A censored photo of the deceased rabbits, still lying in their pen during the morning of Nov. 7.
A joint investigation between the Lansdale Borough Police Department and the Montgomery County SPCA was launched on Monday after six dead rabbits were found still-inside their pen at Pets Plus on South Broad Street on Saturday morning.
Lansdale resident Justin Kratz said he walked into the store shortly after 9 a.m. on Nov. 7 to pick up food for his dogs when he heard a young male customer yelling about all of the store’s rabbits being dead.
“[The young male] began to take a picture and that’s when I decided I should document the occurrence with a picture as well,” said Kratz, who took a photo of his own. “The employees started to make their way over one by one, with all being shocked at what they saw. As I was leaving the store, I heard one employee say that one of the rabbits was still alive and I watched them use a long cardboard box to remove the dead rabbits.”
Indeed, six of the seven rabbits that were housed in the pen had been killed, and, according to Montgomery County SPCA Officer Sharon Dillon, investigators immediately suspected that the animals may have been poisoned. However, when the surviving rabbit was taken to the veterinarian for medical treatment, it was discovered that the rabbit’s ribs had been broken.
The discovery of broken ribs led Pets Plus Director of Operations Dawn Bateman to review the store’s surveillance footage, which revealed that an adult dog had escaped from its pen and killed the rabbits while the store was closed.
“At first we thought that they were poisoned because all of them were deceased,” said Bateman. “We were very confused, but there was one surviving rabbit which we took to the vet. The vet said that the rabbit had broken ribs, so we reviewed our cameras which revealed a dog getting out of its cage, climbing into the pen and killing the rabbits.”
“My staff is completely devastated,” Bateman added. “We are all animal lovers, and all of us are a mess.”
Dillon said that the investigation into the incident concluded that there was no foul play, though there was a degree of negligence.
“This situation could have been handled better, but there were no direct laws broken,” said Dillon. “It’s no longer a criminal investigation.”
Dillon added that she has received prior calls about incidents at the location, but added that where previous investigations had found problems, store personnel rectified the issues immediately.
“It was a tragedy and no direct fault of theirs, though there was a level of negligence,” Dillon said. “I think this tragedy has [the store] reconsidering their protocols and procedures.”
To that extent, Bateman told North Penn Now that the store has moved the rabbit pens and they don’t plan on carrying rabbits for the foreseeable future. Additionally, Bateman said that the store plans to utilize a different style of pen that is more secure for the adult dogs, and they’ve adjusted their opening procedures to ensure that all animals are fed and checked-on prior to opening.
When asked about the store opening and not realizing the rabbits were dead, Bateman said she didn’t have an answer but assured that it would not happen again.
“I don’t know what happened on that day, when the manager skipped over and didn’t see the rabbits prior to opening the store,” said Bateman. “We’re all very upset. We take a lot of pride in our animals, we’re rescuing all of these cats and dogs and finding them good homes. They’re coming from shelters, which may not be so good, and we bring them here to get them homes in the area. We love our animals, and this has affected everyone here.”
The surviving rabbit has been released from the veterinary clinic and is currently being fostered, and no action will be taken against the dog who killed the other six rabbits, Bateman said.
For Kratz, however, the incident was enough of a shock that he said he will no longer patronize Pets Plus unless serious changes are made by the store.
“My reaction to the incident was a sense of shock, it felt surreal but I wasn’t 100% surprised by it happening at that store, in particular, based on the condition of the store that I’ve noticed over the years,” said Kratz, when asked about the incident. “Moving forward, I will not be able to purchase my pet’s products at Pets Plus until I see serious change made by the store.”
Pets Plus is located at 55 South Broad Street in Lansdale Borough. To report any type of negligence or criminal activity involving animals, please contact Officer Sharon Dillon of the Montgomery County SPCA at 610-825-0111.
See also:
Stolen Puppy Returned To Pets Plus, Male Suspect ID’d As Police Continue Search For Female Suspect
Police Investigating Theft Of 3-Month-Old 'Butters' From Pets Plus In Lansdale
Pets Plus In Lansdale Fined For Illegal Transfer Of Ownership Of Puppies
Popeyes Spokesperson Addresses Animal Butchering Incident At Hatfield Location
Health Inspectors Receive Complaint Of Animal Being Butchered At Popeyes Chicken In Hatfield
