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Posted by desiree on September 29, 2002 at 10:41:43:
In Reply to: I could not open!!!more posted by Flavia Guimaraes on September 29, 2002 at 09:18:33:
http://beta.kpix.com/news/local/2002/09/24/5_Investigates%3A_Animal_Neglect_Allegations_at_Petco.html
9/24/02
Investigates: Animal Neglect Allegations at Petco
Hank Plante
Some former employees of Bay Area Petco stores say animals there are neglected and even abused.
"She called me into her office and told me that I was to put the 14 turtles into the freezer to kill them," Chandra Case said.
Case worked for Bay Area Petco stores for seven years. She says the final straw was in 2000, when her manager at the Redwood City store insisted that she kill sick animals by freezing them to death instead of treating them.
"I was very upset," Case said. "They're cold-blooded reptiles. That would be the most cruel way to kill a cold-blooded reptile."
"That is absolutely unacceptable," said Sally Stork, Vice President for Petco's West Coast operations, when told of the allegations. "If that were ever brought to our attention, we would immediately investigate and take appropriate action up to, and including, termination."
But the issue of freezing animals has been brought to their attention before. In 1997, South Bay veterinarian Pat Latas wrote Petco headquarters, saying she had learned that their corporate policy for euthanizing animals was "refrigeration then freezing." What's more, written statements by former employees are included in a lawsuit San Francisco filed last June against Petco stores in the city. One reads, "Animals are put in the freezer daily, so Petco won't have to pay for the vet to euthanize them." Another employee wrote that he had, "been told to put dying animals in the freezer."
Dr. Latas specializes in birds and reptiles.
"It's considered absolutely inhumane to freeze an animal as a form of euthanasia," she said. "The animal is conscious. It is painful. It is not considered a comfortable way to die."
But vet bills are expensive, and cut into profits. Danilla Mehta worked with Chandra Case at the Petco in Redwood City.
"I didn't get any animal care training during the eight months I was there," Mehta said.
"There would be nothing about how to identify a sick animal," Case said. "Or even how to go about taking care of a sick animal."
Metha left Petco in 1998. Case left in 2000. Petco's Sally Stork says today, her employees get plenty of training.
"We actually have an award-winning program that we provide our associates," said Stork. "We start them out on a 90-day program, taking them through animal care."
A 5 Investigates producer and photographer took hidden cameras into Petco stores to find out what kind of care that training meant for the animals. We visited four Petcos on the Peninsula and in the South Bay at least three times.
Over and over, we noticed animals that were obviously sick or in distress. We noticed, but Petco employees apparently did not.
In one case, we saw a tortoise at the Petco on Meridian Avenue in San Jose. It was in its water bowl, but the sides of the bowl were too steep for the animal to crawl out. We showed the tape to Dr. Latas.
"Soaking in water for an extended period of time can lead to infections," she said. "Also, [there's] the stress of being trapped in a near-drowning situation."
We brought the situation to the attention of a Petco employee. But a few days later, the bowl was still there, and a tortoise was once again stuck, struggling to get out. We also saw fish deprived of oxygen because no air was being pumped into the tanks.
At a Petco in Sunnyvale, an employee told us the store was on its best behavior because of the San Francisco lawsuits.
"We try to take really good care of everybody," he said. "Especially with the spotlight being as it is."
The employee spent a lot of time talking to us about a bird called a sun conure, but he never noticed that the bird had no water.
A frog at the Petco in the El Paseo de Saratoga shopping center in San Jose was obviously in distress. We asked a Petco employee about it.
"He's croaked," she said. "He's real sick. I don't know what to do with him... Our reptile person didn't show up today so none of the animals got done."
That apparently meant that none of the cages were cleaned, and none of the animals were fed or watered.
The employee we spoke to gave the frog some water, but after she left, the animal flopped back onto his back. We showed our video to a Petco team that included veterinary consultant Judy St. Leger.
"If you're saying, 'Hey you guys, you need to be policing these things,' we are," St. Leger said. "But if something fails in the chain of command, we're happy to respond when you raise issues."
Petco is also in trouble in Nevada, where the state has filed criminal charges against two stores for mistreatment of animals. Meantime, Petco says it is fixing the problems we uncovered.
