PETA has recently reviewed North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services records revealing 13 Petco locations — including ones in Chapel Hill and Durham — were ordered to improve conditions for animals in order to comply with the state’s Animal Welfare Act.
The local locations of the pet store have come under fire by PETA after unsatisfactory inspection records were reviewed from 2018 and 2019, according to a release from the animal rights organization.
A Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspector found waste splattered on a wall, which had reportedly not been cleaned in at least five months, at a Petco in Chapel Hill.
According to inspection records, the inspector also found that cats had scratched a sheetrock wall in the store — to which they shouldn’t have had access to. The inspector “was told a work order would be issued” but upon re-inspecting “was told the same” thing again.
A store in Durham was warned for having exposed wood in a cat enclosure. This is a violation as wood cannot be sanitized to prevent the spread of disease. Similar warnings, related to wooden doors on cat enclosures, were also reportedly issued for a Greensboro store.
In regards to these reports, PETA’s Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch said “Any person who takes care of animals is required to provide them with veterinary care, clean living conditions, and other basic necessities, and a billion-dollar company shouldn’t consider itself above the law,” Nachminovitch said. “PETA regularly receives reports of bad practices and animal suffering at big-box stores, and our advice to caring consumers is to stay away.”
Petco released their own statement following the release of these records, stating:
“At Petco, our commitment to the well-being of pets in our care is unwavering and a responsibility we take very seriously. We take pride in our industry-leading standards for animal care and safety; and anytime a concern is reported to us, we immediately investigate, and take swift and appropriate action to understand and resolve the situation. The concerns identified by the Department of Agriculture in 2018 and 2019 were no exception. We conducted immediate and thorough investigations, and addressed and corrected all concerns. We continually review our animal care procedures and standards; and train our teams on and reinforce the critical importance of following those policies at all times.”
Other inspection records reveal that Petco stores in Kernersville and Hickory also came under fire for failing to keep adequate records of animals offered for adoption.
In a Mooresville Petco, traces of blood were found in a cat enclosure, and in Kannapolis, two kittens who were sneezing and had eye discharge and a cat whose eyes and nose were runny were on display.
To see the reports and read PETA’s full news release, click here.
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This is no surprise. Petco sells living, feeling beings as if they were nothing more than merchandise and the suppliers from which it sources small animals have repeatedly been exposed for abusive conditions. The best thing anyone who cares about animals can do is never buy anything from stores that sell them. If you’re ready to care for an animal for life, please open your heart and adopt one of the many wonderful animals waiting in shelters.
The betta fish in those stores always look so sad and awful. Those tiny little cups of dirty water piled on top of each other with half the fish in them sick or dead. I wish people would stop supporting these places.
When a company has so many violations, you know that there is a systemic problem. Petco prioritizes profits over animal welfare, which is why I refuse to shop there.