PetSmart don't sell bunnies!

Why are we not doing the same petition for PetSupermarket...they sell bunnies in their stores !

To any who think bringing rabbits into pet stores for adoption, please understand that is a highly stressful thing to do to a bunny. Some rabbit rescues do it and I disagree with them. Rabbits can literally die of fright at the sight of a large dog and there are many of these in the pet stores. The stress of such an excursion lowers their immunity and can cause illness later on. Not to mention that it is detrimental toward the trust between foster parent and foster rabbit. Rabbit rescue is best done outside of the pet store, in private homes amongst bunny people. We have never had a single adoption through a pet store in two years of tabling at these stores. The level of consumer coming into Petsmart and Petco (who already is selling rabbits as of last year) is beginner pet owner and we do not adopt to anyone without a veterinary reference. Rabbits are expensive to care for properly and require an astute observational caretaker, not a child or a disinterested adult who were out window shopping one day at the pet store.

i was at petsmart yesterday and they had bunnies there. it was appalling. i immediately signed this petition.
i really really hope this stops.

bunnies07, have you gone to the press?

The concept of pushing OUT rescue and adoption is a bad one.

Everyone who supports this movement should also consider not owing/buying their stock and letting their shareholder investor relations department know why.

Stockholder Inquiries
PetSmart Investor Relations
19601 N. 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027
Investor Information Line: 623.587.2025
Fax: 623.580.6183
Investors Info Request

i signed the petition i will e-mali petsmart.
thanks.

I signed the petition, I emailed my comments to PetSmart Customer Service from their website, and today when I was at my local store I spoke with the manager. She said she hadn't heard anything about any of the stores selling rabbits, and she said she was surprised because they usually hear about what's going on in the chain. I told her that I thought selling rabbits was a dumb idea when so many need adoption, and if PetSmart decides to sell rabbits in any of the stores my dog and I will be spending our money elsewhere. She said she would forward my comments to headquarters.

Petsmart did not contact the House Rabbit Society or any of the Rabbit Rescue Agencies that have adoptions at their stores. Our local rabbit rescue was the first to partner with Petsmart 13 years ago and they were not contacted. They are now without a location for their adoptions because of this insane decision by Petsmart. Last week they rescued 85 bunnies from a hoarder. 2 months ago a rabbit rescue in California rescued 500 rabbits from a park where people were dumping rabbits they didnt want anymore. That is almsot 600 bunnies in 2 months by only 2 rescue groups. WAKE-UP PETSMART.

I had sent a letter and received a similar response however some of my specific claims were responded to directly so I think they at least will read them rather than just send out a canned letter.

I brought up the point that selling small animals in pet stores entices the "impulse buyer", the very type of person who once they realize they purchased the pet on impulse, they will be the first to discard it. The person responded to me that charging the $99 would be, in their minds, a deterrent to the impulse buyer. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth as we know. I reiterated back to them that their mission of helping animals is a fraud then if all the beautiful homeless bunnies in shelters now are not good enough for them and they are contributing to the problem.

Lastly, since I volunteer at several shelters and work with severla rescue groups, I did spend quite a bit of money at Petsmart, both mine and the shelter's, to puchase supplies. But I have told them that I no longer would do so and that I will encourage anyone who will listen to avoind buying at PetSmart.

Sometimes humans and their greed make me sick.

Lee Ellen

I believe that one issue was that either Petco or Petsmart put out the call to small animal rescue & adoption groups, but got very little response

Perhaps if more rescue groups did adoption in these stores and worked with them, the buying from the breeder mills would go down or end.

If we ALL take our pet care dollars elsewhere (and not to Petco either because they, too, sell bunnies) PetsMart will either have to reconsider or go bankrupt! There are plenty of places online that sell petcare supplies that deserve our dollars more than PetSmart and Petco!

Bunny Mom and Ex-PetSmart Customer

Call Them!!!! Disrrupt the companies productivity by keeping the switchboard busy with protest calls - Here's the toll-free number
888/839-9638
Also,
call the Petsmart Charities number
800/423-7387

i sent them a email and i got back this crapy automatic email.

July 25, 2007

Dear Customer,

Thank you for sharing your concerns with us regarding our test of dwarf
rabbit sales in our stores. We began testing this concept in 40 stores
across the country this month. These rabbits all have been previously
spayed or neutered. During this test we're collecting additional data
and information related to breeding, health and care, training,
retention, customer satisfaction, adoption vs. sales, population and all
other aspects related to sales of these pets. Your feedback is important
to us and we're taking it seriously.

We have received letters and phone calls from various animal welfare
organizations including the House Rabbit Society. Because the HRS's
letter addresses a number of concerns that also have been voiced by
other groups and individuals, has been widely circulated, and serves as
the basis for many of the letters we have received, we have posted both
it and our response online at www.petsmartfacts.com. We encourage you to
visit this site to read our response and obtain more details about this
test.

We take our responsibility seriously when it comes to selling pets, and
that's why we conduct tests before moving forward or discontinuing a
program. We share your passion for pets and want to assure you we'll do
what's right for our Pet Parents and their pets. Thanks again for
sharing your concerns with us.

Sincerely,
Barany Chittenden
Product Care Specialist

When I signed the petition, I used the field that popped up to send an email to 5 house rabbit rescue contacts in my address book.

To learn more about rabbit rescue & why it's so important not to support the rabbit trade, please see Helping Birds, Rabbits & Ferrets and Make My Easter Bunny Chocolate!

For more about what it takes to bring a bunny into your home as an honored family member, please visit the Bunnies secion of our You & Your Pets Pet Care Library

Nose twitches,
Celeste Crimi
No More Homeless Pets
Best Friends Animal Society

Way to spread the message, Annamal! Everyone, please also post a bulletin in your MySpace page if you have one, or if you're on Friendster. You can also put a blurb at the bottom of your About Me text in your Member Profile right here on the Best Friends Network. Just login and click "My Membership Tools" The option to change your About Me is in the My Profile tab. Let's spread the word!

I'm trying my best to get others to sign this petition. I just made a group on Facebook called "PetSmart Don't Sell Bunnies!" and have invited over 450 people to join in and sign the petition. Hopefully they will invite their friends and so on and we will reach many more signatures than the 30,000 goal!

I wrote a letter to Mr. Moran and am forwarding a copy of it. I intend to permanently stop shopping there if they decide to go ahead with selling rabbits.

July 25, 2007

Robert F. Moran
President and Chief Operating Officer
PetSmart, Inc.
19601 N. 27th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85027

Dear Mr. Moran,

My name is Lisa Fontana. I am writing to you in reference to your decision to begin selling rabbits in 40 of your stores. I received a request to sign a petition from the Best Friends Network today. I apologize if this letter seems angry or rude, but I was horrified and enraged to learn that you’ve decided to start selling rabbits! How can you think that people will continue to find PetSmart a benevolent company that cares about animals after this decision? How do you intend to continue to tout your company and the people it’s comprised of as a company that advocates responsible treatment of animals? Rabbits are already the third most euthanized animals in shelters across America. So, you are for responsible treatment of the first two (dogs and cats), but the third is not only left to twist in the wind, but rather you’ve decided to turn them in to a windfall? It’s beyond my capacity. It’s beyond the capacity of a lot of people, a lot of people who shop at your stores.

You already know that there are more rabbits in this country at this very moment than homes to care for them. There is no other possible conclusion to be made about your decision to sell them than that they will increase your bottom line. If you were just any ‘ole store tryin’ to make uh buck that would be understandable: Disgusting and self-serving, but understandable. You are, in fact, PetSmart.

I have a Petco right in town (Homewood) and I don’t go there, not even when I really, really need something. Convenience matters nothing to me when it comes to patronizing a company that I believe in. You want to see how fast that will change? Start selling rabbits! They are cute, fun and fleeting. Once the quaintness of a bunny ends they are dumped. You know that and are doing it anyway. That’s unconscionable and contrary to the image you’ve spent years cultivating. I don’t agree with selling reptiles, birds or small rodents, because I know that in the end they are largely mistreated and abused. I let it go because I’ve seen the good you’ve done and I respect that you are following a trend towards compassion to the least among us. To continue to add to that repertoire of the shiny new living creatures you serve up to the public, rather than increasing your adoptions to include abandoned rabbits suggests a shift in your company’s philosophies. If that has occurred then be warned that there will be an immediate shift in my spending habits at your store.

I want to share two things with you: 1. I am an avid PetSmart shopper. I don’t care for Petco and I’ve been always impressed by the types of products PetSmart offers and how well it’s laid out. 2. I will NEVER shop at PetSmart again and I will become a STRONG advocate for promoting the reality of what you stand for should you begin contracting to sell rabbits. You won’t be able to keep telling the masses that you care about animals and that adoption and not purchase is your way. I beg you not to do it. It may make you millions, but at what cost?

I have a shelter dog that I adopted three years ago. She was terribly sick, someone threw her in the garbage as a puppy and she developed e-coli poisoning. It was months and months of hard work to rehabilitate this dog. Dori is now healthy, happy, beautifully trained and wonderfully talented. She’s a hospice volunteer and spent three months on a movie set as our mascot. She has a favorite nylabone she loves to chew and her favorite outdoor toy is the Flying Squirrel Frisbee that glows in the dark. Why I am sharing this with you? Because she IS the dog you tout. She IS what PetSmart says it stands for. A dog coming from nothing, with no hope, is adopted and embraced by a loving family who puts her health and her needs in the hands of PetSmart. Everything we needed, everything that we were asked to buy and provide for her that could be procured at a store was purchased through PetSmart.

On a hunch I pulled a report from my Quicken program and found that from September of 2004 through last week we’ve spent just under $2,000 at your stores. I hope you will also take into account that we had two dogs in our home prior to Dori and they were with us for 10 years. We’ve been PetSmart shoppers since there was a PetSmart to shop at.

I am one person and I can speak only for myself. What I can promise you is a lifelong adversary if you proceed with this incredibly cruel, larcenous decision. Gandhi said that a nation is defined by how it treats its animals, and you’ve built your business on that sacred trust of promoting adoptions and saving lives. I may be in the minority of people who are able to find the time to write a letter, but in my circle alone I can name 7 people who’s previously exclusive business you held will be fully lost as a result of this reckless decision.

It is my sincere hope that this was some right brain hiccup: That some low level lackey came up with this (pardon the pun) hair-brained scheme that somehow made its way to reality. It is my sincere hope that you and the people at PetSmart just weren’t thinking this one through. Lastly, it is my sincere hope that you will amend this incredible lapse in judgment immediately.

Sincerely,

Lisa A. Fontana

Address and telephone number of Petsmart corporate headquarters:

PetSmart, Inc.
19601 North 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027
Phone: (623) 580-6100

Petsmart has used the Rabbit Rescue agencies that have been doing adoptions at their stores for market research. Each time you adopt of bunny from any of these agencies you have to also fill out a Petsmart questionaire. They obviously saw the buying habits of rabbit owners and wanted to cash in.

The so called Petsmart Experts at the test stores don't know anything about rabbits. At our local store they have begun selling rabbits. The "expert" didn't know the sex of the rabbit, advised a small cage and advised feeding the wrong kind of hay. It is all about money not the health and care of animals. This will only continue to subject many more bunnies to a life a neglect and abandoment since they are not educating people correctly on bunnies. There are thousands of bunnies at shelters waiting for good homes. Please continue to sign the petition.

I contacted Petsmart, and recieved this response...

Dear ********,

Thank you for sharing your concerns with us regarding our test of dwarf rabbit sales in our stores. We began testing this concept in 40 stores across the country this month. These rabbits all have been previously spayed or neutered. During this test we’re collecting additional data and information related to breeding, health and care, training, retention, customer satisfaction, adoption vs. sales, population and all other aspects related to sales of these pets. Your feedback is important to us and we’re taking it seriously.

We have received letters and phone calls from various animal welfare organizations including the House Rabbit Society. Because the HRS’s letter addresses a number of concerns that also have been voiced by other groups and individuals, has been widely circulated, and serves as the basis for many of the letters we have received, we have posted both it and our response online at www.petsmartfacts.com. We encourage you to visit this site to read our response and obtain more details about this test.

We take our responsibility seriously when it comes to selling pets, and that’s why we conduct tests before moving forward or discontinuing a program. We share your passion for pets and want to assure you we’ll do what’s right for our Pet Parents and their pets. Thanks again for sharing your concerns with us.


Sincerely,

Doug
PetSmart.com Customer Experience
1989 Transit Way
Brockport, NY 14420
1-888-839-9638
http://www.PetSmart.com/

Unfortunately, NOT all Petcos are doing the same. I'm sorry to say that yours in Illinois is doing something very rare....possibly caring for animals. There should definitely be a petition for Petco as well.

The Petco in Orland Park, IL. does not sell bunnies. The Bunnies they have for adoption are from local adoption/rescue groups. They are sterilized and UTD on shots. I would hope all Petco's are doing the same. Shame on Petsmart for this idea.

Thank you Best Friends for this petition. I have contacted several other animal welfare agencies and all have been on board with stopping the sale of rabbits at Petsmart EXCEPT the ASPCA. I received this very concerning response from them:

Thank you for contacting the ASPCA regarding the sale of rabbits in PetSmart stores. Because there are homeless pets awaiting adoption in almost every community in the nation, the ASPCA strongly advocates that persons wishing to acquire a pet consider adopting one from a shelter or other source of homeless animals.

We understand that this is a test in 40 PetSmart stores, all rabbits will be sterilized, sales will not occur for the two weeks preceding Easter, rabbit adoptions will continue to be promoted in the stores and store associates should be well equipped to answer questions and assist customers in determining whether this type of pet is the right fit for them. PetSmart, through their PetSmart Charities arm (http://www.petsmartcharities.org), has been an incredible supporter of and resource for animal welfare. They have provided programs such as the Rescue Waggin’ (transporting at-risk adoptable animals to areas where they stand a greater chance of adoption), in-store adoptions, grants to shelters, emergency relief (including during Hurricane Katrina), webinars to train shelter professionals and more. PetSmart has ultimately helped more adoptable pets find homes.

If you wish to contact PetSmart to express your concerns about their decision to sell rabbits, we ask that you do so politely and also thank them for all they do on a daily basis on behalf of animals.

Thank you for caring and sharing your concerns.

Sincerely,
Lanie Anton, ASPCA
National Outreach Internet Manager
189 Berdan Avenue, #407, Wayne, NJ 07470
Email: laniea@aspca.org
Phone: 973-628-9494 Fax: 973-686-0173
www.aspca.org/shelters

They had the gall to ask me to thank Petsmart? Obviously their ties to Petsmart are more important than the well being of animals. Thank you again Best Friends for standing up for the bunnies!!!!

Thank you Best Friends for getting involved. PLEASE contact Petsmart to express your outrage at their decision to sell bunnies.

Email: http://www.petsmart.com/global/customerservice/contactUsForm.jsp

CORPCOMMUNICATIONS@SSG.PETSMART.COM

Phone: (800) 738-1385
Fax: (623) 580-6502
Snail mail:
PetSmart, Inc.
19601 North 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027

SEND BACK YOUR PET PERKS CARDS TO :

Robert F. Moran
President and Chief Operating Officer
PetSmart, Inc.
19601 North 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027

I am curious why PETCO isn't included in this campaign & petition. Anyone know?