PetSmart is ignoring evidence of its role in the wildlife trade

We have been reaching out to PetSmart Canada for over two years, offering support, research and evidence about the wildlife trade. We have been asking them to meet with us to discuss their role in the trade and to make them aware of our concerns. Unfortunately, PetSmart has remained silent despite our outreach.

Since we launched our Wildlife. Not Pets campaign in 2019, we have become a trusted partner on issues related to the exotic pet trade. For example:

• In 2019, we released the first ever report on the exotic pet trade and prevalence of exotic pet ownership in Canada.
• In 2020, we co-organized an exotic pet webinar series attended by more than 400 professionals from the animal welfare community, public health, wildlife conservation and different levels of government.
• Since November 2020, we have been part of the Ontario Advisory Table to advise the government on the best approaches to improve the welfare of animals in the province.

In their code of ethics and integrity, PetSmart claims to be a responsible, ethical company concerned about animal welfare. If they really care about animal welfare for all animals, they should want to meet with us to talk about our concerns about the trade of reptiles and amphibians.

When we all speak out, PetSmart cannot continue to look the other way. Please sign our petition to help us move PetSmart to take their commitment to animal welfare seriously and meet with us.

Timeline of engagement with PetSmart

The first time we reached out to PetSmart was in September 2018. At that time, we invited them to speak at or be involved with the very first exotic pet workshop series that we organized together with Zoocheck, another Canadian-based animal welfare group. Since September 2018, we have reached out to PetSmart on several other occasions:

You can read our most recent letter to PetSmart here.

PetSmart remains silent. For this reason, we launched our public campaign asking Canadians to join us in telling PetSmart to stop supporting the wildlife trade and end the sale of reptiles and amphibians.

Help move PetSmart to meet with us. Please sign our petition and support our campaign: