Animal rights activists protest against pet shops selling animals

Animal rights activists protested outside PetWorld XXL in Diep River on Saturday, October 18, calling on animal lovers to boycott the store and other shops that sell animals, until there are no longer any animals “on the shelves.”

Cassi Goodman, spokesperson for the animal rights activist group, said they were creating awareness that “animals are not products and should not be treated as such. '

"Selling animals in pet shops contributes hugely to the animal rescue crisis in the country.“

Ms Goodman said they were a group of concerned animal rights activists, made up of people involved in rescues, animal lovers, BAT (Ban Animal Trading) supporters, and more. “Just ordinary people trying to prevent the suffering caused by the pet trade, basically,” she said.

Their drive was to protest until pet shops no longer sell animals.

“We have protested on Saturday, October 4 and Saturday, October 18. There have been protests at PetWorld XXL Diep River, PetWorld XXL N1 City, PetWorld XXL Somerset West, and Friendly Petz in Durbanville. The next round of protests is being planned for Saturday, November 1."

Ms Goodman said the initiative started when a group got together, as many of them have been involved in animal rights for a long time. “Many of us work in rescue, so we see firsthand how animals suffer due to the animal overpopulation crisis - animals being dumped, neglected, not getting the care they need... Animal welfare organisations have been working for years to get the legislation changed to make it illegal for animals to be sold in pet shops. But the animals going through the pet shop system don’t have years to wait.”

This round of protests started when a well-known retailer announced that they would be opening pet shops and that it plan to sell animals at some of their stores. “The outcry and threats of retailer boycotts were enough for them to change direction and reverse that decision. We are hoping that a similar outcry and boycotts of pet shops that sell animals will pressure other stores to do the same. It seemed like a good time to step up the pressure while there was media and public attention on an issue that generally gets ignored,” said Ms Goodman.

When asked where animal lovers can adopt, Ms Goodman said: “Everyone knows about places where you can adopt a rescue dog or a rescue kitten, but unfortunately, people are not really aware that there are many small animal rescues, desperate to find a good home for the animals in their care. Rabbits, rats, hamsters, birds - so many of them are sitting at a rescue, right now. These rescues are almost always self-funded, and they can only do so much. There are rabbit colonies all over Cape Town that just can’t be helped due to a lack of resources,” she said.

For more information on animal adoption, visit www.adoptdontshop.org.za/list-of-rescue-organisations/