An Eltham pet shop has lost its licence after inspectors raised concerns for the health and wellbeing of its animals \u2013 but its owner insists they are all well-loved and looked after. <\/p>\n
The News Shopper reported that the Pet Lodge on Court Road had its licence renewal rejected in December following a welfare visit regarding an underweight gecko, and a full inspection which was carried out in September 2023.<\/p>\n
An inspector said: \u201cFrom these two visits, I have concerns around the licence holder\u2019s ability to identify and suitably manage animal welfare issues in relation to poor health and injury.<\/p>\n
The business owner, Kenneth, told the News Shopper that during his two decades in business, he has always loved and taken good care of the animals he sells.<\/p>\n
The business started as The Fish Lodge in 2001, before rebranding as The Pet Lodge in 2011 after it expanded into reptiles, birds and small animals.<\/p>\n
Kenneth said he now has a big decision to make about the shop\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been here 21 years and I’ve had 42 inspections during that time. Every time they\u2019ve tried to say this or that is wrong. It\u2019s an old shop but the animals are all happy and the fish are swimming,\u201d he said.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIf I was that bad then I would have been closed many years ago. If the animals were in a terrible state we\u2019d get complaints from customers and we\u2019d be shut down within months. But that\u2019s not the case. I\u2019ve had generations of people coming in here on recommendations.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n At the appeal hearing Greenwich Council and the City of London said that Kenneth does not accept the legitimacy of the regulatory framework designed to secure the welfare of animals.<\/p>\n They said:<\/p>\n \u201cDespite considerable support over many years there is a consistent pattern of non-compliance with obligations as to record keeping, conditions in which animals are kept, seeking veterinary assistance for sick animals and ensuring appropriate skills in those engaged with the animals. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMr Lodge has shown little interest in improving the conditions for animals he has responsibility for and little regard for his obligations.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Kenneth said many shops are closing down due to inspections which put owners \u201cthrough the ringer\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point I\u2019m thinking is it worth it? Even if I get the licence back I have to be open to a grilling every time there\u2019s an inspection,\u201d Kenneth said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the long term it will force the trade underground, then you\u2019ll hear stories about animals being mistreated.\u201d<\/p>\n Kenneth first had his licence renewal refused in May 2021, but on that occasion he successfully appealed the decision.<\/p>\n He\u2019s yet to make a decision, but if this is the end of the shop Kenneth said he has fond memories of his two decades in business.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m quite proud of what I’ve done over the years, I\u2019ve helped so many people with their animals,\u201d Kenneth said.<\/p>\n A Greenwich Council spokesperson said:<\/p>\n “We welcome the outcome of this decision, which reflects the robustness of the council\u2019s decision to revoke the licence.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe council has a duty to ensure that animals and pets are given the best care possible.<\/em><\/p>\n “We expect licence holders to comply with the relevant requirements, which are designed to ensure animals have the highest possible standard of safeguarding.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An Eltham pet shop has lost its licence after inspectors raised concerns for the health and wellbeing of its animals \u2013 but its owner insists they are all well-loved and looked after.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/instituteoflicensing.org\/news_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/instituteoflicensing.org\/news_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/instituteoflicensing.org\/news_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instituteoflicensing.org\/news_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instituteoflicensing.org\/news_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/instituteoflicensing.org\/news_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/instituteoflicensing.org\/news_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instituteoflicensing.org\/news_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instituteoflicensing.org\/news_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}