Suffering, Death at Petland Animal Supplier Revealed in PETA Sting

VIDEO:




PRESS RELEASE:

Authorities Descend on Massive Georgia Animal Warehouse That Supplies Stores Nationwide

For Immediate Release:

April 22, 2010

Contact:

Daphna Nachminovitch 757-622-7382

Chillicothe, Ohio -- This morning, law-enforcement officials entered the Atlanta warehouse of Sun Pet Ltd., a company that supplies small mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and other animals to stores nationwide, including Chillicothe-based retailer Petland. Today's action was prompted by evidence gathered during a three-month PETA investigation, which documented that animals at Sun Pet were cruelly killed, abusively handled, and forced to live in severely crowded, filthy conditions. PETA's investigator worked at Sun Pet for three months and never once saw anyone from Petland's corporate office inspecting Sun Pet's facility. The following incidents were among the findings of PETA's investigation:

* A worker put hamsters in a plastic bag and bashed the animals against a table.

* Unsalable animals were routinely gassed in a filthy, waste-encrusted glass tank or poisoned at bait stations that were placed around the facility's warehouse.

* Petland stores shipped sick and injured animals back to Sun Pet without providing veterinary care or food and water, causing many to suffer and die.

* Sun Pet bought thousands of animals from unlicensed vendors, even though the U.S. Department of Agriculture had warned it about such purchases.

* Sun Pet sold hamsters who were purchased from U.S. Global Exotics (USGE), a company from which more than 26,000 cruelly treated animals were recently seized by authorities following a PETA investigation.

"PETA's investigation shows that for Petland, it is business as usual to keep buying animals from companies that have a record of abuse and failure to provide veterinary care to sick and injured animals," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "At these facilities, animals are treated like disposable objects, and no thought is given to the fact that they are living beings."

PETA has turned evidence over to local, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies for investigation, and the group is calling on Petland to end the sale of animals in its stores.

For more information and to view the video footage, please visit PETA.org.

Media coverage:

Atlanta Journal Constitution

11alive.com

My Fox Atlanta

WSBTV