OATA applauds prosecution of unlicensed pet shop
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The Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association has welcomed action by Kettering Borough Council which took an unlicensed pet shop owner to court.
“I very much welcome the actions taken by Kettering Borough Council and hope it sets an example to other councils,” said OATA Chief Executive Keith Davenport.
“We are concerned that ‘enterprises’ that trade on and through the internet and social media sites can avoid the inspections and costs that bona-fide businesses like our members have to incur. And of course the public do not get the same consumer protection buying from an individual that they do buying from a business.
“We hope this will encourage people to report sellers to their local council if they are selling large quantities of fish online or through social media sites like closed Facebook pages. These sellers should have pet shop licence if they are a business and it’s not acceptable that their welfare standards should avoid inspection and scrutiny by the relevant authority as any aquatics shop selling fish must do.
“Royal Mail has also recently confirmed to us that it will not accept fish (except small fish fry) or hard corals for postage so we would urge customers not to buy from people who say they ship fish or hard corals through the post.”
Read the Kettering Borough Council press release here.
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