Cruelty Investigations

Cruelty Investigations

First Submission

This was the initial report submitted to the cruelty investigator from the SPCA of Texas

On 1/15/02, KO Olds , a NTRS volunteer went to the Petco at 15203 Knoll Trail and Arapaho Rds in Dallas. She was responding to a report we received from a rabbit owner that there were sick rabbits at the store. She arrived at the store at about 1PM.

Numerous calls and e-mails were sent to Nettie Pedro and Brian Devine at Petco Headquarters asking for immediate medical attention for these rabbits. I personally called on 1/14/02 and left messages for both of them at approximately 8PM Dallas time. Audrey Mross (a rabbit owner, attorney, and friend of NTRS) spoke with Brian Devine's secretary at approximately 10am Dallas time. There was ample time to obtain veterinarian care for the rabbits before 1PM.

Nonetheless, a very lethargic rabbits with obvious diarrhea was sold to our volunteer. I must mention when she asked for a care sheet on the rabbit she was told they had none. Ms. Olds rushed the rabbit to the veterinarian, a rabbit specialist, who immediately began intensive care treatment. The rabbit was dehydrated, had a body temperature too low to register, and was riddled with coccidea. In spite of her care (including taking it home with her), the rabbit died. The vet recorded it's age at 4 weeks.

At 5:30 PM on 1/15, Cathy Kelly and I went to the same store on Arapaho Rd and Knoll Trail. They had two rabbits in the enclosure. We were told (by Rigoberto) they are females because that is what it says on the sign. I took the sign because it also says that the rabbits are "dwarfs". I asked how big they would get and was told they would stay little. I asked their age and was told about 2-3 months. I said we wanted to buy them. I asked if they had any information on the care of rabbits and he went in back to find us a fact sheet. At the cash register an older man (Assistant Manager possibly) came over had started looking at the rabbits. He said to us "Do these rabbits look sick to you"? I replied that I didn't know if you could tell if they were sick by just looking at them. He said he had several calls about them being sick including one from his regional manager. He sold them to us without further discussion. I filled out the paperwork with both Cathy and my names, the sanctuary address and phone number.

At that same store we observed the birds to look OK but the water was not very clean and the Guinea pigs had no water at all. After we were on the road I called the and asked him to give the Guinea pigs some water.

We then went to check out the Plano/Frisco store on 8700 Preston Rd. they had 3 baby lops and 1 Dutch. We asked the ages and were told about 7 or 8 months. I was astounded so I repeated 7 or 8 months? The employee said they were dwarfs and would not get bigger. He said they were all males, the sign said dwarf males. I asked to pick one up and commented that they had no testicles. He said that they had probably been neutered and he also thought that the Guinea pigs in the other tank had also been neutered. He was very pleasant, and appeared eager to help. However, when we paid for the rabbit, the young man at the register said the rabbit was about 3-4 months and that he would get bigger. The rabbit we purchased was the tiniest, about 4-5 weeks old. He was a gray lop. Our purpose in purchasing this rabbit was to have it tested as we were told the rabbits all came from the same local breeder. We are concerned about cross contamination of disease. They did not get our address, or phone number in case they needed to let us know that the rabbit was ill.

All 4 rabbits tested positive for coccidea. Of course the first baby died. The other three are on medication for the coccidea and the small black rabbit is also on an antibiotic called Baytril because it has respiratory problems. (Medical records available upon request. Dr. Loretta Pantenburg, Summertree Animal & Bird Clinic. 972-387-4168.)

On 1/16, Cathy Kelly returned to the Plano/Frisco store and purchased the 3 remaining rabbits. The while lop is very small. the Dutch is sneezing and has a wet nose/discharge. The plan is to have them examined by our veterinarian on 1/18. Our vet is a specialist, her credentials are excellent. Reports will be available later today.

We have been tracking rabbit illnesses in Petco stores for 15 months now. Since they decided to start selling rabbits again. In 1994 Petco promised not to sell rabbits because they didn't do very well with it. This confirms that they don't do very well, In fact it is appalling that the rabbits are treated like this.

On Wednesday, January 23^rd around 6 p.m., my husband John Warner and myself (Deborah Laible) visited the PetCo on 1152 N. Buckner (Dallas, TX). As we were browsing the pets, we noticed one of the guinea pigs was covered in lacerations (and scabs). Thus, when asked by an employee if she could help us, we pointed out the guinea pig to her and asked her what was wrong with it. She proceeded to tell us that one of the older (and larger) guinea pigs had been attacking other guinea pigs in the cage. This new employee also expressed concern over the guinea pig covered in scabs and suggested to the original employee who helped us that the guinea pig be taken to the vet. The original employee who helped us (a lady in her upper 30’s to early 40’s, with shoulder length brown stringy hair, and a little overweight) remarked to him that "we don’t take these animals or smaller to the vet. It’s not our policy". After some discussion, it was decided to remove the larger aggressive guinea pig from the cage and to put him on sale. Shortly thereafter, my husband and I left the store. We returned the following evening to the store and purchased two of the guinea pigs –

Mr. Garcia these 2 GP's were taken to Dr. Pantenburg on Friday 1/25. They were observed to have numerous bites on their back end (photos attached) - they also had to be treated for mites. This means that all of the other GP's have been exposed to mites and need to be treated as well as the enclosure.

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Saved from Petco ..this rabbit's age estimated by NTRS officers and
Veterinarian to be only 4 weeks. Not yet weaned, unable to drink water on
it's own according to Petco employee. Yet this rabbit and two siblings were
sold to us (NTRS undercover expose) as healthy viable pets.

February 14, 2002

Brian Devine CEO and President
Petco Animal Supplies, Inc.
9125 Rehco Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121

Dear Mr. Devine,

As you are well aware, in 1994 PETCO Vice-President Craig Walker delivered
a written promise to several animal rescue organizations to the effect that
PETCO, as a national retailer, would stop selling rabbits, as it had
stopped selling puppies and kittens. Here, to refresh your memory, are two brief
excerpts from Mr. Walker's letter (dated 5/31/94):

"OK. No more rabbits for sale at PETCO. A house rabbit can make a great pet.
However, we have found it next to impossible to convince inexperienced
prospective owners that rabbits need special care, attention, and devotion,
just like dogs and cats. A bunny grows up into something quite different
than that warm and fuzzy fur ball that loves to be held against your cheek.

We attempted to educate prospective owners that house rabbits are to be kept
out of the elements of weather, away from other harmful animals, need a
proper diet, need their home cleaned and litter changed regularly, should
be spayed or neutered and need regular veterinarian checkups.
House rabbits need lots of attention and they love to play with toys and
love healthy treats. A rabbit should receive a nutritional steady diet
designed especially for rabbits.

The more we learned, the harder we tried. But we just weren't satisfied
with the results. We feared that too few new rabbit owners were not
sincerely accepting the responsibility for the life of the rabbit.

Therefore there will be no more bunnies (for sale) at PETCO."

Mr. Walker's letter was widely circulated among rescue organizations, and
PETCO executives were lauded for their enlightened decision. House Rabbit
Society was one of the organizations greeting PETCO's decision with
enthusiasm and relief, since we heartily agree with all of the statements
quoted above. However, Mr. Walker's statements notwithstanding, it was not
long before rabbits were once again included as "merchandise" at various
PETCO locations. Repeated attempts on the part of House Rabbit Society
members and representatives (as well as representatives from other
organizations) to investigate the reasons for this violation of PETCO's "no
more rabbits" policy have been met with unclear or contradictory statements
by PETCO store personnel. We just can't seem to get a straight answer.

House Rabbit Society volunteers have been told, at various times and
locations, and by various PETCO employees or managers, that "we are only
following orders," or "the national office forces us to do it" or "its our
own decision on the local level." Ironically, and adding insult to
injury, while rabbits are still being sold in various PETCO stores, the
PETCO Foundation has been busy contacting rescue organizations such as ours,
offering financial and/or other kinds of support for our rescue and education programs.

To say that House Rabbit Society has been disappointed by PETCO's failure to
adhere to its own stated policy over these last several years would be a
gross understatement. PETCO's continued selling of rabbits goes against
everything that PETCO itself claims to stand for. According to the Humane
Society of the United States, rabbits are the third most-frequently
relinquished mammals at shelters across the country. Through the sale of
rabbits and other small animals, PETCO is choosing to contribute to the
overpopulation problems that we see in shelters every day. Mr. Walker's
letter makes clear that PETCO is fully aware of this, yet the company has
taken no steps that we are aware of to enforce the policy laid out by Mr.
Walker. To make matters worse, we have seen documentation regarding various
PETCO stores where the rabbits for sale are underage and/or sick, and do not
receive proper medical care. These animals often die soon after being sold,
or after their new owners have incurred steep veterinary bills in desperate
attempts to save their lives. This simply must stop.

As America's largest national rabbit rescue organization (with 8,000+
members, and chapters or licensed representatives in most states), House
Rabbit Society is frequently queried about its position on PETCO's sale of
rabbits. We are deeply concerned about this issue, since many
of the pet rabbits we rescue and rehabilitate were originally purchased at
PETCO. You may already be aware that we, because of our objections to
PETCO's practices, have not participated in PETCO programs for many years,
although we had no specific policy in place. However, at its January, 2002,
meeting, the Board of Directors of the national House Rabbit Society voted
unanimously to adopt the following policy:

The national House Rabbit Society will not participate in any PETCO
programs, or accept any money from the PETCO Foundation, until PETCO stops
selling rabbits at all its locations across the country.

You will notice that our policy specifies "national House Rabbit Society."
The reason for this is that our chapters, although all affiliated with
national House Rabbit Society, are actually incorporated independently, in
their own states. During the last several years, some of our state chapters
have developed excellent working relationships with local PETCO stores whose