'I’m Not Going to Take It to an Emergency Vet … There's No Point in Me Paying That for a $15 Animal'

Managers at the Nashville store repeatedly refused to provide sick, injured, and dying animals with veterinary care in order to “keep costs down” so that they would receive bonuses.

These animals included Faron, a guinea pig who suffered from an abscessed wound on his back, dehydration, and painful gastrointestinal stasis. A supervisor said that she “pushed” on a wound on the back of his neck because it contained pus, and the store manager repeatedly told the eyewitness that he would not take the guinea pig to a veterinarian. PETA’s eyewitness rescued the little animal, who had to be hospitalized but was eventually placed in a loving home.

Townes, another guinea pig, had an abscessed knee joint that spread infection to his heart, his brain, and elsewhere. Townes was unable to stand or even right himself. When managers refused to rush him for veterinary treatment, PETA’s eyewitness did, and a veterinarian recommended euthanasia to end his suffering. The store manager said, “I’m not going to take it to an emergency vet to get put down … ‘Cause if you take it to the emergency vet, you’re gonna pay an extra $200, $300. There’s no point in me paying that for a $15 animal.”

Tony, a mouse, languished for more than a month with an irritated eye and apparent respiratory infection before he died, even though a supervisor admitted that his eye was “awful” and that it was “ridiculous” that he had not been taken to a veterinarian.

Managers instructed workers to cut other corners. When the eyewitness told a manager that the Nashville store was out of guinea pig food, the response was, “We can’t order [more food] … we’re gonna miss our bonuses.”