The Village Pet Store

I was wandering the maze-like streets of Greenwich Village with my friend last week when we came across a small crowd of people gathered outside “The West Village Pet Store.” We stopped to see what the fuss was about and had a peek at the main display window. The site was pretty sad. A caged leopard was splayed across a bare old tree branch above a floor of hay, sleepily wagging its tail slowly back and forth. I was appalled. “You can buy a leopard in New York, I thought that was illega!? This is depressing. Let’s go.” As we turned to walk away, indignation on our faces, two women standing outside the shop said “No, no…you have to go inside. You have to look inside.”

“It’s too depressing. I’m not interested in seeing a big cat cooped up like that.”

“No! Just go inside. Trust us.” Peer pressure won us over. We stepped off the sidewalk and into the store. The place was packed for a pet shop, I thought. We turned to have a look at the poor leopard. To our shock, there was no leopard lying on a branch, but a leopard’s fur coat, a redish label sewed on it for good measure. I’m not sure I’ve ever been duped more in my life. The tail continued to wag back and forth…but it was all a mechanical ruse. Check it out for yourself here. What the hell?? Feeling rather stupid (if amused) we went to have a look at the rest of the store. Just to the left of the leopard-coat, was a large cage with a baboon sitting inside it, mindlessly flipping the channels on a television set. Beer cans and candy wrappers littered the floor of his cage. What was he watching? Discovery-channel primate porn. This was crazy, and genius!

We soon realized that the entire store was full of pranks like this. My favorite was probably the aquarium filled with fish-sticks that swam around just like fish! Perplexed, I went to the counter, where a lone woman, dressed in “Village Pet Store” attire, was manning a register. “What’s this all about?” I asked. “Who’s behind this?”

The “Pet Store” employee was coy about who was responsible for the shop, but she did mention the name Banksy. Ah-ha! Banksy strikes again. For those of you not familiar with Banksy, he (or she???) is a mysterious British artist-provocateur known mostly for his subverise stencil graffiti. Funnily enough, the photo border at the top of this site is a photo of a Banksy stencil in London. You can view Banky’s work here. So…Banky’s an animal-rights activist too…and probably a vegetarian too given the exhibit. Well, Banky’s first foray into animatronics is sheer brilliance.

Here’s a clip of the shop I found on YouTube (when I visited a Burger King ad accompanied it…ah irony!):

As I wandered around the shop, checking out the rabbit trying on animal-tested cosmetics, a dejected-looking “Tweety” bird, and “chick”-en nuggets pecking at a packet of ketchup, I was reminded that good art can be political. I’m not sure that the “store” converted any of its visitors to vegetarianism or to sign up to PETA, but it certainly will show people that we take our dependence on animal products far too lightly. Which I’m guessing is the message that Banksy intended to get across.

The petstore employee handed me a card for the shop, which is actually called “The Village Petstore (and Grill),” which lists a website: www.thevillagepetstoreandcharcoalgrill.com. I recommend a visit. Better yet, if you’re near NYC, get down to the shop before it closes on Friday October 31st (it’s been open all month, though there’s been little media attention as far as I can tell). It’s located at 89 7th Avenue South (between West 4th and Bleecker) and open daily from 10 am – midnight. You won’t be disappointed (though you might be put off your dinner).

Some photos taken from my iPhone (sorry for the poor quality!):