This is absolutely sickening.

[Jolene]

I received this email message a few weeks ago, but I never thought to post it on this forum until now..

I've copy and pasted it from my inbox. I just want to know what you all think of this. I think it's disgusting. It's from my aunt Lila who lives in America, and she volunteers at her local pet rescue. This is her story:

"Hey Jo,
Just writing to let you know about something that happened last week. I would've messaged you sooner, but Hotmail doesn't like me. Anyhow, I was feeding the dogs when one of the other lady's comes up to me and says 'Hey Lila, we've been getting some complaints about the conditions these pigs are in at a certain pet store'

'pigs?' I say. 'Guinea pigs,' says she. 'You want to go check it out? so we don't have to alert animal control or something for nothing'

So the next morning, I head on down there, armed with my camera. But the mall security wouldn't let me in! so I left it in my car and headed into the store.

This cheery guy greets me, and I just get straight to the point. 'Where's your guinea pigs?' I ask. 'Oh, right this way' says he.

As I enter the room where all the small rodents are kept, my mouth just drops open. These pigs are being kept in what looks like concrete boxes, with a handful of shavings in each. The box can hold one, but each box has two pigs in it. They are packed like sardines. To top it off, they have pieces of poop and shavings floating in their water dishes. And a few of the boxes are even shared by the pigs with hamsters!

So this guy doesn't know I'm from the rescue shelter, and I wanna keep it that way for now (like mission impossible, heheh), and I ask him, 'What do you feed them?'

'Fruits,' he says. 'They like tomato's the best I find.'

Now I'm ready to snap. 'Sir, I'm from the rescue shelter. Are you aware that Tomato's can cause diarrhea in guinea pigs and hamsters?'

'Oh, no ma'am, I wasn't. But I assure you, its only temporary.'

I look into one of the cages, and I notice something: a piggy with one eye. This guy has deformed guinea pigs, too!

After I left, I contacted the 'authorities' and the pigs and hamsters were confiscated. The shop was shut down, too. The pigs were transferred to the shelter, and most have been taken to the vet and adopted out. Thank god I was able to help those piggies!"

The letter goes on about off-topic things, so I cut it off there. But I thought maybe you'd all like to see this. It's just horrific, to me.

[Terekins]

Ugh. Those poor animals. Thank god for people like your aunt. Is there anything they can do to stop this guy?

[Jolene]

Originally Posted by Terekins

Ugh. Those poor animals. Thank god for people like your aunt. Is there anything they can do to stop this guy?

I'm not sure. I responded to her email, so we'll see if she writes back. But I suspect he got a fine for animal abuse..

[MCR_Rox]

It's great that there are people in this world who actually care about animals. Pet stores think that they know everything about pets, or at least act like they do, when they don't.

[Jolene]

Yeah. I feel bad for the poor piggies.

[Shaffy]

Originally Posted by landhermie

Pet stores think that they know everything about pets, or at least act like they do, when they don't.

I agree. Before i got my hamster, i read up on them for about a year at least, when i got her (she was a dwarf) the lady told me to feed her lot of lettuce and sugar filled citrus fruits. My response (this is pretty strong for a 10 year old the the time.[i'm not ten])
Me" Are you kidding? Dwarf hamsters can get diabetes if they eat too much sugar. They are very prone to it, and lettuce can give them horrible diarrhea that could kill them.
The lady: Where did you get your info?
Me: Hamsterific.com
the lady: The internet has the wrong info. You shouldn't trust websites.
Me: Most books have extremely outdated info. The internet is a great tool for finding info.
Bla, bla bla.

What i'm trying to say is that people need to learn more about the world around them. I think vets should run pet supply shops since they usually have the correct info.

[Jolene]

Originally Posted by Shaffy

I agree. Before i got my hamster, i read up on them for about a year at least, when i got her (she was a dwarf) the lady told me to feed her lot of lettuce and sugar filled citrus fruits. My response (this is pretty strong for a 10 year old the the time.[i'm not ten])
Me" Are you kidding? Dwarf hamsters can get diabetes if they eat too much sugar. They are very prone to it, and lettuce can give them horrible diarrhea that could kill them.
The lady: Where did you get your info?
Me: Hamsterific.com
the lady: The internet has the wrong info. You shouldn't trust websites.
Me: Most books have extremely outdated info. The internet is a great tool for finding info.
Bla, bla bla.

What i'm trying to say is that people need to learn more about the world around them. I think vets should run pet supply shops since they usually have the correct info.

Or better yet, they shouldn't sell pets at all. But I agree, people think they're so smart because they run a pet shop.. blah blah.