Tranent pet shop owners 'absolutely disgusted' after vandals smash storefront window in early-morning rampage
Fiona and Gerry Veerman’s shop was targeted in the early hours of Sunday morning (June 28)
A Tranent shop owner has said that they were left “absolutely disgusted” after two people went on a rampage and smashed the front window of their store.
Veerman’s Pets & Co, located on High Street, was targeted by the two suspects in the early hours of Sunday morning (June 29).
CCTV images caught the two people as they hit the shop window with what appeared to be a plank of wood, as well as targeting the business’s van which was parked nearby.
Fiona Veerman, 58, and her husband Gerry Veerman, 61, run the family business which has been operating for more than four decades.
Fiona told the Evening News: “We actually got a phone call from one of our regular customers on Sunday morning to say that our window had been smashed.
“My son had gone in to open up and didn't see it, he went in the door. They had smashed the window and not the door.
“We looked at the CCTV and found the two guys arriving about five past two and they were there for about 20 minutes and had fun battering the shop windows and the van, peeing on the van and sitting on the van.
“I guess you could say they sort of had a ‘smashing’ time basically.”
Fiona, who said that this is not a usual occurrence, explained that one of the suspects jumped on the van before taking a seat on top of it, saying: “We were absolutely disgusted, just shocked how aggressive they were.
“We think they were drunk, but they were just so aggressive, battering the windows with a big stick or a big pole.”
She added: “We decided when we moved into the shop six-and-a-half years ago, although we've been trading just next door for 44 years in total, we decided at the time not to put up metal shutters because they're just horrible.
“They really are horrible when you go down the high street and we don't want to go down that route. Hopefully now people know we have plenty of CCTV, it will help to curb it.”
Fiona explained that they also came to learn that Co-op Funeralcare, located a few doors down from the pet shop, was also damaged in the incident.
She added that while the value of the damage is yet to be assessed, they expect the bill to replace the now-smashed window to be in the “hundreds” of pounds.
Fiona also explained that the shop has had a huge amount of support from the local community since they shared news of the incident on social media.
She said: “The support's been unbelievable, we've had people wanting to help repair the damage, repair the van, somebody handed me a bunch of flowers this morning because she was so sad to read the post.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed that no arrests have yet been made in connection to the incident.
The spokesperson said: “Around 12.25pm on Sunday, 28 June, 2026, we received a report of damage to a premises on the High Street in Tranent.
“Enquiries are at an early stage.”