Petstupid and their single sex pigs

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by Aduro

A.) The sick animals in the back room at PetSmart most certainly do recieve medication.

Really? That's news to me and not news I really believe.

Why is it that Petsmart sells so many sick animals in the first place?

Petsmart has a slogan that's somehting like "think adoption first". Why does that not apply to animals like Guinea Pigs? Why is it that corporate "bigwigs" have made it quite clear that their adopt first slogan only applies to cats and dogs? Why have they forced stores--that had very successful cooperation when working with small animal rescues--to start carrying Guinea pigs even though those areas the stores were located in have a major overpopulation program.

Why doesn't Petsmart spay/neuter the animals they sell if they are so concerned about animal overpopulation?

Originally Posted by Aduro

B.) PetSmarts are required to give oranges to the pigs nationwide? I can't speak for any other store but mine, but we've never given oranges to them. They do get carrots though.

Proof that the stores know little about proper GP care. Daily rations of only oranges and/or carrots are very poor choices

This goes hand in hand though with the poor quality foods Petsmart sells though.

Originally Posted by Aduro

C.) Normaly no drops are put in any of the water. There is a current exception at the moment because one/some stores recieved animals that had salmonella. The Corp has everyone putting some drops in the water to treat any others that might have it.

So are these animals quarentined? Has the health department been notified? A salmonella outbreak is a serious thing. I certainly home that these animals are all in a vet's care in an isolation unit and off the sale floor. I doubt that ANY of those precautions are actually being done though.

Petsmart has the audacity to claim they love animals and at the same time deny them proper treatment and fail to proect other animals and humans in the store?!

Every Petsmart I have been in recently has 2 water bottles. One with vitamin drops and one without. Despite long known proof that those vitamin drops are actually unreliable and potentially harmful Petsmart continues to sell them along with seed treats, yogurt treats, salt/mineral licks, OTC treatments for illnesses, harnesses, large exercize balls and other items that can be very harmful if not deadly to guinea pigs.

From everything I can see and have heard Petsmart is much less about proper care and concern for animals and more for making the almighty dollar despite the harm they cause.

[Himino]

I've all ways had this thought in my mind, that maybe if I worked at a petstore I can help the animals that aren't getting proper care. But then at the same time I'd be helping the pet store. Which is more important? I hate to see animals neglected, but is working for the people responsible worth it?

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by Himino

I've all ways had this thought in my mind, that maybe if I worked at a petstore I can help the animals that aren't getting proper care. But then at the same time I'd be helping the pet store. Which is more important? I hate to see animals neglected, but is working for the people responsible worth it?

I firmly believe that prorescue people should work for the corporate petstores.

I think they should be model employees, work hard and set a very good example for the staff and educate customers.

They should be so good at their job that they get promoted to a position where they can start gathering the hard evidence needed to shut them all down or at least get the sale of animals out of the stores for good.

[Jennicat]

Originally Posted by Aduro

B.) PetSmarts are required to give oranges to the pigs nationwide? I can't speak for any other store but mine, but we've never given oranges to them. They do get carrots though.

The three near us that I have visited recently have all given oranges. But very little hay.

Originally Posted by Aduro

C.) Normaly no drops are put in any of the water. There is a current exception at the moment because one/some stores recieved animals that had salmonella. The Corp has everyone putting some drops in the water to treat any others that might have it.

How does a rodent carry salmonella? How do vitamin C drops stop salmonella? Because for the past year, all three Petsmarts within driving distance of me have put the vitamin C drops into the water. When I stupidly purchased my first two from there, I was also sold the drops.

[bleachmiracle]

Originally Posted by Aduro

A.) The sick animals in the back room at PetSmart most certainly do recieve medication.

That's right. The baytril in the back that they expect their high school employees to be responsible enough to administer to the animals.

Originally Posted by Aduro

B.) PetSmarts are required to give oranges to the pigs nationwide? I can't speak for any other store but mine, but we've never given oranges to them. They do get carrots though.

Ask your manager for the feeding chart. It will tell you to feed oranges to the pigs daily. Just because you don't do it doesn't mean corporate doesn't want you to. Also, why are you feeding them carrots? Where is their romaine and other lettuces?

Originally Posted by Aduro

C.) Normaly no drops are put in any of the water. There is a current exception at the moment because one/some stores recieved animals that had salmonella. The Corp has everyone putting some drops in the water to treat any others that might have it.

I have the same question as everyone else...how do crappy vitacmin C drops help with salmonella? Maybe corporate should stop buying the guinea pigs instead of putting everyone at risk.

[Res Judicata]

Originally Posted by Aduro

A.) The sick animals in the back room at PetSmart most certainly do recieve medication.

Prove it. What was the last animal in the backroom? Species? Coloring and gender? What medication did this sick animal receive? What dose? How often? What was the name of the vet who prescribed said medication? How did employees know that this animal received the medication in a timely manner and of the proper dose? Were records kept so that others knew to give/not give the medication?

[this_lil_piggy]

Regardless of what type drops they were putting in the water to treat the supposed Salmonella, the writer apparently didn't realize the Petsmart ignorance she was demonstrating and admitting to, to only prove our points.
Even if anyone entertained the truthfulness of the comment, and even if it was the proper medications to treat salmonella that were put in the water, you can't properly dose a pig, especially multiple pigs, via their water supply ! DER DUH DING A LING.
1) you can't dump anything in water and accurately calculate what part water and what part medication each pig is taking each time they drink...so some pigs could be getting too much, some not enough.
2)Some pigs could be not getting any at all, because of the change in the water flavor turns them off of drinking it.
3) Some medications break down and become useless after being exposed to water, light, certain temperatures, etc.

And you don't leave salmonella diseased animals on a sales floor, which completely makes me discredit this "employee" altogether.


If petsmart didn't purchase diseased animals from nasty breeders, and cram them by the half dozens and dozens in tiny aquariums that were meant for FISH, they wouldn't have this problem, now would they? !!
So, all I have left to say is What EVAH!

[emoxrobot]

I went to Petco the other day to check on the new guinea pigs they have there. When I got there there were two guinea pigs huddled side by side breathing very hard. They couldn't have been more than 2 weeks old. One of the guinea pigs that crust around his nose as well. A manager walked by me and I told him that these guinea pigs look ill and need to be seen by a vet. He asked me how I knew this!! A five year old could tell they were sick. I pointed out to him the symptoms. He asked me to look at the other guinea pigs and let him know if I thought any others looked ill. I didn't see any signs of a URI, but I'm not a vet either and I told him that it would be best if all of them got a check up. He then asked me if "these guinea pigs are good for breeding" I told him that I was a firm believer in adopting animals instead of contributing to the overpopulation problem.

After that he asked me if I wanted a job there because I knew more about guinea pigs than he and his employees did. I considered it for a moment, and am still thinking about it. It could be a great way to find out what things go on and make sure the small animals are taken care of.

[Slave to the Wheek]

Originally Posted by emoxrobot

After that he asked me if I wanted a job there because I knew more about guinea pigs than he and his employees did. I considered it for a moment, and am still thinking about it. It could be a great way to find out what things go on and make sure the small animals are taken care of.

Recently it occurred to me that the only way people will believe what's happening is to document it with pictures --the way they do and did with the puppy mills. The sole reason the these megastores are are successful here in California is because they chose not to sell dogs/cats. Therefore they are "politically correct" and people support them with a passion they don't deserve. The same people who would picket a store for selling dogs, will bounce into a Petno without a second thought..

Today I wanted to go to a Petno with a sign that read:
[FONT=Impact]
HEY-- Dog and Cat people
Guinea Pigs are Pets Too!
Stop supporting stores that sell animals and contribute to overpopulation![/FONT]

I'm still thinking I just might do that one day. Just sit on a busy street in front of Petno.

Being on the inside for a time would be a great way to document with video and photographs of what's actually happening versus what the corporate hype is. To document in detail each effort at fixing things and how it fails long term. Man I would love to do a documentary on this!

I think these employees think it's just their own stores that don't follow "policies" I think it would be great if we could prove that what is happening is corporate policy by default because they don't (*aka can't) solve the inherent problems with animals in a retail store. Once we had enough evidence, I'll bet more than a few lawyers would be willing file a class action suit for animal cruelty. It's not like it would be hard to do either. These places are so poorly run it's amazing that they make any money at all. Even if the lawsuit failed, the poor publicity alone would get the word out to the public of the horrors of pet stores that sell animals.

[Res Judicata]

Originally Posted by Slave to the Wheek

I'll bet more than a few lawyers would be willing file a class action suit for animal cruelty.

I wish we could. Unfortunately class actions are civil trials and animal cruelty is a criminal offense. Any evidence collected could be given to the prosecutor's office in hopes that they're breaking enough of the animal cruelty code to be at least fined. Animal welfare law is so far behind it is not even funny. Although there is a couple out there suing a guy who shot their dog for loss of companionship. I don't remember where they are and if they're suing in state or federal court. If they can win with that, it sets precedent that pets are more than just property. Right now in most if someone does something to your pet the most you can sue them for is the cost of the pet and vet bills related to the incident. Nice, huh?

[Aduro]

I'm still here nosing around by the way. Waiting till I work again on Saturday so I can look up the official C&C (care info) and what not as opposed to simply saying how I was trained and what we do at my store.

[standuprookie]

Aduro, even if your store takes wonderful care of their animals, gives them good sized cages, actually treat the sick animals, and feed each pig a cup of veggies a day. (which they do NOT) They would still sell animals, and they would not receive any of my business. There is an overpopulation and stores sell pigs and contribute even more to it.