One-Minute Mission: Brookstone Call-In! October 1, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at October 1, 2009 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 5 ) | TrackBack

Got one minute? Take part in our latest one-minute mission by making a polite phone call in behalf of animals by 4:30pm on Friday, October 2. Frogs dying for Brookstone's greed need your voice!

Call Brookstone at 603-577-8010 and ask to speak with CEO Philip Roizin. Politely tell him that you won't support a store that makes money off the suffering of animals by selling 'Frog-O-Spheres.' Imagine how you'd feel living your whole life crammed into a small container!

Despite stories and videos that shed light on Brookstone's shameful decision to sell frogs in tiny containers, the company's CEO keeps on hiding from the truth. Brookstone is profiting off cruelty, and that's just not acceptable. It's really that simple.


Call Brookstone at 603-577-8010 and make your voice heard. Better yet, get some of your friends and family to call too!

E-mail StreetTeam@peta2.com with a report on how your call went, and we'll give you 1,000 Street Team points!

Also, don't forget to get in touch if you're interested in handing out leaflets to put some pressure on Brookstone!

Thanks!

Leaflets to Take on Brookstone September 15, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at September 15, 2009 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

For whatever reason, the people at Brookstone refuse to stop selling those ridiculous "Frog-O-Spheres," so we've made some leaflets to help step up the pressure and raise awareness to employees and potential customers.

Download your leaflets here.

We're happy to send free leaflets to those of you who are willing to hand out a few, and if you're in California you have the legal right to hand out these leaflets inside the mall once you clear it with the mall management to get a location and details figured out. Drop us a line if you need any tips or free leaflets (just be sure to include your mailing info), and let us know how it goes so we can give you Street Team points for getting active with this campaign!

And don't forget to call Brookstone at 603-880-9500 and enter extension 6826 once the automated system picks up. Make sure they know that living, breathing animals do not belong in a store next to random gadgets or anywhere other than their natural environment!

I mean, can anyone really say that these frogs are being properly taken care of?

Frogs Are Dying to Get Out of Brookstone September 8, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at September 8, 2009 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 5 ) | TrackBack

Have you told Brookstone what you think of the "Frog-O-Sphere" yet? The "Frog-O-Sphere" is the tiny prison where the store is keeping frogs, while making money off of telling people they can keep these animals in the tiny boxes while barely taking care of them.

The company sets a great standard by taking injured and sick frogs to the backroom to languish and die instead of calling a vet—and ignoring their own employee's concerns over the lack of care for the animals.

Check out pics from our recent demo outside of a Boston Brookstone store!

These imprisoned little animals need your help. Please keep the pressure on Brookstone to do the right thing and stop selling live animals. If you haven't already, please take a moment to call Brookstone and ask that it stop selling live animals. Call 603-880-9500 and enter extension 6826 once the automated system picks up. Don't forget to leave a message if no one answers.

Please let this company know that animals shouldn't be treated this way. We'll give Street Teamers 1000 points for calling and e-mailing us at StreetTeam@peta2.com to let us know how it went!

Undercover Photos: Brookstone Frogs Living in Filth September 1, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at September 1, 2009 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 19 ) | TrackBack

Brookstone—seriously?

For a couple of weeks now, we've been asking you to take action against Brookstone—the gadget store in most malls that sells expensive headphones, massage chairs—and frogs? Yep. Frogs, warehoused in tiny boxes on store shelves being sold by a company who claims the frogs only need to be fed twice a week, and only need their tank (aka prison) cleaned twice a year.

Despite complaint after complaint, Brookstone—a company that apparently has a heart of stone—is continuing to "package" frogs and snails together in pitiful plastic prisons and sell them to customers who don't have a clue about how to take care of these extremely delicate animals.

Check out these undercover photos and horrifying details from a distraught Brookstone employee that confirm that frogs and snails are forced to languish and suffer on Brookstone's shelves without veterinary care.

"Most parents will exclaim right in front of me that they are not going to help the child to care for these living creatures. Then when I offer to sell them the additional food they will tell me flat out that the frogs won't live that long. It kills me that these frogs that can live to be 15 years old [won't] even last 1 year as a pet in a controlled [environment] ...

We did have a frog that had a growth on its bottom. We eventually transferred that aquarium to the stock room and the frog died. No vet was called ... There is absolutely no policy or [veterinarian] contact in my store for sick frogs ... when they do die we are told to "flush" them ... The snails die even more frequently. We have a bag full of over 15 snails that have died in the last month."

But, hey, no worries—if Kermit dies before his 30-day warranty is up, Brookstone will replace him for free! So long as you have your receipt, just flush and replace.

Please click here to tell Brookstone to do the right thing and stop selling frogs!

Brookstone In Trouble for Running Illegal Pet Shops August 24, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at August 24, 2009 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 ) | TrackBack

Brookstone's "Frog-O-Sphere"—a tiny plastic box containing two African frogs and a snail—is a guaranteed death sentence for the animals trapped inside, who are slowly poisoned by their own waste in these mini-prisons.

Brookstone store employees—many of whom are young and with no experience dealing with animals—are the only caretakers of these animals while the Frog-O-Spheres are in the stores. According to Brookstone's head honchos, the only time these frogs receive any "care" is when employees briefly peer into the Frog-O-Sphere to check on the animals' condition. After performing these spot checks, employees are instructed merely to write down whether the frogs are "expired," sick/injured, or healthy.

Despite any store's claim that it has a veterinarian on file (per the Frog-O-Sphere SOPs), sick or injured frogs never receive medical attention. Instead, these animals—who are sensitive to sound and even minimal changes in temperature—are merely stashed in the back of the store until they either die or recover on their own.

Treating animals this way should be illegal—and in New Jersey, it is. We did some digging and discovered that pet shops in New Jersey are required to provide veterinary care for sick or injured animals and must be licensed with the township in which they're located—both are details that Brookstone seems to have missed. One Brookstone in New Jersey was even served with a cease and desist order after PETA alerted N.J authorities.

Plain and simple, these little animals are helpless, and are being bought and sold like nothing but toys. Please click here to tell Brookstone to stop selling "Frog-O-Sphere's" in their stores now!

Reports Of Dying Frogs Purchased At Brookstone August 20, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at August 20, 2009 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

Since we posted our action alert about Brookstone's boneheaded decision to sell live frogs and snails who are confined to minuscule "Frog-O-Spheres," we've heard from lots of people who've confirmed our worst fears about the likely fate of these animals.

Brookstone has admitted that they aren't screening potential "Frog-O-Sphere" customers, and their totally inadequate recommendations for care—changing the water just two times a year and feeding the frogs only twice a week—are leading to snap decisions by unprepared people, as is likely the case with the person who posted this comment on Brookstone's Web site:

"[T]he snail died in about a week (but really, who cares?). And the recommended 2 pellets a week is not enough (the frogs are so hungry they don't move to conserve energy). When I started tripling their recommended meals, they became very active and cool. ... Hopefully, they'll last until I can buy a pet snake and feed them to it."

People who are a bit more kindhearted have been flooding PETA with calls and e-mails about frogs and snails getting sick or dying, while callers to Brookstone's customer service department who complain that their frogs appear to need medical attention are merely told to put the frogs in a separate bowl. Those who call about dead frogs and snails have been told that they should throw the corpses in the garbage and that new animals can be shipped or picked up at their nearest location. You can get an idea of how little care goes into this on Brookstone's end because, "replacement" animals are sent through the mail and handed to customers at the stores in plastic sandwich bags!

Other well-meaning folks are asking whether they should release the frogs into the wild, but putting non-native species into area waterways and habitats can wreak havoc on local ecosystems.

The continued sale of Frog-O-Spheres poses a clear threat to these vulnerable animals. Please add your voice to those of people who are demanding that Brookstone stop selling live animals once and for all.

Tell Brookstone to Stop Torturing Frogs! July 27, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at July 27, 2009 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

chipchick / CC

One of the first things my mom taught me as a little girl was not to catch frogs and trap them in jars. While my best guy friends down the street loved to catch all kinds of insects and reptiles and trap them in small jars, boxes and cages—I would wait until they weren't looking to free them.

Along with learning my address, phone number and everything else a kid learns, my parents taught me compassion—because you can look at an animal trapped in a small space, and with a second of using your brain, realize that they would rather be free.

Recently PETA has been flooded with calls from others who were taught compassion, about Brookstone—yeah, the store that sells massage chairs, headphones and other high tech devices—selling dwarf frogs in tiny contraptions called "Frog-O-Spheres". Frogs are being confined in a few square inches of water, where they often slowly become poisoned by their own waste. These "toys" objectify animals as playthings and decorations—not as living animals who deserve freedom and respect.

Whether they're a dog, cat, mouse, gerbil, frog, fish or otherwise, animals don't belong in stores to be bought or sold. Just like any other animals sold in the pet trade, frogs being sold like objects at Brookstone are being bought by well meaning but misinformed people who will likely discard the "Frog-O-Sphere" toy, and frog who lives inside of it, when the novelty wears off.

Please tell Brookstone to immediately stop selling frogs in their stores now!