Pet Stores that have adoption signs

[emoxrobot]

Hey everyone I have a persuasive speech tomorrow night and I am going to speak about pet stores and why you shouldn't buy any animals or supplies there. When I metioned the speech to a friend of mine she stated that there are pet stores that have adoption days. What should I say about this if it is brought up in the question section of the speech? Any help would be appreciated.

[zippysmom]

Pet-cetera only adopts out dogs and doesn't sell them. Perhaps the adoption means that they can't sell the pigs so they are calling it adoption.

[VoodooJoint]

While adoption days are a step in the right direction the fact remains that the only reason the pet stores do this is to generate revenue. If an animal gets adopted the chances are high that the adopter will buy all their supplies at the store.

It is useless, in the end, to have adoption days if the store still insists on selling animals. You cannot claim to care about animal overpopulation, neglect and the idea of an animal as part of the family instead of a possesion if you are adding to the problem at the same time.

[CavySpirit]

This article details a number of explanations: Guinea Pig Home - Social Cause Marketing - Articles

[Solebomber]

Sounds to me like a visicious circle - pet store sells pigs which are then abandoned to the shelters, pet store has "adoption" days where people adopt the abandoned pigs and buy more supplies. Pet store wins twice over. Just another excellent reason to not buy from the pet store in the first place.

[Slave to the Wheek]

My favorite bit of marketing trickery is when they put their policy on adoption signs right onto the guinea pig cage! It APPEARS to the passersby that the pigs/rodents are up for "adoption" when in fact they are NOT. They do not include rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats, hamsters, mice and birds as "Pets", but specifically cats and dogs according to the details hidden in their website.

I recently noticed this at a PetStupid store. They had placed stickers right onto the guinea pig/rodent cages which referenced their instore adoption center. When I asked to see the manager and asked him what shelter those animals were from he was very angry at me. He knew I'd called him on something and said that "pets" means cats and dogs and that these animals were for sale.

[Spiffy'n'Spunky]

There is one pet store in my town that does not sell any animals but holds an adoption day where the Humane Society brings some of the animals that have been down there for awhile to the store for people to adopt.

Sure, it is somewhat of a way to generate revenue but hey, they have to make a living too. I think these people have their hearts in the right place though, they aren't really the greedy type and it is all run by a local family.

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by Spiffy'n'Spunky

There is one pet store in my town that does not sell any animals but holds an adoption day where the Humane Society brings some of the animals that have been down there for awhile to the store for people to adopt.

Sure, it is somewhat of a way to generate revenue but hey, they have to make a living too. I think these people have their hearts in the right place though, they aren't really the greedy type and it is all run by a local family.

There is a big differance between stores that sell animals and stores that don't holding adoption days.

Stores that sell animals as well as adopt are helping no one and nothing but themselves. They are only in it for the money and impulse animal buys of the creatures they sell and don't really care about the plight of shelter animals. It's all a show to gain good public relations (by fooling the public).

As an example; there is a feed store in my town that sells animals and also works with the SPCA and houses animals to adopt out. The SPCA had to stop sending their small animals for adoption there because the GPs, Rabbits, Ferrets, Etc from the SPCA were being displayed in a store that sold the exact same animals. The SPCA animals were not getting adopted because they were mostly adults and couldn't compete with the cute babies only a few feet away. The poor animals would sit there for months being ignored. The store wanted to keep accepting the small animals because it made them look like good guys while in fact they were causing more harm then good.

Stores that only sell supplies and hold adoption days are doing things the right way. The store benefits because it generate revenue. The shelter animals benefit because they get homes and all animals in general benefit because it raises true awareness of the homeless animal problem and doesn't add to overpopulation and impulse animal buys.

[rockyshero]

Originally Posted by emoxrobot

Hey everyone I have a persuasive speech tomorrow night and I am going to speak about pet stores and why you shouldn't buy any animals or supplies there. When I metioned the speech to a friend of mine she stated that there are pet stores that have adoption days. What should I say about this if it is brought up in the question section of the speech? Any help would be appreciated.

Really what you need to do is go to the source. But since you have very little time, I'd go to the next best thing: Google.com. I would infact ( if you find anything thats liget) take it , highlite it and have it with you. It's going to take more than time you have to find good hard facts on this. Im acctually a college student fighting for animal rights so I no what your going through right now. Best of Luck.

[fairysari]

Emoxrobot, how did your speech go? Do you think you were persuasive enough that your class won't buy from pet stores?

[emoxrobot]

Originally Posted by fairysari

Emoxrobot, how did your speech go? Do you think you were persuasive enough that your class won't buy from pet stores?

Oh my gosh it was great. To see the looks on their faces after I talked to them about mills and showed images of what goes on there they were horrified. I also drew on the board a diagram showing how quickly 2 animals could turn into many animals due to breeding and how that means the offspring will be in homes that animals in shelters needed.

Anyways my class was very open-minded to begin with and they really enjoyed my informative speech on guinea pig care a few weeks ago. They didn't realize how much work cavies could be. They even refer to them as cavies now!

At the end I metioned to go to this site and guinealynx before buying a gp and a lot of people wrote it down. I also said that if anyone needed help finding a place to adopt to let me know.

So yeah I enjoyed it and I think they did too. I am now referred to as the "guinea pig lady."

[VoodooJoint]

Another example of why petstores that sell animals and hold adoption days doesn't work. From Cavy Care Inc. Guinea Pig Shelter

[FONT=Arial]Folks have been asking, [/FONT][FONT=Arial]"Why do you not see Cavy Care Inc. in Petsmart any more?" [/FONT]

Six years ago we embarked on an innovative ideal at the invitation of Linda Zottnick, Manager of a Petsmart located at 104th and I-25, bring our adoptable guinea pigs in to her store on a permanent bases. Linda embraced the motto of Petsmart charities, “promoting adoptable animals where ever possible” and she did. Later at the suggestion of Karen Warden, Regional Manager, because of the success of our program she suggested that they would no longer sell guinea pigs in those stores that CCI was located at. Our program had proven itself to be very successful.

In 2004 we where offered as many as 17 stores in the region but due to volunteer staffing shortages we where only able to maintain six locations.

Our goal is the quality of the animals we offer for adoption, not how many we get adopted. And so we maintained six stores in varies locations.

That all changed in January/March of 2006. A corporate big wig from Phoenix came through Colorado and ordered the six stores we where located in to start selling baby guinea pigs. “The Petsmart motto of offering adoptable animals wherever possible only applied to dogs and cats, not guinea pigs”, was her response, despite our placement of over 4000 guinea pigs in the last 8-years. All locations quickly complied except Ken Caryl. They have been holding out for as long as they could. But as of today (10/30/06) I have notified them that we will be pulling out as of November 15th. They have received orders to comply by the new District Manager, and while we appreciate their desire to make a difference there is no reason their manager needs to get in trouble ~Petsmart corporate has indicated they are no longer interested in promoting any thing other then dogs and cats.

For the last ten months we have attempted to work with this new policy. But hey, babies are cute and who wouldn’t want them. Over time we found ourselves moved to areas away from their own animals. Located back by the fish tanks or located behind the large kennels of adoptable cats. No one could find us. We where placed in areas folks where not going to find us if they where looking for a guinea pigs. What made it even worse was that even when we where in a store, folks looking to adopt where told we where no longer there, even when we were.

Enough was enough. Adoptions dropped to where we where getting zero of our guinea pigs adopted for months at a time. These where locations that we use to have trouble keeping full and would have to make special trips to fill again. These are stressful environments and if our animals where not going to even get any type of consideration then it was time to leave. These creatures deserved better.

[DaisyGP]

Originally Posted by VoodooJoint

Another example of why petstores that sell animals and hold adoption days doesn't work. From Cavy Care Inc. Guinea Pig Shelter

[FONT=Arial]Folks have been asking, [/FONT][FONT=Arial]"Why do you not see Cavy Care Inc. in Petsmart any more?" [/FONT]

Six years ago we embarked on an innovative ideal at the invitation of Linda Zottnick, Manager of a Petsmart located at 104th and I-25, bring our adoptable guinea pigs in to her store on a permanent bases. Linda embraced the motto of Petsmart charities, “promoting adoptable animals where ever possible” and she did. Later at the suggestion of Karen Warden, Regional Manager, because of the success of our program she suggested that they would no longer sell guinea pigs in those stores that CCI was located at. Our program had proven itself to be very successful.

In 2004 we where offered as many as 17 stores in the region but due to volunteer staffing shortages we where only able to maintain six locations.

Our goal is the quality of the animals we offer for adoption, not how many we get adopted. And so we maintained six stores in varies locations.

That all changed in January/March of 2006. A corporate big wig from Phoenix came through Colorado and ordered the six stores we where located in to start selling baby guinea pigs. “The Petsmart motto of offering adoptable animals wherever possible only applied to dogs and cats, not guinea pigs”, was her response, despite our placement of over 4000 guinea pigs in the last 8-years. All locations quickly complied except Ken Caryl. They have been holding out for as long as they could. But as of today (10/30/06) I have notified them that we will be pulling out as of November 15th. They have received orders to comply by the new District Manager, and while we appreciate their desire to make a difference there is no reason their manager needs to get in trouble ~Petsmart corporate has indicated they are no longer interested in promoting any thing other then dogs and cats.

For the last ten months we have attempted to work with this new policy. But hey, babies are cute and who wouldn’t want them. Over time we found ourselves moved to areas away from their own animals. Located back by the fish tanks or located behind the large kennels of adoptable cats. No one could find us. We where placed in areas folks where not going to find us if they where looking for a guinea pigs. What made it even worse was that even when we where in a store, folks looking to adopt where told we where no longer there, even when we were.

Enough was enough. Adoptions dropped to where we where getting zero of our guinea pigs adopted for months at a time. These where locations that we use to have trouble keeping full and would have to make special trips to fill again. These are stressful environments and if our animals where not going to even get any type of consideration then it was time to leave. These creatures deserved better.

I know what you mean. I use to work for a petsmart. They only adopted out cats and dogs. Our store was considered more "liberal" because they let us refuse to sell a pet to someone how shouldn't provide for it, was going to keep it in conditions, use it as a feeder for another animal. We did this with all the animals sold. That includes the fish!! This is against coperate policy as I've been told, but out store manager was a nice lady.

[standuprookie]

They can refuse but normally don't really care. My friend is not as big into animals welfare as I would like him to be, and he said when he was younger him and his uncle went to Petco or PetSmart, can't remember which one. And tried to buy a bunch of goldfish for bait and they told this to the guy behind the counter and they refused to sell them, but all they did was drive to the other one a cross town and not mention this to the other cashier, when he asked if they already had a tank set up at home they said "Yeah you know one of the tin ones with holes in side." The cashier asked no other question or asked what they meant.

[PookiesPiggies]

My problem with adoption days is they don't screen the people who adopt these cats and dogs. Im not talking about asking if they've owned a pet before. I'm talking about house checks and vet checks. We have clients who bring in their newly adopted pets that, given my opinion, shouldn't be allowed to care for a rock. Its VERY sad.