Petco

[rubyjr]

I've seen it posted on here a hundred plus times, but it hit me square in the face last week, and I can't get it out of my mind. My husband was getting his haircut and I had my 2 sons with me. We deciided to go into the new Petco next to the hair salon while my husband got his hair cut. Not tucked back in the corner, but smack, right when you walk in, there are the small animal displays. The ferret cage was an octiagon with plexiglass and it was pretty good size, but I do not know too much about ferrets. The hamster, mice and guinea pigs were in what appeard to be 10 gal aquiariums in a shelf thing the width was the size of an igloo hidy that took up 1/3 of the aquiarium. There was a handful of brown dried up hay and a water bottle. I was horrified that they would even consider putting an animal in that thing. I stood their and speaking very loudly explained how horrible this was to my kids and no animal should be put in this situation. That was the first time I've ever been in a Petco. I've been in the Petsmart a couple of times and they have a huge plexiglass pen, but it's still smaller than it needs to be, but by far it's better than the Petco here. I do all my supply ordering on line, and rarely have a need to go into the Petstores. Thanks for listening, I just couldn't get it off my mind.

[janetangel]

The Petco here is the exact same way, down to the dried up hay.

[CavySpirit]

Yup, and they sell that sorry excuse for hay crap to their customers. The stupid idiots at the store actually think hay is supposed to be brown! I'm deadly serious. I read them the riot act last time I was in there. I think it was Kay-tee or something. EVERY bag on the shelf was solid brown crap. I honestly think they get a deal on Kay-tee's ancient unsold hay and make more of a profit on selling it.

[Dr Doughnut]

Petco sucks, petsmart OK, but the best petstore corperation APART FROM selling animals is Petland!

[rubyjr]

I don't know they all seem the same, sell the same stuff. I have learned so much since getting back involved with cavies, I only go into the petstore if I run out, and I use a small privately owned guy that sells Oxbow. Other than that rare occasion, it's actually easier for me to order my hay and pellets and supplies on line, and it's much better quality food for my girls. I use KleenMama's Hay & Pellets.

[Slap Maxwell]

I think the brand of hay they sell that is the worst is L/M Farms hay.

Sometimes do I see a dried up piece of orange in a cage, but rarely. I have been shocked at some of the conditions and sick pigs.

[BabyGrl]

Originally Posted by Dr Doughnut

Petco sucks, petsmart OK, but the best petstore corperation APART FROM selling animals is Petland!

The Petland around here sucks. They have the worst conditions for all animals. Their prices are much more expensive. All three sell animals but seeing as Petland's are in the worst conditions and environments, that lead me to believe they are the worst of the bunch.

[PiggieMom]

Originally Posted by Dr Doughnut

Petco sucks, petsmart OK, but the best petstore corperation APART FROM selling animals is Petland!

Funny I think they all suck. I have yet to be in a pet store where the animals are kept in anything like healthy conditions. The employees are either rude or incompetent (even if they mean well, they just don't know enough to be giving advice on pet care). They sell crappy supplies and feed.

But of course, they sell animals which means that they are stores that shouldn't be shopped in.

rubyjr, I know what you mean. I didn't know better before this wonderful site. I can't even go into one of those stores without getting angry and throwing a fit. There's a local mom&pop place that's even worse. I go in there every once and a while to check for sick animals to make sure they don't need reporting. I had to get on their case once about this rabit in a ten gallon in the window of their shop. They don't have air conditioning and this poor rabit was in the sun all day when when it was 95 degrees out. No hidey house. No ice packs. And dirty water. All that was in that cage was the rabit, some crappy hamster food, and a dirty water bowl that had more cedar bedding in it than water. Poor bunny looked like it was going to die. I started crying. They know my name now. It hasn't been that bad since I'm glad to say. But it's still a crappy store.

[Buggie_00]

There was a petland in my hometown and they had the piggies in a plexi galss encolsure that at the time I thought was fairly large. It was probably equivalent to a 2x2 C&C cage. But they had like 4 or 5 pigs in there. Once you take off those rose colored glasses, there's no going back.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Petland is the worst. The ones here sell puppies and kittens, and then give the parents away for free, unneutered. They are in tiny crates or cages. They house rabbits and guinea pigs together. They rarely walk the puppies.

[Tatalp]

Petland is awful. They sell not only small animals, but also dogs and cats, which we all know are much more overpopulated than cavies. They also make ZERO effort to aviod selling pregnant animals. My friend and I bought a male and a female from the same cage. Also, the design of the cages makes it easy for small children to reach in and frighten or hurt the animals. I've also seen adults pick up hamsters and hold them very high up, and let them jump into their cage. That sure sounds like "the best" pet store!

[Cavies&Orcas]

That is the Most HORRIBLE story ever (other than the "Rabbit in the store window" story of course).

[MyPiggiesRock]

The same here in Georgia. How pitiful they looked. They had a hairless guy (piggy)and I swear I felt so bad for him, I was considering taking him home. Just very sad.

[Susan9608]

Petco sucks, petsmart OK, but the best petstore corperation APART FROM selling animals is Petland!

Personally, I can't get away from the fact that Petland sells animals. That fact makes Petland far from the best pet store corperation, in my opinion.

[Ty'sPiggs]

The Petsmart near me is OK. But the Petco is HORRIBLE. They have about 5 guinea pigs in an aquarium about a foot in width and 2 feet in length. And the water bottle and food was empty. And i went up to a worker and said "Excuse me they have no food and no water." And the worker said "I dont care. Thats not my job!" (This happened in Petco by the way)
I seriously wanted to just hit him right then and there.

[Ly&Pigs]

We are not getting back into another discussion of what petstore that sells animals is better. Uh uh, NO WAY. I will shut this thread down if that starts to happen.

[PiggieMom]

Originally Posted by Ty'sPiggs

They have about 5 guinea pigs in an aquarium about a foot in width and 2 feet in length. And the water bottle and food was empty. And i went up to a worker and said "Excuse me they have no food and no water." And the worker said "I dont care. Thats not my job!" (This happened in Petco by the way)
I seriously wanted to just hit him right then and there.

I would have reported him to a manager. I have no issues with getting employees in trouble or even fired. I worked a minimum wage job for almost three years. Sorry dude but that doesn't give you an excuse to be rude. If you work in the store it's your job to AT LEAST tell the person in charge of small pets. Geeze.

[rubyjr]

Ly&Pigs, Please close it. My point was just that until you become aware you do not really notice or just thinks it's ok.

Thanks.

[PiggieMom]

I think you made a very good point. I used to love taking the kids I babysat for to pet stores to look at all the animals. They loved it too. But I was teaching them that it was okay to shop there. I didn't know any better, and they weren't going to either. It wasn't until I found this site that I realized how awful the conditions were and if I shopped there what I was really supporting. It's amazing how easy it is to turn a blind eye to this problem.

[C&K]

I think you made a very good point. I used to love taking the kids I babysat for to pet stores to look at all the animals. They loved it too. But I was teaching them that it was okay to shop there. I didn't know any better, and they weren't going to either. It wasn't until I found this site that I realized how awful the conditions were and if I shopped there what I was really supporting. It's amazing how easy it is to turn a blind eye to this problem.

I agree!

It is amazing how often we incorporate animal abuse with teaching out kids to love animals! I used to always bring the kids to petstores too! My old scouting group loved to take the kids to the circus, and Last weekend I was at a park with a free petting zoo! All the kids in the park where having such a great time, I however felt really sick. When we move to the city it is in, I am going to see if somehow, change can occur. I may not win on all fronts, but would it not be great to see a rabbit breeding pit run by a city turned into a small animal education and adoption center? right now it tries to be educational, they have signs discribing the animals, what the male / female are called, the offspring are called, length of gestation, number of young, and lifespan, but what about teaching people how to take care of their own?

As for any of the three big three, Petco, Petland, Petsmart, what is the point in debating which one is marginally better? I think it varries area to area, in one city, it may be one, in the other, another, who cares? The main point is, they are all pretty awful!