Bad Local Pet Shop

[Tatalp]

There's a small pet store in my town(I wo't tell it's name, if I did, the owners of the store could simply google the store's name and find out what I'm going to do) that sells fish, birds, rodents, reptiles, rabbits, and cats. All of them are in filthy, tiny, crowded cages. I'm planning to go there soon and see what problems I can see, and hopefully take photos of the birds in the upper room. If I'm going to try and see if anything there is illegal, and if it's not, I'll tell everyone I know not to shop there.
Some things I've already seen in the store:
-Cavies on newspaper with NO hay and NO veggies
-Zebra Finches in tiny cages
-An adlut male and an adult female hamster in the same cage and for sale

A local anti-petstore group also mentions the store on their website

This store is filled with small animals in small cages, as well as hundreds of fish in aquariums. The birds are kept in barren cages; some had nothing at all but seeds and a perch in the cage; birds are intelligent animals who need mental stimulation. The following letter was written by a member of the rescue group Phoenix Landing:

To whom it may concern: On Saturday, August 13, 2005, I heard an acquaintance talking about a horrible situation in your store. I have not visited the premises in a few years because I do not like the state of the animals in your care, especially the birds.

However, once I heard about the blue and gold macaw on the second floor, I felt compelled to write and let you know that not only will I never visit your store again; I will urge others in the pet community to avoid you as well.

From what the person related, the state of the blue and gold macaw in your store was shameful. The bird was nearly dead, lying at the bottom of a tiny cage. Half of its tail protruded through the bars because the cage was far too small. Roaches crawled on the bird and on the bird's food. There were no perches in the cage. I wanted to see for myself.

I visited the store on Tuesday, August 16 in the evening. I saw birds with filthy cages, dirty water, and inadequate food. Most of the birds had nothing in their cages but one dirty perch. All large birds were in cages meant for cockatiels or smaller birds. When I saw the birds in the back room on the second floor, I saw yet more cases of animal cruelty.

In a dark room were at least half a dozen large birds: Amazons, a grey, and the blue and gold macaw that I heard the story about. This bird's body was longer than the cage it was in. The bird struggled desperately to perch on anything. Bars on the cage were broken. The smell was strong, not a good sign. Birds generally have no odor unless they are very ill.

I urge you to abandon the practice of selling birds, as your staff obviously does not have the abilities or time to properly care for them.

Though I will avoid your business, I do plan to follow up with others who may visit your store. Please take better care of the birds on your premises. If you cannot handle a bird, please relinquish it to a local rescue group that can help it find a better home.

The owner did not respond to this letter.

In addition, on September 5, 2005, there was a rabbit for sale whose body took up approximately a quarter of his cage, so small he could even take a few steps, much less hop. There appeared to be no hay at all in his cage; people who care about rabbits provide unlimited timothy hay for rabbits at all times. There was no place provided outside the cage for the rabbit to get any exercise, he had no toys, and his companions had been taken away from him. Animal Control was notified and saw hay in the cage the next day. A Virginia State Vet was consulted about the space requirements and proclaimed the amount of space "adequate," despite Virginia's laws requiring enough exercise for "normal muscle tone" and enough space for "normal body movements."
-www.petstorecruelty.org

[Tatalp]

Today I went to the store. It was just as bad as I thought it was! There were birds with no water and cages that were so small their feathers stuck out. One bird was extremely scruffy looking. One bird was allowed to fly loose in the store. There were also several beared dragons that were about half the length of their cage. There were about 30 "feeder mice" in what I would estimate was a 18" X 12" cage. There was a rabbit in a cage twice its body length, with newspaper bedding that it was eating. But the guinea pigs were the worst. There were 7 cavies in what I would estimate was a 2X2 cage. There were 4 adults and 3 babies. We asked a worker, and she said the mom and the dad were both in there, so the mother could have been backbred! The pigs had no hay or veggies, only pellets(thank god at least it was plain pellets!). A teddy clearly had mites, as there was an enormous bald and crusty patch on its back. It also had crust around its eyes. One cavy was constantly bating and trampeling the babies. their bedding was newspaper, and it was thoughly soaked in some areas. There was cardboard with tape on one side that the pigs had clearly been chewing on. They also had very poor supplies, for example, they were only selling one type of food that was supposed to be good for all small animals!

[lol_adel]

thats horrible!!

[Tatalp]

Ok, I wrote an English essay on it, so I'll post it here.

[size=7]

Boycott the Vienna Aquarium!

[/size]I would like to urge you to boycott the Vienna Aquarium. In pet stores, you probably expect the animals to be well cared for and happy. If they weren’t nobody would buy from them, they would get in trouble with the law, and their animals would die, right? Wrong. In many pet stores, including the Vienna Aquarium right here in Vienna, this is not the case. Animals are mistreated there, and just because it’s not obvious doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

I heard about the Vienna Aquarium mistreating animals from www.petstorecruelty.org. According to them, there were animals with bad food, dirty water, and tiny cages. I wanted to see if this was true, so I decided to visit the store and see if the problems really were there. The moment I opened to door, I could hear the birds squawking loudly. I first went to the back of the store, where the small animals are kept. The guinea pigs caught my eye, as I know a lot about them, and would probably be able to spot any problems. I saw that one of them has an enormous scabby, bald patch on its back, a sure sign that it had severe mange mites. The cage looked like it was a little over 2 square feet, and there were 7 guinea pigs in it! The recommended cage size for 7 guinea pigs is a little less than 20 square feet! One of the guinea pigs was a mother with 3 babies. One worker said the father was in the cage too, meaning that right after the mother had given birth, she could have gotten pregnant again, which is dangerous to the guinea pig. The bedding was newspaper (which is a bad bedding because it does not absorb moisture), and it was filthy. The only food in the cage was pellets, but guinea pigs need unlimited hay and daily vegetables. In the cage next to the guinea pigs, there was a rabbit who took up about ¼ of its cage-there was hardly any room for it to move! It also had only pellets to eat, but rabbits need unlimited hay. Some of the bearded dragons were in cages that were twice their length. There were also about 30 mice in a cage about 12" by 18", which is obviously way too small! In the upstairs aviary there was a bird that was obviously sick because it had no feathers on top of its head and its feathers were ruffled up. There was a macaw in a cage where its tail-feathers stuck through because the cage was too small, while the store was sell much larger cages! The conditions were, in general, horrible.

Then there is the question of where the animals came from-most likely an animal "breeding factory" where the animals are kept in tiny cages and bred as often as possible. They were probably not socialized as babies and may wind up with behavioral problems because of that. They are also likely to have health problems caused by untreated diseases at the breeding farms and the breeding of unhealthy animals.

Another reason not to buy from the Vienna Aquarium is the homeless animal crisis. Every year, millions of dogs and cats and countless small animals are killed in shelters, simply because there aren’t enough homes. Instead of helping to find homes for the enormous number of animals needing homes, pet stores like the Vienna Aquarium choose to add to the problem by selling even more pets. For every animal bought from the Vienna Aquarium, an animal from the Fairfax County Humane Society could have been saved.

Please, boycott the Vienna Aquarium for the sake of the animals in the store, in the breeding farms, and in shelters. Spread the word, and maybe even send a letter to the Vienna Aquarium asking them to stop selling animals. Every little thing you do helps.

[BabyGrl]

Sounds great.

[SleepyBirdy]

Petland is a horrible place to go to people. They have all their animals in pens, both sexes. The poor budgies are played with by children, the children bang on there pens making the little budgies die of heartattack.

[Tatalp]

Originally Posted by SleepyBirdy

Petland is a horrible place to go to people. They have all their animals in pens, both sexes. The poor budgies are played with by children, the children bang on there pens making the little budgies die of heartattack.

I know! I've protested them, and if I can convince my parents, I'll protest there again.