Dear Editor,
I have been reading the stories about the animal house pet store being forced out of business by a group of cowards that go into the store in groups uttering threats, vandalizing and making threatening phone calls to the staff.
Starting your own business for anyone is a big leap especially a retail store. It takes a lot of personal courage, financial sacrifice while starting up, also a lot of stress to make the business successful. In any literature that you can study on starting up and running a business there are no references to dealing with the malicious activity Ty Marshall had to endure.
Members of this group have said they did not want it to come to this. Considering they are also pushing the town of Okotoks to place a ban on selling puppies and kittens in the town, it is hard to believe what they are saying. It is also hard to believe they expect anyone to take them seriously in their endeavour.
Starting with relentless urban terrorism toward a small business that sells small animals and then coming back as a bunch of protesters on the sidewalk doesn’t pass the smell test.
When you take the fact Mr. Marshall had announced he was closing his store over concerns of safety for his staff and a few days later these people are protesting on the sidewalk, is not really a protest. This group is just rubbing it in after the fact.
It’s hard to believe that this group believes that using this cowardly tactic is a way to foster change. If this group wanted to have any credibility they would have approached the town council with concerns and facts. After what has taken place it will be pretty hard to garner any credibility for their cause.
I applaud Mr. Marshall for thinking of the safety of his staff. I also think it’s a sad day when someone like Mr. Marshall can be bullied out of business.
Regards,
Dan Robson
Okotoks
