PetSmart Should Stop Selling Small Animals

By: Kareem Mohni

Posted: 3/27/07

PetSmart, an animal supply store, needs to get out of the small animal business. PetSmart makes billions of dollars a year by selling animal care supplies for all types of household pets and selling live small animals to supplement its revenue. The small animal business is not exceedingly profitable and contributes little to PetSmart's overall earnings. A recent investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, revealed that the PetSmart in Manchester, Conn. has had a continuing problem of denying medical care to its small animals which die in large numbers awaiting sale. While I am the first person to criticize PETA's methods, as well as much of what they have to say, there is some inherent value in knowing what is happening at businesses in our local community.

According to official PETA reports, the organization had an undercover investigator working at the Manchester PetSmart from at least October 2006 to January 2007. The investigator kept a log of all the problems associated with the care of small animals. There appears to be at least one log entry for just about every type of small animal PetSmart carries in their stores - fish, reptiles, hamsters, rats, chinchillas and birds. Excluding fish, the investigator documented over 100 small animals which became sick and then died at PetSmart because of a lack of proper veterinary care and inadequate housing.

PETA is in the midst of a very large campaign to end the sale of small animals at companies like PetSmart and its biggest competitor, Petco. Last year PETA ran a front page story in their news magazine titled, "PetNo, Where the Pets Die." This is exactly the same campaign they are now running against PetSmart. While I too agree that PetSmart and Petco should not be selling live animals at all, I have to cast some doubt over the data collection methods used by PETA. As this is not PETA's first campaign to stop the sale of small animals at stores such as PetSmart, I must wonder whether or not the undercover investigator was truly revealing the workings of the Manchester store or manipulating his reports to fit PETA's agenda. While this may seem pessimistic, PETA's reputation is plagued by overzealous workers who try and force their agendas through deception and illegal measures.

With my anti-PETA bias pointed out, there are some interesting reports in the investigator's log that point to inadequate care and cause suspicion on my part as to whether PetSmart is really doing all it can for small animals. For example, the investigator follows a dying calico hamster from mild disease symptoms, to intense suffering and culmination in death after an absence of medical care. It is sad to read, especially since the story is probably true, at least in part. I have no doubt that hundreds of hamsters die in PetSmart stores every year from common diseases caused by mass breeding and crowded housing of animals.

To avoid these problems and increase productiveness, stores like PetSmart and Petco need to end small animal sales. While the Manchester PetSmart may have small animal care working against it, PetSmart executive Bruce Richardson wrote of the Manchester store, "This particular store has an outstanding pet care team and an exceptional pet care record. No pet that has required a vet has been deprived of that service." This is also true. The PetSmart location in Manchester has a very large animal hospital that cares for both store animals and for the general public's animals. This veterinary clinic offers reduced cost vaccinations and spay/neuter services and is a valuable community resource which would probably not be available in the absence of PetSmart's financial contributions.

I do not recommend any such boycott of PetSmart, or its competitor Petco, as PETA would like to see happen. Both of these stores do a lot of good for their communities and animal owners. Both of these stores have created non-profit foundations solely to raise money for homeless animals. They provide supplies and money to help animal shelters and animal rescue organizations. Both also do in-store adoptions of homeless animals through local animal shelters. The Manchester PetSmart has several cages filled with adoptable animals that belong to the Connecticut Human Society. These animals are seen much more frequently because of the high traffic store, and consequently find homes faster.

These stores do too much good to be shut down or boycotted. However, their sale of small companion animals is questionable. These companies do not need to sell the live animals to make a profit, as they sell huge amounts of animal care supplies and animal food. Live animal sales make up only a small fraction of their net proceeds - money that the store could most likely recover in other ways.

Weekly columnist Kareem Mohni is an 8th-semester molecular and cell biology major. His column appears on Tuesdays.