such as squirrels,

sugar gliders and chipmunks.

 

• The institution of a compulsory take-back system as an alternative

to abandoning pets, with the owner paying the retail outlet to take

back a pet that he cannot care for.

 

This system, if implemented, will place the responsibility for

abandoned pets on retail outlets instead of on animal shelters.

 

Retail outlets that violate any of these guidelines should be fined

and have their licence to sell live animals revoked.

 

A civil society must remember that animals are not supermarket goods

and should not be treated as such.