Heating failure proves deadly for Magog pet shop denizens

TRecord staff

he Animalerie Orford pet shop at Magog’s Galleries Orford, was in crisis Thursday morning when its owners discovered that several dozen animals had died overnight as temperatures plunged inside the store. When the owners showed up for work, they found that the temperature had dropped to 8 degrees Celsius and that dozens of fish, birds, including a parrot had succumbed. They also had to bring their cats to a veterinarian because of the deplorable state they were in.

Financial losses to the store are estimated at between $5,000 and $10,000. Evidently, the sprinkler system in the shopping centre, where work is being done, froze overnight, causing the ventilation and heating systems to shut down automatically.

Normally, the pet shop managers would receive an alert so that they could intervene quickly, In this instance, an Internet connection problem at the store apparently caused the system to fail.

The store said it will survive the distaster but admits the situation is difficult, especially since the victims were animals and represent significant financial losses.

Re-supplying the store could take some time. For the fish alone, many have to be imported from Asia.

Despite the circumstances, the store remained open Thursday.