PETA Calls for Policy Changes at PetSmart Following Animal Cruelty Arrest

PETA this week fired off a letter to PetSmart CEO J.K. Symancyk urging the company to implement a screening system for animal buyers—or better yet, to end its sales of live animals entirely, following the arrest of a man who has been charged with six counts of cruelty to animals after allegedly stabbing and drowning hamsters he said he purchased at a PetSmart store.

According to a PETA press release, the group’s Emergency Response Team had received complaints about the man’s disturbing videos and provided law-enforcement authorities with extensive forensic research that helped in tracking him down.

“PetSmart sold vulnerable hamsters to someone who tortured them, in part because the chain sells vulnerable animals to anyone who can pay,” said PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling on PetSmart to try to prevent acts of cruelty like this from ever happening again—and the only foolproof way for it to do that is to stop selling animals.”