PETS    IN    NEED

Undercover Investigation Uncovers Horrors at PetSmart Supplier's Breeding Mill

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/petsmart_investigation  (2006-2007)

Video footage obtained in a new PETA undercover investigation reveals horrific nightmare conditions for small animals and birds bred and brokered by a major supplier to PetSmart.

In addition to the ever-present misery caused by extremely crowded cages, filthy conditions, a lack of basic enrichment, an often inadequate food and water supply, and excessive noise, PETA's investigation of a massive breeding mill and one of PetSmart's main animal suppliers, Rainbow World Exotics in Hamilton, Texas, also revealed that live animals were thrown into the trash, were deprived of desperately needed veterinary care, were suffering and dying alone in their cages, and were cannibalizing each other; that rabbits underwent crude neuter surgeries at the hands of a layperson in a filthy, dark room; and more.

Unsuspecting PetSmart customers have reported buying unsocialized, sick, and injured animals, including guinea pigs with eye and upper respiratory infections, hamsters with deadly diseases, sick and dying betta fish, and suffering birds. As PETA's investigator documented at this breeding mill, overcrowding, lack of veterinary care, and lack of socialization are the norm, not the exception, for the tens of thousands of animals at Rainbow.

PetSmart's trade in live animals supports this mass-breeding industry that is just as cruel as—and even less regulated than—the puppy mill industry. It results in abysmal treatment of tiny, vulnerable beings, and it ultimately leads to their overpopulation, homelessness, neglect, and suffering.

• Rabbits bound for PetSmart underwent neuter surgeries at the ungloved, unsanitized hands of an employee (who was not a veterinarian) in a dank and dirty room with an often-contaminated, dull straight razor. PETA's investigator witnessed an improperly anesthetized rabbit kick and fight during surgery. The employee "prepped" rabbits' scrotums with Purell Hand Sanitizer and wiped blood off fresh, open incisions with Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, which was deemed "completely inappropriate and dangerous" by a veterinary expert who reviewed footage of the procedure.

•  Hamsters and other small animals often escaped unsafe enclosures. PETA's investigator filmed a supervisor "catching" a loose hamster by stepping on the tiny animal with his heavy boot and pinning the animal to the ground. The supervisor then "squished" the hamster with his hand and threw the animal—who may have still been alive—into the trash. During the course of her employment, PETA's investigator rescued five hamsters who had been thrown away like garbage.

•   Live animals including rats, mice, and hamsters were routinely dumped into trash barrels while employees were emptying dirty bedding. Some employees purposely tossed live animals straight into the trash, sometimes from as far as 8 feet away, and other employees forcefully threw small animals on the cement floor in an attempt to kill them. PETA's investigator was told that employees sometimes threw live animals away if they didn't want to have to bother figuring out to which cage they should return the loose animals.

•   Young parrots and cockatoos in the breeding mill's bird "nursery" were deprived of adequate veterinary care even when they were severely ill or injured. The investigator found a young cockatoo in the trash, documented a huddled-together group of baby conures with foot injuries, and watched a juvenile Goffin's cockatoo waste away and die after a long, undiagnosed and untreated illness.

•   Many animals were denied veterinary care, including ferrets with rectal prolapses, a guinea pig with a broken hip, hamsters with potentially deadly wet tail, and animals injured in fights with cagemates. In fact, in her more than two months of employment, PETA's investigator never saw a veterinarian visit the facility!

•   To find out the sex of young birds, an employee obtained blood for DNA testing by clipping the birds' nails over and over until the birds screamed, an indicator that the employee had reached the sensitive quick, which caused pain and bleeding. This archaic, cruel method is no longer used by veterinarians to collect routine blood samples from birds, especially not when the birds are young and still learning to use their feet.