Help Me Make A Difference!

For those of you that met Louie and Artie you probably fell in love with them, they were amazing rats that only wanted to make the people around them happy. They were full of personality and brought so much joy into my family’s lives. You might also know where I bought them from, PetSmart.

When I first got them I noticed they had runny noses and sneezed an awful lot, an indication of respiratory illnesses. I ignored it because the box said every animal was individually checked by a vet.

As they got older I noticed other things, Louie had kink in his tail, this is a sign of being inbred. For those of you that dont know this, being inbred is terrible for rodents because it makes them subject to tumors and other deadly illnesses. At this point I started to wonder how my rats could be so young but have respiratory illnesses and a kinked tail.

They died a week ago, they were only 1 year and 4 months old meaning they died approximately 1 year sooner than they were supposed to. Cause of death: Louie developed pneumonia from respiratory illness, the vet explained to me that a rare percentage of animals develop pneumonia from respiratory viruses. Artie died from complications of the virus. Little Fox, who was purchased at an independent pet store is healthy as a horse.

Like a good petowner, I skipped out on class and rushed Louie to the vet where I dropped about 80 bucks for his exam, shot and two rxs of baytril for him and Artie. The vet was so concerned for Louie that he wanted to put him in an oxygen tent over night for an additional 40 dollars. Louie died just 2 hours later, Artie died 3 days later.

I began to link their illnesses with the source and found some HORRIFIC evidence of PetSmart’s suppliers. I had suspicions that these rats were taken from pet mills but what I discovered was far worse than any of us could imagine.

http://www.petsmartcruelty.com/

Though the video is heart breaking I ask that you please watch it. I did, and it was very hard for me since this is where my rats came from and this is how they were treated.

We can make a difference though, and I am going to try my best to get everyone interested. Please stop shopping at PetSmart, I know it’s hard especially in small cities but we have to put an end to this. Buy your pet supplies at places like Critters, Target and Picket’s if you need to know where any of these places are please email me. Especially Critters, they get their animals from breeders who love their animals very much and take good care of them. They don’t have much but Im sure if you ask, they will be able to special order supplies for you.

Please help me make a difference, I dont want this to happen to ANY animal and this has to be stopped before more animals and pet owners go through what Little Fox, me and my family have gone through these past couple of weeks.