Pet store in the spotlight – again

It was a cold and rainy Sunday morning but that did not stop the protesters from Ban Animal Trading South Africa (Bat) from gathering at Westgate Super Regional Shopping Centre. They protested against Westgate Pet Superstore selling live animals.

“It came to our attention that a puppy bought from them recently became sick. The new owners, who couldn’t afford vet care, took the puppy to Community Led Animal Welfare (Claw) for help, but the puppy died. There have been similar incidents in the past. The owners of the pet store do not care where they get the puppies from or seem to want to promote responsible pet ownership. It seems it is all about making money,” Smaragda Louw from Bat said.

“Claims that the puppies have been inoculated and vaccinated came to the organisation’s attention. In most cases these puppies were not seen by a vet and the injections have been given by the owners themselves. Not everyone who buys pets from a pet store can afford to take the animal to a vet for the rest of the vaccinations, sterilisation or aftercare.

“We do not want the store to close down, we only want them to stop selling live animals and only sell pet supplies,” Louw insisted.

The owner of Westgate Pet Superstore, Peter Webber was exasperated when the Record contacted him for comment. “These were the same 20 people from the previous protest. They claim a puppy died just after being bought from us, but cannot produce proof from a vet. Their requests are unreasonable and legal action will be taken,” he said.

According to him their puppies do not come from back yard breeders or puppy mills. They are trying to help owners with the ‘oopsies’ that happen.

“We do not keep the puppies overnight, they go back to their owners at the end of the day. We are not the owners of the puppies, we only sell them on behalf of the owners.

We do advise customers, and even stipulate it on the documents prospective buyers sign, that the SPCA and various animal shelters have puppies up for adoption,” Webber said. In their almost 30 years of trading, he said, these incidents have not happened often and many of the puppies bought at their pet store have found a good home and are living good lives. “I only want the animals to have a chance at life; it is not even a big part of our income,” said Webber.

Mandy Cattanach, Roodepoort SPCA manager said if people don’t stop buying from pet stores, puppy mills and back yard breeding will never cease to exist, because as long as there is a demand, the supply will continue. According to her the pet store cannot really be blamed for the sick puppies, as they do not keep them at the store overnight. “You can adopt an animal from the SPCA for R600. This includes vaccinations, sterilisation and a micro chip,” said Mandy.

The Westgate Shopping Centre general manager was contacted for comment, but by the time this article was published no feedback has been received yet.

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