Whistleblower comes forward about PetSmart reptile suffering
Animal neglect, suffering and death were documented by an ex-employee of the PetSmart’s reptile supplier, prompting calls for the company to stop selling live animals.
Zip ties were placed around the necks of dragons used for breeding, like this young female, who was found dead.
Animal advocates are calling for a halt of the sale of bearded dragons at PetSmart following whistleblower evidence of animal cruelty and neglect.
Sick, injured, and dead animals were documented at Reptiles by Mack, an Ohio-based breeding facility that supplies reptiles to PetSmart.
The footage, filmed by a whistleblower who worked at the operation, reveals bearded dragons shaking and twitching uncontrollably—reportedly due to a suspected virus—and suffering from severed limbs and tails. Animals were also denied basic necessities, including water, among other severe deprivations, according to the whistleblower.
In response to the findings, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has sent a letter to PetSmart’s CEO urging the corporation to end its sales of bearded dragons as a first step—and is calling on the public to consider staying out of the chain’s stores until it stops selling all live animals.
“When people buy animals from PetSmart—whether they came from a miserable breeder like this one or were abducted from the wild—they’re propping up a system in which suffering and deprivation thrive,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA calls on PetSmart to stop peddling in misery and end all live-animal sales, and until it does, urges consumers to take a stand against the systemic cruelty of the pet trade by steering clear of this animal trafficker’s stores.”
Thousands of baby dragons were imported from overseas, packed by the dozen in tiny plastic containers.
The whistleblower, who worked at the operation for nearly a year, told PETA that he “stuck it out” at the facility “to see what I might be able to do to help the animals,” but that he was “at the end of [his] rope … as every attempt to nurture the dragons is met with stern threats of write-ups for ‘being off task.’”
Rampant neglect was detailed in the whistleblower’s report, which described animals suffering from severe dehydration and desperately seeking water.
Female dragons used for breeding were reportedly left in garbage cans to lay eggs for up to six days without food or water. Dehydrated reptiles scrambled to drink water droplets during infrequent cleanings of their enclosures and drank continuously when misted by the whistleblower.
Representatives of big-box pet stores gave the facility a week’s notice before visits, allowing staff time to work late and “deep clean” the bearded dragon department ahead of inspections by PetSmart representatives, according to the report.
Dr. Ann-Elizabeth Nash, the executive director of the Colorado Reptile Humane Society and an expert on lizard behavior who reviewed the whistleblower footage, said, “Bearded dragons will drink water if they are thirsty—and the greater the thirst, the more likely it is they will drink any water they find available. … The intensity of the drinking response in [the video] suggests these animals are very thirsty and likely dehydrated.”
Adenovirus, a highly contagious virus spread through poor sanitation, was widespread throughout the breeding operation, as confirmed by the facility’s supervisor. Bearded dragons were filmed shaking and twitching violently—symptoms of the virus, which can also cause liver and kidney disease, encephalitis, and other painful conditions.
Despite being aware of the infection, the facility reportedly took no measures to contain the virus and may have shipped sick dragons and/or asymptomatic carriers to pet stores nationwide, according to PETA.
“The conditions evidenced in the videos and photographs are appalling—unnecessarily barren habitats; deprived feeding and hydration regimes … and a depraved indifference to animal injury, disease, and the pain and suffering it produces,” said Nash. “It is more than possible to improve the conditions of these animals—that they are denied appropriate care and timely medical intervention is unconscionable.”
Over a period of less than eight weeks, at least 420 bearded dragons, including dozens of baby dragons labeled as “slow growers,” were euthanized using carbon dioxide, the whistleblower also reports.
This baby’s remains were completely skeletal.
This is not the first time Reptiles by Mack has come under fire for animal abuse. A 2016 PETA investigation into the operation revealed similar instances of deprivation, neglect, and cruelty. Despite being made aware of the allegations at the time, PetSmart did not drop Reptiles by Mack as a supplier.
Other exposé into animal dealers with ties to large pet store chains include Holmes Farm, U.S. Global Exotics, Sun Pet, Rainbow World Exotics, and North American Pet Distributors.
Please join PETA in urging PetSmart to stop selling bearded dragons as a first step—and let them know that you won’t shop at its stores until it stops selling all animals. Send the letter here.
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