Remember that PetLAND also buys animals from these mills, and PetLAND also buys all its puppies from PUPPY MILLS

(yes, every single Petland store)

(Petco and Petsmart do not sell puppies from puppy mills)

Petland is the WORST when it comes to supporting animal abuse

Posted by: kelly | February 21, 2008 05:28 PM

I really beleive in treating every living creature with respect. Life is a balance. Hurting animals is not right. Picking on people who don't beleive as we do is not right either. As long as they follow the laws, we can't get out of line and force our views on others because whats the differance between their rational and ours. We make change by influence and modeling behavior not bully tactics. Leave Aretha alone. If she likes yucky furs well thats her indiscretion/sadness to live with.

Posted by: ronnie | February 21, 2008 05:29 PM

Ronnie,

I believe that the purpose of animal rights is to rethink the very attitude that other species are our property and exploiting them is our "choice."

Once we seriously include other animals in ethics, saying "it's people's choice to support foxes being skinned alive" is no better than saying "it's people's choice to beat their children."

Thankfully, as in this PETCO case and many others, PETA's tactics have ended more suffering and injustice than those of perhaps any other animal rights organization.

Posted by: Mark | February 21, 2008 05:53 PM

ok ronnie (bevis n butthead), ..did you say, leave aretha alone?... yaaa i forgot she DOESNT have enough BRAINS to get fake! fur.. force our views on others? HUH... better drop out of school. i wouldNT want any teacher to (educate you) FORCE THERE WAYS ON YOU!

Posted by: indycar01 | February 21, 2008 06:12 PM

I think that exposing people who inflict animal cruelty onto these creatures is a fantastic thing. Although I believe that if you present people with the facts and don't pester them too much they will listen. I think it's a balance of the both. Try first off to persuade them with some simple facts, questions and what they can do to change their ways. If that doesn't work you hit them were it hurts. Eg: expose them for the no-gooders they are. People know that PETA can influence alot of people so they listen. In this case the more pressure put on by the public, media and PETA the more they will give in and the more animals will be saved from this kind of treatment.

Posted by: Rosie Sydney, Australia | February 21, 2008 06:22 PM

the WORST part of this rwe/ petco/ petsmart fiasco is the simple bottom line, (and it can not be overstated)... gentle, helpless creatures are SUFFERING!!

these "pets" are born into this world without any choice in the matter. and for their short lives, they may be at the mercy of some disinterested or just plain sadistic employees.

many of these creatures will be bought, only to be abused or neglected. and that's what's so sad... little lives that are essentially doomed!

on a lighter note, ANY positive improvement for animals, however slim, is a good thing. i'm glad peta commends petco's efforts.

Posted by: katie | February 22, 2008 01:16 AM

"If you care about animals, don't buy from stores that sell animals."

True to that.

Also: promote spay-and-neuter and always adopt!

Posted by: Brandon Becker | February 22, 2008 04:51 PM

Once I went to a local petstore and began to hand out fliers and talk to people and share some pics I printed up off the computer. The manager ran out and began screaming at me and I calmly asked him if he was aware of the horror he was supporting. He immidiately called the cops after that and I got banned, but my friend told me that a few weeks later it closed down.

Posted by: rose | February 22, 2008 05:08 PM

No pets should be sold. Only rescue the ones we have in circulation on this globe. We must learn from our mistakes and end the breeding of animals for pets. We did rescue our dog and she will be living out the rest of her life with a loving family. None...should be sold...ever!

Posted by: Lisa Molitor | February 22, 2008 06:30 PM

If you guys think the abuse is bad for animals before they arrive at these pet stores, work in a Petco or Petsmart grooming salon, as I do. I've tried to make a difference for 4 years now, having worked at both. I finally realized that working for them and trying to change things from within won't work.
I will soon be blowing the whistle on this.
I have seen dogs abused to death (YES, DEATH), hit, choked, slapped, forced into stressful grooming processes with little or no compassion from the groomer, cut, burned by hot blades, etc.
If anyone reading this takes your dog to ANY grooming facility BEWARE!!!!!!

Posted by: Me | February 23, 2008 02:06 PM

i was never aware that regular pet stores do that, when i used 3 fish for an ETHICAL expirment he asked what kind of expirment, but i never knew keeping fish in glass bowls wasn't nice, i'll surely make a pond for them now.

Posted by: erica | February 24, 2008 12:55 PM

Although PETA is chipping away at this crisis one piece at a time, they seem to be making progress - and quickly! Achieving a spot on the Today show was very impressive and important.

IMHO the exotic animal trade is one of the worst horrors of our time - endangered wildlife being taken from the wild, whole ecosystems like coral reefs being destroyed by cyanide fishing, exotic animals being sold as pets, etc - a nightmare that humankind has inflicted on the animal world.

Having worked in a shelter, vet clinic, wildlife rehab center and as a biologist, I've seen wild animals in pet stores and in people's homes be unintentionally negelected and tortured in the most heinous ways.

Pet stores give the wrong information to customers and perpetuate myths that these compex creatures are easier to care for than a dog or cat - nothing could be farther from the truth! This applies to rabbits and other small pets as well.

Then zoos and pet stores have the gall to say that breeding wildlife in captivity keeps them from going "extinct", a disgusting lie - only animals living in the wild count as a wild population. They are using the environmental crisis to sell products!

The pet store trade is unacceptable and I urge PETA and others here to keep speaking out about it, and the public will eventually get the message!! ;)

Posted by: Maya, C.V.T. | February 24, 2008 01:42 PM

Instead of abandoning the animals and letting the abuse continue, PETCO decided to keep rainbow as their supplier and EDUCATE and train their staff. PETCO also makes unannounced visits to rainbow to make sure animals are being treated properly.
I'm sure PETCO is glad you exposed this, but why don't you explain WHY PETCO hasn't dropped rainbow. They already explained it to you. They do not want these animals to continue to suffer so they are doing whatever they can to help.

Posted by: Mikkie | February 25, 2008 01:10 AM

This is outragous! Every living creature should be treated with the same respect that you would demand for yourself. I dont understand how someone can be cruel to a living breathing animal that can feel pain and loneliness. Something should be done to change the way these poor inocent animals are being treated. These animals were brought in this world for selfish reasons and the most respectable thing that we could do is help them to have a good quality of life and not be treated like some trash that you could pick up on the side of the road.

Posted by: Misty Gourley | February 25, 2008 08:16 AM

My husband has been employed at Petco while he has been working toward a degree, but I didn't know about RWE until now. What I do know is that we are animal lovers and he has had extensive training at Petco. He would cry if he ever saw abuse in his store and won't let people buy certain small animals unless they have proper setup or habitat, ferrets and "Nemo" fish for example. He speaks of the animals as individuals and points each out to me when I visit the store.
My point, I guess, is that there are some folks working at Petco who are conscientious, empathetic, and true animal lovers who watch out for the welfare of the adorable critters. It's hard to find a minimum wage job that is fulfilling and he loves working there, and if anyone was hired at his store that turned out to be apathetic, they would be gone very soon.
His heart will be broken when I show him the video and pictures of RWE.

Posted by: Tara | February 26, 2008 12:01 PM

I am friends with several Petco employees who live in my town. One other petstore employee went through the vet tech program with me. I know many pet store employees are underpaid and have a hard time paying for schooling, I worked in a pet store too before I finished college.

Many employees there also wish the stores would not sell animals. I hope these caring folks go on to get a degree in animal care so they can get out.

Some especially short-sighted folks will yell at employees if they object to animals being sold there. It's like yelling at a teen working at McDonald's: useless. Target the owners, the folks making millions, not $7 an hour!

Posted by: Maya, C.V.T. | February 26, 2008 03:39 PM

Rose,

I got the police called on me at a Petco (back in those wild PETA Petco campaign days) for taking photos of ferrets lying in their own feces.

Also majorly hasseled by the Petco managers and employees while waiting for said officers to arrive.

They wanted my film (didn't have a digital yet) and I of course refused. I had other personal pics on there. And even if I didn't they were not getting it.

Then they offered to take my film to Wally World down the street to get developed and they would take the ferret pics and negatives.

I told them they were crazy if they thought I was hanging around there for over an hour waiting for that...nonsense...although I don't believe that was the word I used.

Also had an employee bend down by the back of my car. Now that scared me. I thought he may have been messing with my car in some way.

When the police arrived, I told them about the car thing (just in case something did happen there), and they were fairly ticked at the manager for bothering them...snicker...

There was nothing they could do because there was no sign posted in a visible place stating no photographs could be taken in the store.

Posted by: Tamara | February 27, 2008 12:38 AM

Tara, I totally understand where you and your husband are coming from.

And,I know I am gonna get yelled at for this (unless this thread is dead) but, sometimes you have to make ethical choices.

After I lost a good-paying full time job a few years ago, I needed something.

But I refused, and still refuse, to work at Wally World (I know that's a different topic), or any pet store.

I would dig ditches for half the pay or work at a car wash or something (meaning hard physical work for little pay) before I would do any of those other things.

I hope your hubby will be able to find another job while he is going to school.

But as much as he loves his job and the animals, the bottom line is that he is supporting the abuse.

Posted by: Tamara | February 27, 2008 12:46 AM

FIRSTLY!!!
-THAT IS ONE SUPPLIER OUT OF THOUSANDS!!!!
-PETSMART CANADA DOES NOT SELL RABBITS AND WE BARELY DO IN THE STATES ANYMORE EITHER
-PETSMART DOES NOT SEX THEIR PARROTS ANYMORE!!

This is a horrible site to see, and something needs to be done... blaming petsmart isn't gonna do a thing when they cant even prove thats a supplier for petsmart!!

I work at PetSmart..

PetSmart has vets that are suppose to regularly check breeding facilities to make sure they are humane. . .

OBVIOUSLY PetSmart doesnt support treating PETS inhumanely, sounds like some Vets aren't doing their jobs.

It's sad but these things happen.

If Petsmart hated animals we wouldn't give free space out to HUMANE adoption agencies to get their rescues adopted.

There are also pages upon pages of rules of conduct, we do not sell animals to those we believe will be using as live feed (other then fish). We do not sell fish or any other animal to a customer unless we are positive they have everything needed to support that animal (alot of the times we will walk them through the store and show them exactly what they need) plus we require customers to have aquariums running for 24hours before they can purchase fish.

99.99% of people who work at petsmart are people who LOVE pets and animals in general!

There is mistreatment wherever you go, and if you are found to have ill-treated any animal at petsmart it is immediate job termination.

Yahoo! Answers probably causes more damage then PetSmart, with all this little kids pretending they know what they are talking about, giving wrong advice.

I have met many fellow petsmart employees on this website (ones that aren't giving guess' as answers)..

You are a self righteous pompous ***.

--Edit--

WE CAN RESELL RETURNED ANIMALS, AND WE DO AFTER THEY VISIT THE CLOSEST VET TO BE CHECKED!!
WE ALSO GUARANTEE PETS! WE HAVE SPENT 4000$ SAVING A GERBILS LIFE FOR A CUSTOMER!

Posted by: Evan | April 14, 2008 06:31 PM

I have to wonder what is REALLY going on. I contacted the SPCA in Texas to investigate this case. After all these months of publicity I found it very funny that they'd never heard of the problem at Rainbow Exotics.
PETA has posted all of this information, but if conditions were as PETA makes it out to be, then why were the authorities not contacted? There are laws against this sort of thing, and if they were being broken, somoene other than PETA would have stepped in by now to enforce those laws. Is it not PETA's responsibility to report crimes to the proper authorities? Or are they feeling that they are above the law?
Something stinks... and it's not just the neglected animals! If everything reported on the website about this case is true, then PETA is just as guilty as Rainbow Exotics for not reporting this to the PROPER authorities!

Posted by: Dawn Moneyhan | April 16, 2008 10:32 AM

then dont shut down PETCO, shutdown Rainbow World Exoctics!

Posted by: Thinker Man | April 26, 2008 05:36 PM

The film shown by Peta reflects one PetSmart store in Connecticut. It claims 100 pets died during the investigators time there. It claims animals were left to die and hidden from customers. Is it possible that they were placed in the back room to be humanely treated? How can an organization take what happened in one store and claim that it happens system-wide? Shame on you PETA for overstating and making claims you can't substantiate universally.

Posted by: karen | May 10, 2008 08:49 AM

I love animals and anyone who hurts them or mistreats them is an enemy of mine. Petsmart and RWE. I've bought animals from PETCO but only rats. She lived for a while until my dog ate her. She tried to kill every living animal except for humans. My rat was in her cage but somehow my dog pulled her out. The cage was still closed when i found it but no rat. I found her a few minutes later on the floor. She was dead but she looked no where near as bad as the living animals at RWE. I miss her. The others were fine because when I got them, my dog had run away and she never came back. I miss her too. But i am trying to stop animal cruelty one step at a time. Cuz I luv em!

Posted by: Animal Lovr | May 15, 2008 05:56 AM