El Corte Inglés has been forced to cancel a credit plan for people buying pets at the Spanish group’s outlets in Portugal.
Animal activists saw red when a photo promoting the campaign was shared online.
The gist of the message was that shoppers only needed an El Corte Inglés credit card to access 12-months interest-free credit for purchases over €200.
According to IRA (Intervenção e Resgate Animal): “This is promoting the abandonment of animals and keeping those that are available for adoption at municipal kennels and associations.”
The association added that it encouraged people to buy animals “easily, without any responsibility to the pet and against the current legislation, which no longer considers animals to be things”.
Elsewhere, other people took to El Corte Inglés’ Facebook page to criticise the campaign, many calling it “shameful”.
The backlash was so strong that El Corte Inglés announced yesterday that the campaign has been ditched.
“We value the opinion of our clients and community very much. Thus we have cancelled our pet animal campaign after receiving many requests to do so,” the group posted, adding that it tries to “contribute to the well-being of animals by working together actively with many institutions”.
IRA is not satisfied, however. It wants El Corte Inglês to stop selling animals at its outlets.
