A car ran through the front of Pet World on Friday morning, barely missing the owner and leading to the temporary escape of several animals.
“I had just walked through the front door not 15 seconds before,” said store owner Philip Hall. “There were four of us in here at the time. We didn’t know what was happening. The whole building shook. We’re lucky no one was hurt and all the animals are OK. A couple finches and parakeets got loose but we were able to get them back into their cage and everything is alright.”
The driver of the car, Joyce Bond, 74, was slightly injured when her vehicle plunged completely inside the pet store on North Chancery Street near Bobby Ray Elementary.
The vehicle disrupted a display of kittens located just inside the front glass, somehow knocking the cage to one side instead of plowing over it.
The wreck, explained McMinnville Lt. Mark Mara, was triggered by another motorist who struck Bond’s car as she was pulling into the pet store parking lot. The driver of the other vehicle, Phillip Prater, reportedly became distracted by another motorist and was not able to avoid contacting Bond’s vehicle.
Hall said they were able to do makeshift repairs to the front of the store, but they were closed Saturday to do more cleanup work. There were no animals injured.