Some things I noticed in Petco Yesterday...

TrekkiesUnite · #1 09-24-06, 08:37 pm

Yesterday when I went to petco to get some toys for Twister I took a look at the Guinea Pigs they had like I do at all pet stores and some things caught my eye. The first was they actually had about 10 guinea pigs spreadout through 4 cages, so that was about 2-3 pigs per cage and they had them seperated by sex. This I found amazing becuase in almost every petstore I have ever been in all the guinea pigs were crammed into a 20 gallon fish tank. Now the cages were still aquarium like and weren't huge but they were still decent sized and they had fans to on the top blowing outwards to provide some sort of ventilation. The bedding was also Carefresh and not cedar or pine, which again surprised me since most petstores I have seen had them either in cedar or no bedding at all. They also had plenty of hay and the water was crystal clear, so I am assuming there were no vitamins in it. So even though the conditions were not the best in the world I gotta say that where petco keeps there guinea pigs is far better than what I have seen in any other petstore I have been in. Now I'm not saying everyone should go buy guinea pigs from petco, just that what I saw there was a major improvement from what I have seen in other petstores.

**Percy's Mom** · #2 09-24-06, 08:51 pm

Unless you picked up the pigs and checked, the signs might say they're seperated, but they most likely still have a mistake occasionally. What do you consider "decent sized" for an aqarium type cage for 2-3 guinea pigs? I can't think of any aquarium that I would personally consider decent. And the fan doesn't provide ventilation for the pigs. It keeps the shoppers from being able to smell the ammonia building up near the bottom of the glass box the poor pigs are living in.

TrekkiesUnite · #3 09-24-06, 08:59 pm

Well they weren't actual aquariums they were specially built things, and I would say the size would be about 1x3 grid size, which still isn't great but it was much better than what I have seen in other places. Like I said I am not saying petco is godly or anything, but it just seemed they were making an effort to make the conditions a little better. I have been in pet stores where they had about 10-20 guinea pigs in a space less than a 1x1.5 grid space with messy cedar, no hay, one tiny bowl of pellets and orange water, so I am just saying what I saw there was a major improvment from what I have seen elsewhere, not that it is the most wonderful conditions they could provide, just that they weren't absolutly horrible.

**standuprookie** · #4 09-24-06, 10:26 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrekkiesUnite

Well they weren't actual aquariums they were specially built things, and I would say the size would be about 1x3 grid size,

My boys are about a grid long, so 3 pigs in a 1x3 seems pretty cramped to me.

TrekkiesUnite · #5 09-24-06, 10:49 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by standuprookie

My boys are about a grid long, so 3 pigs in a 1x3 seems pretty cramped to me.

Like I said, it wasn't the best in the world, but it still seemed pretty nice compared to what I have seen elsewhere such as all the guinea pigs being crammed into one tiny pen.

**WatersLM** · #6 09-24-06, 11:29 pm

I would just like to say one thing. The pigs aren't spending their entire lives there. You have to remember that it is a temporary home for them and so I don't think it will seriously hurt them to spend a couple weeks in a smaller than luxurious cage. His description sounds much, much better than almost any petstore I have ever seen.

**standuprookie** · #7 09-25-06, 12:05 am

Smaller than luxurious cages, Those pigs will barley have room to move in a 1x3, it might be an o.k. quarantine cage for a week or two for a pig maybe two with plenty of floor time. ( a doubt the pet store does that ) Plus as soon as that pig is sold they will replace it, and the pigs could very well end up spending more than a few weeks in that cage.

**cookie_gal** · #8 09-25-06, 05:42 am

Plus people will see it and think, oh, if they have 3 in there it's more than enough for one piggy, maybe we could downsize ours a bit? People are so stupid and thoughtless at times that I can just see this being thought.

**Susan9608** · #9 09-25-06, 09:41 am

I think the set up you're describing sounds awful; it certainly doesn't sound like anything that merits the slightest bit of praise.

Come on - an aquarium like cage that was specially built? An aquarium is an aquarium no matter the size, and aquariums are not the correct environment for pigs. Strike one.

And 2-3 pigs in an equivalent of a 1x3 grid cage. That doesn't even meet our standards for two pigs, let alone 3. It's too small. Period. Strike 2.

And they *claim* that the pigs are separated by sex. Huh. Some how I bet they've got a few that are missexed. Strike 3.

3 Strikes and Petco's out.

But you know what? Even if these conditions were marvelous or even if they were just a small step up from every other pet store in the world, it doesn't matter. You know why? Because THEY ARE STILL SELLING ANIMALS.

Until they stop selling animals and stop treating animals as *merchandise* rather than living, sentient beings, nothing else they do matters. They still suck and deserve no praise.

Petco does not get any praise on THIS forum until all sales of animals in their stores stops. Period.

TrekkiesUnite · #10 09-25-06, 04:11 pm

The size of the cage was really the only thing I saw that was really not the best, yes it was an aquarium, but there is probably some logic behind that. If it had grid style walls you wanna know what would happen to the pigs when kids saw them? They would get poked and tormented until they became unsociable. Also 1x3 grids may not be 10.5 square feet, but it is for 2-3 BABY guinea pigs that will only be there for a few weeks, so in my book that is a lot better and a lot more room than the 20 guinea pigs packed into a 1x1.5 grid size cage I have seen in other pet stores. And yes there is the chance of a missex, but I think there is a less of a chance of unwanted pig pregnancy when 10 guinea pigs are seperated into 4 different cages by gender than there is when you have 10 guinea pigs all in one cage. So what I am saying is what I saw at petco was far better than anything I have seen in any other petstore I have been to. And yes they sell animals, thats what petstores do, they need to make a profit to stay open.

**Percy's Mom** · #11 09-25-06, 05:13 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrekkiesUnite

And yes they sell animals, thats what petstores do, they need to make a profit to stay open.

Petstores make almost 0 profit off of animals. Just like any other retailer, they make the majority of their profits on accessories. In the case of a pet store, that can be food, toys, beds, cages, safety equiptment, etc. They could make almost as much profit, if not more, by not selling animals at all and seriously advocating adoption. I feel certain that if they did, the adoption centers, shelters, and rescues would direct their adopters back to a pet store who boycotted the sale of animals while there are so many languishing needing loving homes.

You know what really traumatizes those animals? Being bred to fill merchandise orders. Not getting any sort of decent vet care. Being stacked on top of each other in cages that are way too small and have no ventilation. Being thrown into even smaller cages or into the freezer if they get sick. THAT is what makes pet store animals unsociable. I'm sure they would rather have an occasional finger stuck through cage bars than to have to breathe in the ammonia from their own urine day in and day out.

Like Susan already said, you're not going to get backing on this forum for any pet store selling animals, no matter how great the conditions. They're still selling them, and ultimately, all they are to the store is another piece of merchandise.

**Susan9608** · #12 09-25-06, 05:14 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrekkiesUnite

The size of the cage was really the only thing I saw that was really not the best

That was the *only* thing you think was "really not the best", huh? Wow, how easily impressed you are.

The fact that they are babies doesn't make it okay that they are crammed into too small of a space. Baby pigs need room, too. They need room to be able to be away from their own urine and feces, as well as to have the space to run and jump in.

Aquariums are not acceptable housing containers, as ammonia can build up inside them, due to inadequate ventilation. How would *you* like to live in a tiny room with 2 other people, in which you had to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom, without any ventilation?

Quote:

And yes they sell animals, thats what petstores do, they need to make a profit to stay open.

Actually, there are quite a few pet stores that manage to make a profit and stay open without selling animals. Selling animals is not a necessary part of maintaining a financially solvent business.

I suppose if you think selling living beings as merchandise is okay, then perhaps the conditions at Petco would seem stellar to you. On THIS forum, however, we do not praise Petco for ANYTHING because we believe that selling sentient beings as merchandise is wrong.

TrekkiesUnite · #13 09-25-06, 06:01 pm

All I am saying is that what I saw was far better than what I saw in any other petstore I have been in. The cages were clean, the bedding was carefresh, the water was clear, they had plenty of hay, the cage wasn't too small for the number of baby guinea pigs that would be in it for a few week. It really wasn't that bad. Like I said, all that was wrong was the cage size. It could have been much worse. Just to give you an idea, here are some things I have seen in other petstores. One petstore I was in they had about 15-20 guinea pigs piled on top of each other in probably a 25-30 gallon fish tank, with cedar bedding, dirty water, little to no pellets, no hay, and no seperation between gender. At another they had the guinea pigs in aquariums with no bedding, a small container for food, and dirty water. And one petstore I was in actually had one dead guinea pig and another one in the same cage dying. So when compared to these, Petco seems a hell of a lot better.

**Memory** · #14 09-25-06, 06:07 pm

It's a start. Maybe you should talk to the owners about enlarging their cages. If they made so many good renovations, they should renovate the cage sizes also because, I do agree, and can give customers the wrong message.

**standuprookie** · #15 09-25-06, 06:12 pm

I have one question. Why are you trying to praise and defend Petco? Petco would still be bad if they fed oxbow, had clean water, bedded on carefresh, got fresh veggies, and the cages were all up to our minimum. Because they sell live animals to anyone with a twenty, while guinea pigs die in shelters every day.

**Susan9608** · #16 09-25-06, 06:22 pm

Thank you Standuprookie. You took some words right out of my mouth.

Who cares if Petco has slightly better conditions than other pet stores? (Though whether or not their conditions are, indeed, better is debateable.) They are still SELLING animals.

On THIS forum, Petco gets NO credit, NO praise, and NO kudos as long as they continue to sell animals.

In fact, they could keep their guinea pigs in best possible conditions, better than anyone else in the whole, wide world, and they would STILL GET NO PRAISE OR CREDIT ON THIS FORUM.

It doesn't matter if the Petco you went to had better conditions than any other pet store you've ever seen. They are still SELLING animals.

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS AS LONG AS PETCO IS SELLING ANIMALS.

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