Pet shop is smashed up but still trading (From This Is Local London)

Pet shop is smashed up but still trading

1:08pm Tuesday 20th October 2009

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A PET shop owner, who had his shop windows smashed by a yob with a hammer, wants to reassure his customers he is still trading.

Steven Cantle, who established Geckopet in Lancaster Eoad nine years ago, said that on Saturday at 6.30pm, witnesses saw a man in his twenties smashing the shop’s three large windows with a hammer and running off, leaving gaping holes in each one.

The independent shop houses a collection of rabbits, birds, and reptiles, which were not near the windows and were uninjured by the attack. Nothing was stolen from the shop.

However, Mr Cantle said that the influx of cold air meant some of the cold-blooded reptiles would have got “chilly” and the animals showed no visible signs of distress.

Mr Cantle said: “I want to reassure all my customers that the shop is still open and its business as usual despite the windows being boarded up.”

He added: “It was just vandalism. It is very upsetting.”

He added that police had told him that a CCTV camera in Lancaster Road was not working, but said: “Two eyewitnesses who had a clear look at him gave the police a very good description.”

Police said the suspect was a white male, aged about 25 to 30, five ft 11 ins and wearing dark trousers and a beige and green hooded sweater.

No-one has been arrested.

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