Animal advocates want Pets at Home to stop selling rabbits, hamsters, and other pets on shop floors.
Protestors rallied outside Pets At Home in Glasgow Forge calling on the chain to ‘stop selling live animals animals’ in their chain stores.
Campaigners from Rescue Not Retail, a nationwide group highlighting animal suffering in the pet industry, held signs reading “Adopt Don’t Shop” during the two-hour protest.
The Glasgow protest is part of a wider UK week of action, with similar demonstrations taking place in Edinburgh, Derby, Dorchester, Huddersfield, Leeds, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Portsmouth, and Southampton.
Rrival chain Jollyes removed live animals from all stores earlier this year, earning praise from animal rescues, and campaigners want to see Pets At Home follow suit.
However, Pets at Home insist that animal welfare is at the centre of what they do and that they also rehome animals via their adoption partner.
Live animals are sold in the majority of Pets At Home stores; rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, gerbils, fishes, insects and reptiles.
Chris Rhodes, an ecologist from Glasgow, said: “Animals are thinking, feeling individuals, not objects, ornaments or toys to be bought. Pets At Home must stop selling animals and promote adoption, to combat the rescue crisis.”
The campaign has received backing from high-profile figures including Chris Packham, Dame Joanna Lumley, Gail Porter, Peter Egan, as well as 29 veterinary professionals and 25 animal rescues.
Chris Packham added: “It’s time we stopped treating sentient, feeling animals as products on a shelf. Every small animal sold in a shop is an individual, not a toy or decoration.
“Like ourselves, each hamster, rabbit, guinea pig and so on has just one life to live and they deserve not to be commodified. Keeping animals on shop floors encourages people to buy them on a whim, which is fuelling a rescue crisis in the UK. If we truly love animals we must end the sale of them in stores.”
A Pets at Home spokesperson says: “We play an important role in ensuring people who wish to welcome pets into a loving home are able to do so from a trustworthy and reliable source, which has animal welfare at its heart. From rigorous welfare routines within our petcare centres, access to 24/7 veterinary care, colleague training and welfare checks at point of purchase, we have robust systems in place to ensure our pets are loved and cared for until they arrive at their forever homes.
“We’re acutely aware of the need to be there for pets at every stage of their life, no matter what changes may occur to a family’s circumstance. Together with our independent charitable arm – the Pets Foundation – we are the largest rehomer of small animals in the UK via our in-store adoption centres, and support hundreds of rehoming and rescue charities across the UK.”
