Pet store apologizes for hostile confrontation with 10 protesters
Corbret owner says his family cares deeply about welfare of animals
A family-owned pet store in Windsor is apologizing for a nasty confrontation with protesters making waves on social media but insists the protesters were targeting the store with false allegations of animal mistreatment.
“If I see someone hurting an animal, I would flip on them,” said Cory Drouillard, whose family has long owned Corbret’s Pet Depot on Walker Road. “We don’t hurt animals. We provide them a home, we provide them a shelter, we provide them a life.” Drouillard’s brother arrived at the shop Sunday afternoon and angrily confronted a group of about 10 protesters who were carrying placards alleging the store mistreated animals.
“You guys are pathetic,” he said in the video, which received thousands of views and several hundred shares on Facebook. “You’re all a bunch of losers.”
He blasted the protesters for focusing on his family’s store when there were more serious issues like the homeless in downtown Windsor or schools without air conditioning. He also makes reference to the appearance of one of the protesters, calling her “ugly” and suggesting she was overweight. “He made comments on my looks and my body, just completely unprofessional things that we weren’t there to focus on,” said protest organizer Emily Regier, 24. “We were just standing outside with our signs and getting support from the honks of the cars going by.”
Regier said she is lobbying for stricter animal welfare laws because simply meeting the minimum standard means animals can still be housed in grim, unsanitary conditions. She accused Corbret’s of crowding rabbits into cages without sufficient hay and allowing dogs to sleep without blankets on concrete floors — charges the store owners vehemently deny. Drouillard said his family has been taking care of animals since 1970 and that someone goes to the store every day of the year to ensure they are fed and watered. “We’re here for the long haul,” said Drouillard. “We’re here to take care of these animals.” Regier said the protest outside Corbret’s was not meant as an attack on the family’s livelihood but more as a way to raise awareness about insufficient legal protection for animals in pet stores.
“It was not an attack on local business. It was not an attack on the family personally or their livelihood or anything like that,” said Regier. “We wanted to put our foot down. This is Step 1 in changing a very important law that needs changing.”
Drouillard acknowledged his brother was “out of line” confronting the protesters the way he did, but said his brother “took it to heart” when he arrived to work and encountered what the family deems “bullying ” and “harassing ” behaviour.
“Yes, my brother did get offensive with it but what he did was stick up for the family business,” said Drouillard. “Yes, he should have calmed it down a little bit but, you know what, we have to stick up for each other. We love our animals.” Drouillard said the store hardly does a brisk business in puppies, selling maybe one or two a month, and always passes inspections whenever they are visited by city inspectors or inspectors with the humane society or the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.