- Aug
- 27
Update:Brookstone In Trouble for Running Illegal Pet Shops
Posted by Guest Blogger at 6:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
This post, written by Jeff Mackey , originally appeared on The PETA Files.
Brookstone’s “Frog-O-Sphere”—a tiny plastic box containing two African frogs and a snail—is a guaranteed death sentence for these animals, who are slowly poisoned by their own waste in these mini-prisons.
Brookstone store employees—many of whom are straight out of high school, not vet school—are the sole caretakers of these animals while the Frog-O-Spheres are in the stores. According to Brookstone’s head honchos, the only time these frogs receive any “care” is when employees briefly peer into the Frog-O-Sphere to check on the animals’ condition. After performing these spot checks, employees are instructed merely to write down whether the frogs are “expired,” sick/injured, or healthy. Despite any store’s claim that it has a veterinarian on file (per the Frog-O-Sphere SOPs), sick or injured frogs never receive medical attention. Instead, these animals—who are sensitive to sound and even minimal changes in temperature—are merely stashed in the back of the store until they either die or recover on their own.
Turns out this is illegal—in the Garden State, at least.
We did some digging and discovered that pet shops in New Jersey are required to provide veterinary care for sick or injured animals and must be licensed with the township in which they’re located—both are details that Brookstone seems to have missed.
After we brought this to the attention of NJ authorities, PETA received word from across the state that inspectors were on the case (PETA quickly confirmed that a Princeton-area Brookstone has no license on file, and alerted local health authorities, who immediately issued a cease and desist order to the store.). The state’s Office of Animal Welfare has also taken an interest in this matter because Brookstone was informed about the various permits that were needed before its stores even began selling these tiny torture chambers, but the company failed to obtain them.
Click here to tell Brookstone that it’s time to stop selling living beings at all its stores.
Posted to Family & Friends | Posted to Tags: Brookstone, frogs, Guest Blogger
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Laura Guttridge says...
August 28th, 2009, 8:55 am
I am so happy to hear this wonderful news. Good job PETA!!!
Michael Blott says...
August 28th, 2009, 1:32 pm
Thank you PETA for following through with this. As a child, I had many frogs and small animals that I truly had no idea how to care for and you can easily surmise how they ended. No one educated me to respect the life they contained. Not that I was cruel, I was ignorant. We all have a chance to change that. How wonderful would it have been to have had that lesson in my youth.
judith says...
August 30th, 2009, 6:30 am
It never ceases to amaze me what some companies do for profit. Thank you Peta for continuing to do what you do.
jade says...
September 25th, 2009, 1:54 pm
good news! thank you peta for that!