Sandy MaloneLas Vegas, NV – Law enforcement officers who take their pets to the PetSmart in northwest Las Vegas said they were shocked to find employees wearing “Defund the Police” bracelets and see a Black Lives Matter fist on the bulletin board in the grooming area.
Two different police officers told The Police Tribune they encountered the Black Lives Matter display in mid-November at the PetSmart located in the 6600-block of N. Durango Drive.
“Took my dog to petsmart for grooming today,” one officer captioned a picture posted to social media. “The girl who checked me in had on a defund the police / BLM bracelet, then this was on their salon board.”
The picture, which the officer said was taken on Nov. 23, showed the bulletin board next to the check-in counter for grooming.
The top of the board featured pictures of the “safety-certified staff” and reminder to wear masks.
But the bottom of the board contained a picture of late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with the caption “I Dissent” and the symbolic Black Lives Matter raised fist with names all over it.
“Needless to say I will not be back,” the officer wrote. “The area this store is in is an area with a large police community. Way to alienate a large portion of your clientele.”
The officer told The Police Tribune they were “upset and saddened” to see the anti-police display at PetSmart.
But the officer said they become even more disappointed after they reached out to the pet store chain’s corporate headquarters and got no response.
“I was disappointed that they would allow that when I first saw it,” the officer told The Police Tribune. “Now I’m even more disappointed that PetSmart’s corporate did not even bother to respond to my email.”
“Their failure to even bother responding to my complaint told me all that I needed to know about that company,” they added.
Another law enforcement officer confirmed that they also saw the Black Lives Matter signage at the PetSmart location on N. Durango when they visited that store on Nov. 18.
“It was on a bulletin board right when you walk into the grooming center,” the second officer told The Police Tribune.
The officer said they were surprised to see something so political posted at PetSmart.
“I was just disappointed because I just don’t want to see politics in the work place. I feel like it should just be a neutral environment,” the officer explained.
The Police Tribune reached out to PetSmart’s corporate headquarters multiple times for comment but received no response.
Karen, the manager at PetSmart’s N. Durango store, told The Police Tribune on Monday that she wasn’t authorized to talk to the media but promised to pass the message along to the company’s media representative.
Holly Matkin
