Tragedy after animals perish in Louth pet shop flooding

A young business owner has spoken of her devastation after her pet shop flooded at the weekend - leading to the death of some of her animals.
Megan Johnson.Megan Johnson.
Megan Johnson.

Megan Johnson, 19, who has owned ‘Potty About Pets’ in Mercer Row for the last year and a half, said that a leak from the flat above had resulted in water dripping through the ceiling into her shop overnight last Thursday - with some of the water dripping into bird cages and mouse cages below.

The catastrophic scene was discovered on Friday morning.

One of the animals that died was Megan’s own beloved pet bird - a Bengalese finch named Toffee - which appeared to have been knocked off its perch by the flowing water and into the deep plastic base of the cage, which gradually filled with water and drowned it.

Toffee had been given to Megan as a gift for her 18th birthday last year.

A mouse also died as a result of the flooding, and other animals including rodents and rabbits suffered illness due to their homes becoming cold and damp for several hours.

Although most of Megan’s stock was unaffected, there was considerable water damage to the ceiling, walls and electrical sockets in the shop.

Thanks to Megan’s close network of friends and relatives who kindly helped her over the weekend, Potty About Pets has been able to continue operating as normal this week.

However, it will need to close for a couple of days in mid-January while some long-term repairs are carried out.

Megan told the Leader: “It’s just the upheaval of it all.

“Although I haven’t lost any stock up here, we’ve sadly lost two little lives, including my own little pet bird.

“It’s just the upheaval of having to shut the shop, have a new ceiling put in, and everything like that.”

Megan continued: “Everybody came down to help on the Friday morning. Big thanks go to my grandma, my mum, dad, my uncle Tom, Kyle and Abby.”

Megan would also like to thank Jane from Masons letting agents for attending the scene quickly and arranging for an electrician to visit the shop within half an hour to carry out safety tests.

Megan also thanked neighbouring business, ‘Peter Rhodes’ electrical appliances, which kindly provided the free use of a dehumidifier.

Visit www.facebook.com/pottyaboutpetslouth for more information and updates, including details of when the shop will be closed for repairs.