PETA posts shocking video of Petco supplier gassing, freezing pets

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights group, has uncovered another case of pet abuse in Pennsylvania. It involves a supplier of animals to Petco, which prompted PETA to call for a boycott of Petco and the supplier, Holmes Farm.

A two-minute, 14-second video posted on YouTube by PETA shows thousands of animals, such as ferrets, chinchillas, gerbils, rabbits, hamsters and other furry pets - eventually sold to animal stores like Petco, PetSmart and Pet Supplies Plus - living in cramped conditions. But the worst part is that the supply mill in Barto slaughters the animals by the hundreds.

Some are gassed with carbon dioxide and other made to die slowly by freezing, reports The New York Daily Post. Those culled are sick and injured animals that workers of Holmes Farm just kill rather than have the pets checked by a veterinarian.

After the animals are gassed and presumed dead, the employees allegedly do not bother to check if any is alive. Instead, the burnt animals are placed in the trash, wrapped in plastic and sold as feeders. PETA says the pets die because it stays in crowded cages inside the dirty and windowless warehouse of Holmes.

Besides the airless and crowded condition, the place also stenches of urine and faeces, while one building floor has blood splattered on it. The blood splatters were from the animals that were preyed by roaming cats. PETA notes that the cats regularly jump in and out of the small bins.

The animal rights group adds that some of the rodents are carriers of rat-bite fever which could be potentially fatal and transmissible to people. The infected mice has led to two lawsuits against Petco, PETA discloses.

Holmes is already being investigated by the US Department of Agriculture. Petco says it has cut business dealings with Holmes, but PETA insists that an investigator of the group witnessed the delivery of animals to Petco as late as Jan 5 even after the USDA has initiated a probe into Holmes.

The pet shop posted on its Facebook page, “We take animal care very seriously and we expect the same of our suppliers.”