Retailer calls for tougher regulations for pet stores

Media Release

10 October 2013

Retailer calls for tougher regulations for pet stores

The newest player on the Auckland pet retail scene claims the industry is well behind where it should be with regards to animal welfare and has called for reform.

Petmarket opened the doors to its first store on the North Shore’s Constellation Drive in late 2012 and has already turned heads with its new approach.

Owner Rich Peacocke says recent media reports of retail operations selling sick and dying puppies from known puppy mills is just the tip of the iceberg.

“I hear horror stories every day – from customers, from suppliers, from the industry.

“Operators with no clue are sourcing animals from backyard breeders and farmers living in conditions that would sicken a normal human being. Their breeding stock is unsound, they produce deficient babies and those babies then go on to have behavioural and health problems for the rest of their lives – if they survive at all.”

It’s gotten to the point where some welfare organisations are calling for a total ban on animal sales in pet shops.”

He says the rules that animal retailers have to comply with are all but absent, putting consumers and animals at risk.

“Anybody can open a pet shop. I did. No license is required. There are no premise inspections. There’s nobody showing up asking to see some sort of certification for where you got your animals or that they’re being looked after properly. And your staff don’t need to have any sort of qualification to handle animals. None.

“The wider industry attempted to document an amendment to the entirely inadequate Animal Welfare Act to cover temporary housing, which covers pet stores, into a Code of Welfare. It’s been sitting with the Ministry of Primary Industries for two years and is still awaiting any action, including public submissions, to proceed.

“I think consumers would be horrified if they knew that their trust was being misplaced in this way.

“I’m really proud of the standards we keep at Petmarket, and I invite anybody to come by at any time of the day and see why we’re different. But thanks to a whole bunch of cowboys and profiteers my business could be at risk one day. I’d much rather see regulations put in place that give everybody peace of mind and put the welfare of the animals above profits.

When he first launched Petmarket, Peacocke didn’t realise that by putting a new focus on animal welfare he was setting a new standard for the rest of the industry.

All puppies that are put up for adoption first have to pass a stringent series of tests.

The company has invested in a Head of Livestock, who comes to Petmarket with a Bachelor of Animal Studies majoring in Welfare. She ensures not only that every single puppy comes from an acredited breeder, but meets the mum and dad of each one prior to approving it for sale.

Each is then given a multi-point ‘Warrant of Fitness’ by the team at Milford Pet’n Vet and then observed for a further day before being made available for sale.

Finally, the puppy gets to move into luxurious quarters to wait for its new family. Room to move, a toileting area right away from its bed and food. Where possible, they get another puppy for company, and all receive daily activity and play with the staff.

Store Manager David Kitch is passionate about the need for standards to improve and the role of the retailer in that.

“I see myself as being responsible for making sure that any little guy we sell makes a great family member for fifteen years or so, in the case of dogs. I make sure that I do what I would want done if I was buying a puppy.

“At Petmarket we take that responsibility really seriously. We make sure that our breeders exceed what’s expected in the Animal Welfare Act and so do we. Because it’s the right thing to do. But if we didn’t want to, nobody would make us.

“You should go to a pet store because they know more than you do and you can trust them to make good decisions on your behalf. That they’ve done your homework for you and will give you the best advice. Not palm you off with an unwell puppy from a shop of horrors.

“It makes me angry that puppy mills are still out there and that pet shop operators keep giving them business.”

Ends

© Scoop Media