Is Pets At Home Improving?

[cookie_gal]

Surely by taking the pig you freed up space for them to replace her with another pig? I dunno, I don't know what I would have done in that situation, actually I wouldn't have taken her as I do not have the space - easy decision for me! I know your heart was in the right place though and you didn't pay for her so at least they didn't make profit from you.

Interestingly they still sell birds at our PaH...probably cos it's a different country.

[muffin]

I take it the babies were put in the pens for sale? Ugh, I am disgusted. I'm going to make a point of going into mine more regularly and sending letters to the head office and talking to the store mamnager when I see cr** like that. The whole adoption initiative makes me want to turn my back on the place and never enter again, but when my local one sells 15 guinea pigs in a weekend?! Avian flu...that makes sense.

OOOOOh my blood is boiling at that woman if the babies were sold. AAAAArgh.

[cookie_gal]

I personally enjoy standing at the pens with someone and talking loudly about the cons of the place, its amazing how many people walk away - probably to get away from the crazy girl but hopefully it makes them think. I always say there's loads of guinea's and buns at the rescue etc too.

[muffin]

I'm going to write and ask them what used to happen to 'unsellable' stock. Ugh, promoting adoption whilst selling the animals that will then become rescues?! That will be my topic of conversation next time I'm near the pens.

[muffin]

Daft, if the pig was handed in pregnant then it's not from one of their 'trusted sources'. You should ask head office how they can legally sell a guinea pig that they have no idea of the genetic history of. Even if they can sell it legally, it should go against their 'adoption' policy. They would be able to adopt out baby pigs like smarties. They are profiteering. Also, are they giving the adoptables out for free? That just spells snake food. Let us know how you get on. Love to poor wee Rosie.

[thalestral]

daft, do you think any press would be interested in this? A pet shop selling adoptable pets is an interesting enough story I feel, certainly when taking the pet shops supposedly caring about pets but really just about money angle.

I'm so glad you took Rosie, she would not have got the treatment or care she needed where she was and I dread to think what they do with pets that don't get shifted fast enough :/

[daftscotslass]

The main gripe I had was that their adoption procedure was the same as the sales. All you had to provide was an address and details of any other animals owned. Adoptions are normally for a "reasonable donation" to their charitable trust. I've yet to find out if administrative costs are deducted from "donations" or if the money goes directly to charities (the Blue Cross is an example). The store couldn't answer that question when I asked.

To be honest I can't see how they can justify either selling the offspring of surrenders or offloading the unsellables via this "adoption" system.

One of the reasons I mentioned in chat regarding my decision to take her was the possibility she could be pregnant. Should I have left her to give birth to an inbred litter that could end up being sold and, in turn, be bred from like many a pet shop pig is?

From what I can gather, too, this has been completely thrust upon the stores from the corporate end - it's not a store-by-store decision to do so.

[daftscotslass]

Originally Posted by thalestral

daft, do you think any press would be interested in this? A pet shop selling adoptable pets is an interesting enough story I feel, certainly when taking the pet shops supposedly caring about pets but really just about money angle.

I'm so glad you took Rosie, she would not have got the treatment or care she needed where she was and I dread to think what they do with pets that don't get shifted fast enough :/

I will be interested to see what response I get to my email (if any) first. It really is all beyond a joke.

[muffin]

Hey Daft, you can PM me the where, when and how if you want me to complain too about your particular experience. It has lots of issues to make them squirm and address.

[crazywiggy]

I've just emailed PAH too. It was an effort to bite my tongue (so to speak) and not criticise) but I tried to just politely ask exactly where these adoption animals come from and what the adoption process is.
Depending on their answers will determine how I word my reply to them, telling them if they didn't sell sick or pregnant animals to impulse buyers in the first place there wouldn't be animals up for adoption!

I can't wait to hear their responses to me and Daft.

[daftscotslass]

Originally Posted by muffin

Hey Daft, you can PM me the where, when and how if you want me to complain too about your particular experience. It has lots of issues to make them squirm and address.

Thanks but to be honest I believe it's better with regards to my experience if they are contacted with evidence rather than something you've heard online. I literally have the evidence that they can't do something as simple as cut nails or sex an animal sitting on my lap.

However, I would email them questioning their motives as the signs stating the animals up for adoption are those that are too old and too large to be sold are there for all to see. It's not adoption - it's offloading the unsellable stock. As for the surrenders, I dread to think - if you get bored of your pet return it for a pat on the back.

[muffin]

Oh don't worry, I will be emailing. I wrote them a letter once, and they replied! If everyone who reads this thread writes to PAH HQ if there's similar goings on in their local PAH it might make an impact.

[JarBax]

I haven't been to our local pah for yonks - but might have to make an undercover investigatory trip to see what's going on. Don't know what I'll find...

[jabberwock]

I'll go into the Sheffield branch next week so I can find something specific and local to complain about - I usually manage to find something. I'll make sure I contact the head office this time as well as the lcoal manager.

[crazywiggy]

Well for those of you that are interested this is the reply I just got from PaH. Obviously it is still crap, so I will be sending another emaqil telling them where they are going wrong. See what you think....

[FONT=Courier New]Thanks for your email concerning Support Adoption. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Pets at Home has raised over £1,200,000 for pet related charities such as Hearing Dogs, Dogs for the Disabled and The Blue Cross. In addition we have built great relationships with Dogs Trust, Cats Protection and the Rabbit Welfare Association, all of which share our passion for animal welfare. As a result of this ongoing work we’ve launched our own charity – The Pets at Home Charitable Foundation. The objectives of which are to:[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New] Promote humane behaviour towards animals by providing appropriate care, protection, treatment and security for animals which are in need of care and attention by reason of sickness, maltreatment, poor circumstances or ill usage.[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]Educate the public in matters relating to animal welfare in general and the prevention of cruelty and suffering among animals.[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]To promote responsible pet ownership[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]Q What exactly is the difference between animals for "sale" and those for "adoption" in PaH?[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]A We have launched a Support Adoption scheme within a number of our stores, animals that are available for adoption have been legally adopted by the Pets at Home Charitable Foundation. Any monies donated for the adoption of these animals is ploughed back into the Charitable Foundation.[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]Q Are "adoption" animals those too large / old to be sold in "bunny village or the other sales areas, are they from rescue centres? Are they surrendered to PAH by the public (regardless of where they were purchased? Are they animals returned to PAH?" [/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]A The Pets within Support Adoption come from a number of sources including our breeders, our customers and our stores. [/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]We are partnering with local re-homing centres and we are actively encouraging our customers to ‘think adoption first’. We are promoting our partnered re-homing centres in store and are actively encouraging them to hold fundraising/awareness days in store.[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]Q What is the adoption process, e.g. do you carry out interviews, home checks etc.?[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]A Our store staff are aware of the needs of the individual pets and are happy to talk in detail and at length to customers who are interested in adopting a particular pet. We also ensure that the relevant care sheets are given out to each new adoptee.[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New][/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]Q Does the required donation go to charity?[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]A All the monies raised through Support Adoption are ploughed back into The Pets At Home Charitable Foundation. These monies will be distributed by the Trustees to re-homing centres around the country and will also be used for veterinary fees for those animals within the Support Adoption Scheme.[/FONT]

[seagirl96]

I hope you know that you did a good thing. If the mother had stayed, she would have had more babies fathered by her own baby that would have been sold, possibly pregnant. I think you stopped a particularly vicious cycle. How is the poor mama? I hope she's not pregnant.

[Cavie Cove]

I've been seeing on other sites about Pets At Home becomming "better" but like many think, it will only be better when they stop selling animals.

So basically the adoption scheme thing is them just selling more of their own animals that they can't sell heck they even say pets from their own breeders!
Any idea if they have forms or set adoption fees for these so called "adoption pets"

I havent brought or stepped foot in a P @ H since we had people ringing us up with ill guineas from there, turned out it was ringworm, and P @ H treated a pair of pigs on behalf of someone then said they were ready to be collected(after 2 weeks, so too short a time to finish treatment anyways) only to go and sell on the pair of guineas, then said they couln't get in touch with the people that had them as they sold to many in that morning