The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating the treatment of animals at a Berks County pet supplier.
Tanya Espinosa, spokeswoman from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, confirmed Friday that an investigation has been launched into the animal welfare practices at Holmes Farm Inc., Forgedale Road, District Township.
“I can confirm that we do have an open investigation into this facility. The investigation was started Dec. 2015. There is no time frame on investigations as we want to be as thorough as possible,” said Espinosa in an email Friday.
Holmes, a supplier to large chain pet stores including PetSmart and Petco, has been in business since 1988 and houses thousands of small animals including gerbils, rabbits, chinchillas, guinea pigs and hamsters.
The federal investigation follows the published results of an undercover investigation done by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in which a PETA employee worked undercover for Holmes Farm Inc. over the course of a few months, according to PETA’s website. PETA published a video of the investigation which depicted small animals being placed in plastic bags inside a freezer while still alive and shelves of stacked bins containing small animals that were deprived of food and water.
“Live rats were stuffed into plastic zipper bags or tossed onto plastic lids and put in a freezer, slowly freezing to death even as some frantically tried to claw their way out. Many of these animals were later sold as food for snakes and other carnivorous reptiles,” read a post about Holmes on PETA’s website.
“During nearly three months at the facility, PETA’s observer found hundreds of small animals dead, often in bins in which no water was available,” the post continued.
Major chains including Petco, one of the stores that used the supplier, have stated that they no longer use Holmes as a supplier after doing their own inspection.
“At Petco, we’re committed to providing animals in our stores with the best possible care and treatment; we take this responsibility very seriously and we expect the same of our suppliers,” said Petco spokesperson Lisa Stark in an email Friday. “As a result of our own recent inspections at Holmes Chinchilla Ranch, which are a regular part of our strict vendor oversight protocol, we identified that they did not meet our animal care standards, and have terminated our relationship. Holmes is no longer a supplier to Petco stores.”
PetSmart said in a statement to the Associated Press that it is working to learn about the USDA’s findings.
“An investigation can lead to an Official Warning Letter, which is an enforcement action that does not contain a monetary penalty but does let a facility know they need to come into compliance or we will take further action,” explained Espinosa. “It also lets them know that we will be monitoring them more closely. Or a Stipulation may be issued, which is a monetary penalty. An investigation may be sent to an Administrative Law Judge who would then determine whether to asses a penalty fine, and/or license suspension or revocation.”
A search of records for Holmes Farm Inc. on the USDA’s website indicated that the supplier had “no non-compliant items identified” during routine inspections over the past three years on Jan. 29, 2015, March 31, 2014 and Oct. 24, 2013.
Attempts to reach Holmes Farm Inc. for comment were unsuccessful.
