What Will Become of the Verdugo Pet Shop?

For nearly 35 years, the Verdugo Pet Shop on 5022 York Blvd. bustled with the sounds of rattling bird cages and clucking chickens--the ambient noise of small time avian industry.

This week, those sounds have been replaced by those of cracking wood and shattering glass, as cleaning crews prepared the Verdugo pet shop for a possible sale.

Verdugo's longtime owner Hervey Chapman at the age of 73 on January 26, exactly one month after being diagnosed with Leukemia.

In the intervening months between Chapman's diagnosis and death, an emergency sale was held to give homes to all of the animals at the shop.

Feed bags and cages were also sold off to local chicken farmers, with the bulk of the money going toward Chapman's medical expenses.

On Monday afternoon, as Power Clean crews from West Los Angeles efficiently disassembled the interior of the Verduo Pet Shop, it seemed that Chapman's presence on York Blvd. would soon become just a memory.

"We should have the entire place cleaned out by Thursday," said Carl D. Dresser, owner of Power Clean.

The interior of the shop now resembles a museum dedicated to the ecclectic life of the late Hervey Chapman. The showroom, once filled with rabbits and birds of all kinds, was now a gallery of empty coops.

In Chapman's office there were posters haning on the wall from the numerous roadraces the avid runner had participated in.

In a small nook between the office and showroom sat an ancient incubator, used to keep chicken eggs warm until the time of their hatching.

Even the Verdugo Pet Shop's pungent odor, long a source of debate between those who either loved or hated the dusty old pet shop, had slightly faded.

The future of the Verdugo Pet Shop's location is still uncertain, though Dresser indicated that the property was being prepared for a sale by Wells-Fargo bank.

In a conversation with Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch, Hervey's brother Wayne Chapman said ownership of the property had been transferred to Wells-Fargo upon Hervey's death, but that no decision regarding its sale had been made yet.

He added that Hervey's will has not been read yet, so it's still possible that the pet shop could be transferred to the family, in which case the property would likely be sold. 

A representative Wells-Fargo's Real Estate Owned Property could not locate the Verdugo Pet Shop in the bank's current database of available listings.

The potential sale of the Verdugo Pet Shop coincides with the gradual gentrification of the area surrounding York Blvd. and a concerted effort by community members to revitalize the business district.

Cathi Milligan, who owns the , said that if the Verdugo Pet Shop is sold, she hopes it goes to a business that will fit the community's development plans for the area.

"I don't think we're ready for an Urban Outfitters yet, but I wouldn't be opposed to something like that sometime in the future. I do hope whoever takes it over keeps in mind the local business culture," she said. "I just hope it goes to the right person."