Recent flooding at Johnson City, New York caused tragic deaths of trapped animals at a local pet store, Petco. The flooding was caused by remainders of Tropical Storm Lee, however warnings were issued earlier that day regarding the flood. The warnings were declared around 9:00am, and a state of emergency was issued later in the afternoon. To make matters worse, employees at Petco stood by and failed to take action as the waters rose. Marcie Whichard, vice president of animal care and education for Petco, wrote on a blog post, which was later taken down, that the tragedy was caused due to backup in the drainage system. Whichard also mentioned that they were not aware of the flood warnings.
Pictures of an employee from another local pet store, Pet Depot, kayaking with animals from the store have been posted on social networking sites. 
It is clearly stated in New York state law that “if someone is aware of an impending danger to animals and they fail to take appropriate action or directly do something to injure an animal, they can be in violation of the law,” according to Mayor Dennis Hannon. Although animals in pet stores are solely for profit, it is morally impermissible to allow them to drown when the employees, as human beings are capable of making judgments to evacuate the store. In addition, Petco’s responses to this event continues to change, showing lack of responsibility in their actions.
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