Harrods Introduces A New Fashion Department, As Pet Kingdom Closes

Harrods is set to close its world-famous pet department after almost 100 years, but there are bigger fashion plans in store...

Harrods have announced plans to replace its world-famous pet department in favour of a new fashion space.

The controversial Pet Kingdom, which has been open for nearly 100 years, is set to close its doors for good - making room for the expansion of the store's womenswear collections.

A tourist attraction in its own right, the fourth-floor pet department once supplied the rich and famous with exotic animals like lions, alligators and camels. Seriously.

'The Pet Kingdom department will close to make way for further exciting planned developments in our womenswear offering,' a Harrods spokesperson confirmed.

In 1951, Canadian actress Beatrice Lille bought an alligator for writer Noel Coward, while Ronald Regan is said to have ordered himself a baby elephant in 1967. The Endangered Species Act was later passed in 1976, prohibiting such exotic transactions being made on the high-street.

'A pet shop is not an appropriate environment in which to sell puppies and kittens,' Clarissa Baldwin, chief executive of The Dogs Trust told The Telegraph. 'Our supporters have long expressed their concern about the UK's most famous department store selling pets.'

As well as giving animal welfare groups serious cause to celebrate, the fashion pack wait patiently to see what Harrods has planned next. Ooh.

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