Read the original article by Adrian Mojica and Kaylin Jorge at fox17.com here.
PetSmart is suing a PETA activist in connection to actions which led to a sting at a Bellevue location earlier this year.
The suit filed in a Florida court claims defendant Jenna Jordan was a paid operative sponsored by PETA who “engaged in a years-long pattern of secretive, criminal conduct intended to damage PetSmart and its employees.”
The suit says Jordan secured employment at multiple stores and committed animal neglect, theft of confidential information, unlawfully surveilled private conversations, and filed false reports with law enforcement under false pretenses in three states.
Among the stores Jordan worked was the Bellevue location where she worked as a Pet Care Associate. The suit claims while an employee there, Jordan manufactured false reports of animal abuse and refused to care for in-store pets as part of her campaign against the store.
As a result, PetSmart says PETA spliced together a video “using the fruits of Jordan’s unlawful activities.”
In April, three Petsmart employees were cited for cruelty to animals following a raid on the store by Metro Nashville Police and Metro Animal Control. Officers seized six animals during the operation; a guinea pig, mice, and hamsters. The operation took place after videos and photos were provided to authorities by PETA.
Store leader Greg Gordon, 31, Assistant Store Leader Kristopher Stengel, 39, and customer engagement leader Tonya Smith, 39, were cited and booked on misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.
At the time of the raid, PetSmart issued a statement foreshadowing Monday’s lawsuit.
“It’s abundantly clear that PETA is behind these false criminal charges, and that PETA is misusing the criminal justice system for their own agenda. We are confident that the judicial process will vindicate our PetSmart associates, and we look forward to exposing PETA’s own misconduct and abuse of the criminal process in court.”
See the lawsuit below or CLICK HERE:
