About us - Our Story
Pet Safari is a family business started in 1984 and for over 33 years was situated at Stephen H. Smith Garden Centre on Pool road In Otley, West Yorkshire.
We have had a number of names throughout the business journey but changed our shop name to Pet Safari in May 2011.
In July 2017 a devastating fire swept through our premises, so intense that not only the shop but the entire building and adjacent areas were completely destroyed. We managed to save many animals and fish over the days following the fire as animal enclosures were mainly on the perimeter of the building and over a period we were able to re-home them with other pet businesses and private individuals, we remain ever thankful to those businesses and individuals who were kind enough to help.
We are also thankful to the incredible skills and compassion of the fire and police services that dealt with the fire and its aftermath, it probably isn't until faced with a major situation like this that you can possibly comprehend just how professional these guys are, how dedicated and quite frankly how caring, helpful and supportive they are. Thanks also to the staff and management of Stephen H. Smith's Garden Centre who were massively helpful and supportive including helping with the huge clean up task that followed the fire.
Also many thanks to so many customers who 'phoned, texted, emailed and turned up to offer support, We won't ever forget the messages, the hugs,the tears and the love.
It was a difficult, traumatic time and still now is hugely emotional to us all, the loss of the shop that had been in our lives for so long was like losing a family member, we did and still are grieving for that loss and for those animals that we couldn't save, god bless them.
After the months following the fire we were so up for re-building the shop but harsh realities soon tempered that ambition and it became obvious it wasn't going to happen. In addition to the retail shop we have always offered pond and aquarium services, installation, design, servicing etc. and we have continued to offer those services.
Our experience and expertise in pond, Aquarium, Pet and Reptile products is very broad with over 100 years combined experience so the decision was made to provide an online service only, researching, explaining and providing the best products we could find.
We hoped to make the website live on March 15th 2019, the 35th anniversary of the shop opening but unfortunately missed that date so this site was made live on Good Friday 19th April 2019, on reflection we are happy with that date as our journey takes a new direction, a sort of resurrection.
At this time we realise that there are many gaps in our product offering but we are working hard to fill them in and more, many more products, are being added weekly. See "News & What's New" page for further information and new product additions.
We hope that customers old or new will love what we have to offer and would love you to comment, suggest or contact for any reason at admin@petsafari.co.uk landline 01943 467170 or mobile 07908 750143.