Petopia.com Cancels IPO

Dig another grave in the dot-com pet cemetery.

Petopia.com, which sold most of its assets to Petco Animal Supplies in December, filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday to cancel its $100-million initial public offering and announce it’s no longer doing business.

Dubbed the “Internet Pet Paradise,” Petopia marketed itself as the destination for pet lovers when it launched in August 1999.

Petopia had an exclusive agreement with Petco, an original investor in the start-up. Now, the Petopia.com Web address points to Petco.com.

Petopia laid off about 60% of its work force in October.

Petco’s major online competitor is now PetsMart.com, the virtual division of the PetsMart bricks-and-mortar retailer. PetsMart (ticker symbol: PETM) recently acquired the Web site address and other parts of Pets.com, which became one of the highest-profile dot-com flops when it ceased operations late last year.

PetsMart shares fell 16 cents to $3.81 Friday.