South Gloucestershire | Archive | 2005 | August | 12
From the Gazette, first published Friday 12th Aug 2005.
COMPANY bosses at Wyevale - the national garden centre chain with a branch at Milbury Heath near Thornbury - have come under to fire for selling pets alongside the petunias.
Animal rights campaigners say customers should not be encouraged to buy small animals and birds "on a whim" without giving ownership proper consideration.
Members of the Animal Aid organisation also claim that garden centre staff often lacked sufficient knowledge to give proper advice on pet care.
Animal Aid official Claudia Tarry said: "People go to garden centres to buy plants, not pets, but they can be tempted to make impulse buys particularly if they have children.
"But animals are not just cute and cuddly live toys and when people realise they can be expensive and need looking after they can be abandoned."
She said Animal Aid would keep up its campaign again the garden centre firm - reputed to be the second biggest retailer of pets in the country - until it phased out the sale of live animals.
A spokesman for Hereford-based Wyevale said the firm took its responsibilities as a pet retailer very seriously.
"The welfare of animals in the care of Wyevale is of paramount importance and the company has also set out strict procedures in order to maintain the highest standards," she said.
"There are ongoing staff training programmes to ensure the company and its employees work within the framework set down by legislation and the Pet Care Trust."
The latest criticism follows a national furore in May last year after it emerged that Wyevale had called in a pest control firm to shoot two baby robins and one of the parents, which were nesting in the centre.
A subsequent government investigation concluded that the killings were legal and proper procedures were followed.
However, the DEFRA report also criticised Wyevale bosses and warned them to "reassess" their approach to wildlife problems.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008