Bellevue PetSmart Employees Cited For Animal Cruelty

BELLEVUE, TN -- Two weeks after six animals were seized from the store in a raid, three Bellevue PetSmart employees are charged with animal cruelty.

The Metro Department of Health said Kristopher Stengel, Greg Gordon and Tonya Smith were cited Friday on misdemeanor animal cruelty resulting from an investigation into the store connected to the March 29 raid. They will report for booking May 7 and a court date will be set.

Metro Animal Care and Control and Metro Police raided the store after allegations of abuse and neglect.

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MACC seized six animals - hamsters, mice and guinea pigs - and requested veterinary records and animal-care policies from the Sawyer Brown Road store. MACC obtained warrants after the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals produced a video allegedly showing injured, sick and neglected animals at some PetSmart locations, including the One Bellevue Place location.

PETA said it provided authorities with photos and video of neglected animals specifically at the Bellevue location and praised Nashville authorities for quick action.

A PetSmart employee passed information to PETA, saying that a guinea pig contracted multiple illnesses, including infections that spread to its heart and brain. A mouse died at the store a month after contracting what was apparently a respiratory infection and eye irritation. PETA also said more than 200 dead fish were collected from tanks in a single day at the Bellevue store.

PETA said managers at the Bellevue store were "observed repeatedly refusing to provide sick, injured and dying animals with veterinary care in order to 'keep costs down' so they would receive bonuses." The organization said a supervisor ordered staff not to tell customers that PetSmart buys animals from a Georgia company put on probation by that state's agriculture department following a PETA investigation in 2010.

The animals seized during the raid are reportedly "doing better."

"These charges are an important first step toward achieving some measure of justice for the sick, neglected animals who were left to suffer and die without care. Authorities did the right thing here, and PETA encourages kind consumers to do their part as well by not shopping at PetSmart until it stops selling live beings and sells only supplies," PETA said in a statement.

Photo by J.R. Lind, Patch staff