| 11.10.06
Taken from The Argus:
"Protesters ‘driving out’ pet trader
A pet shop owner has complained that animal rights protesters have orchestrated
a campaign to drive him out of business.
Phil Porter says he is being evicted from a breeding site he rents as
a direct result of bad publicity from the campaign.
The Southern Animal Rights Coalition (Sarc) organises a weekly picket
of his shop, Furry Friends, in The Square, Barnham, every Sunday.
The group has also distributed leaflets to every household in Barnham.
Mr Porter said: "I'd be a fool to say it hasn't had some effect on
the business.
"They basically want to close me down."
He said some customers are put off by the claims made by the protesters
while others do not wish to walk past demonstrators on their way into
the shop.
The campaigners say animals kept by the owner at the shop and the Old
Fuel Depot, Mr Porter's breeding site, do not live in suitable conditions.
Sarah
Davies, 26, of Sarc's headquarters in Dorset, said: "We're still
doing a weekly demo, peacefully handing out leaflets to the public, talking
to them about who we are and asking people to boycott the shop.
"The aim is not to close the shop down. Ideally we want no animals
in the shop and for him to expand the pet care accessories."
Four members of the group were prosecuted after entering the Old Fuel
Depot in June last year.
They took video footage and removed more than 80 animals including birds,
rabbits and dogs.
Mr Porter said: "The question I would like to ask them is, had they
not been caught stealing my property and trespassing on my property, would
they have protested outside my shop?
"It has been more of a personal vendetta for being caught out than
the reasons they are making out."
Klare Kennett, South East regional spokeswoman for the RSPCA, confirmed
the charity had recieved complaints about conditions at the shop, but
said a visiting inspector found no problems requiring further action."
Taken from: www.theargus.co.uk/search/display.var.961855.0.protesters_driving_out_pet_trader.php
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