Brookstone In Trouble for Running Illegal Pet Shops
Brookstone’s “Frog-O-Sphere”—a tiny plastic box containing two African frogs and a snail—is a guaranteed death sentence for these animals, who are slowly poisoned by their own waste in these mini-prisons.
Brookstone store employees—many of whom are straight out of high school, not vet school—are the sole caretakers of these animals while the Frog-O-Spheres are in the stores. According to Brookstone’s head honchos, the only time these frogs receive any “care” is when employees briefly peer into the Frog-O-Sphere to check on the animals’ condition. After performing these spot checks, employees are instructed merely to write down whether the frogs are “expired,” sick/injured, or healthy. Despite any store’s claim that it has a veterinarian on file (per the Frog-O-Sphere SOPs), sick or injured frogs never receive medical attention. Instead, these animals—who are sensitive to sound and even minimal changes in temperature—are merely stashed in the back of the store until they either die or recover on their own.
Turns out this is illegal—in the Garden State, at least.
We did some digging and discovered that pet shops in New Jersey are required to provide veterinary care for sick or injured animals and must be licensed with the township in which they’re located—both are details that Brookstone seems to have missed.
After we brought this to the attention of NJ authorities, PETA received word from across the state that inspectors were on the case (PETA quickly confirmed that a Princeton-area Brookstone has no license on file, and alerted local health authorities, who immediately issued a cease and desist order to the store.). The state’s Office of Animal Welfare has also taken an interest in this matter because Brookstone was informed about the various permits that were needed before its stores even began selling these tiny torture chambers, but the company failed to obtain them.
Click here to tell Brookstone that it’s time to stop selling living beings at all its stores.
Written by Jeff Mackey
