Hello all!
I'm not sure if this is the place to post my little story, but here goes.
A few days ago, my friend and I were at a shopping center near my house. We walked by a pet store named "Safari Pet Center" (which sells animals). My friend mentioned that one of our other friends worked in Safari, so we dropped in to see if he was working, and say hi. While I was in Safari, I couldn't help but notice how badly the guinea pigs were living. I sent an email to Safari letting them know these things:
- The giant size of the pellet dish (pigs were sitting, eating, AND pooping in it)
- The giant water dish (half the dish was full of droppings and shavings. And probably other things, too)
- The absence of hay in their cage/tank/cubicle.
- Co-ed enclosures (they actually wrote on the tank that it is males and females together)
"Professor Green", the person you contact at Safari pet centre, replied today, and I want to know how to strategically counter his arguments.
These were the main topics I want to address:
- It is true (I guess) that there must be enough pellets to go around, and so their pellet bowls must be large (I think...? Are there other alternatives?). However, there is no reason for the guinea pigs to have their water in a large bowl.
- "We cannot constantly add more hay to the cage, it would not be healthy, and sometimes they will eat solely hay rather than their main pellet diet (this could be compared to how children would rather eat cookies than broccoli, because it tastes better etc)." --- ?? I couldn't believe this!!
Professor Green also wrote: "I am not sure why you think it would be in Safari's best interest to NOT take care of our animals." Which sort of made me laugh, because I thought it was pretty clear as to why I thought it wasn't in their best interest to take care of their animals. But Prof. Green was already pretty defensive about the whole thing.
I'm not sure if my emails will have any affect on the way Safari treats their guinea pigs, but I figured I might as well kick up a stink and give "Professor Green" something to think about.
Anyways, that was Friday's pet store adventure. If anyone thinks I should specifically mention something (I was already thinking of quoting guinealynx) in my reply to this so-called Professor, let me know.
Thanks for your time!