PetSmart Busted for Illegally Selling Unregistered Pesticides
PetSmart customers, watch out! Just two months after a California environmental agency ordered the pet product retailer to stop selling unregistered pesticides, many of the products were still available in stores and on the official website.
PetSmart Violates California’s Pesticide Regulation Law
In the state of California, it’s illegal to sell products that make pesticide claims, unless they are registered through both the Department of Pesticide Regulation and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Because of this violation, PetSmart was fined close to $400,000 for selling 33 unregistered pesticides in total to their customers in California.
The interesting catch in this regulation is that the statewide law applies only to retailers and not product manufacturers. The reason being is that a retailer should be responsible for the type of products that they sell to their customers.
PetSmart sold unregulated pesticides that included reptile cage liners and dog and cat shampoos. Since the products were unregulated, the state was unable to evaluate them for toxins tfat could easily affect both animals and humans.
PetSmart Isn’t the First Pet Store Offender
PetSmart responded to the legal fine by confirming that they made a mistake in good faith. PetSmart is now complying with California’s legal requirements to keep up with all necessary regulations in the products that they sell.
In order to correct the problem, PetSmart is working with the offending product manufacturers to file new product labels with state agencies. So far, 21 revisions have been made.
Unfortunately, PetSmart isn’t the first offender of its kind as a pet product retailer. Recently, the chain Pet Food Express was fined close to $250,000 for selling a total of nine unregistered pesticides in their store.
How Customers Can Protect Themselves Against Unregulated Pest Control Products
The good news is that most of the products sold without regulation at PetSmart aren’t likely to hurt people or animals. Many of the products that make pesticide claims contain few harmful chemicals. Nonetheless, evaluations are still necessary to protect customers from pesticide products that could contain toxins or other dangerous substances.
Many customers are concerned – and rightly so – since children are likely to play with pets that may have been exposed to unregistered pesticides, thus transferring the chemicals. Customers can protect themselves by researching any chemical products that they buy in advance to make sure that they are both safe and fully regulated.
Although a seemingly innocent product like pet shampoo may not appear to be a household threat, it could contain chemical pesticide ingredients that require proper statewide regulation.
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