She ORDERS them! LIKE SUPPLIES! LOL I shut down another pet store today :)

[Susan9608]

Originally Posted by CavyLove

And I left with my new baby. Didnt pay a dime so she got NO financial support and she probably wont order more pigs either. Even if she does, I'll go back. You bet your bottom I'm gonna go check on her. Sucks that even some adults need to be babysitted.

Originally Posted by CavyLove

I agree, but I went back today and she had the pigs in a much bigger cage..

So she *did* order more pigs, then? And now she has an even bigger cage so she can fit more of them in the pet store. Good!

[heatherbunnie]

Alusdra -- read envisionary333's post above! Money is going to the breeders, where the pigs are kept in terrible conditions and probably come with sickness. And, how can you be certain that this store owner is going to give the people that buy these pigs advice about how to care.

The point of rescues is to make sure the pigs make it to a GOOD. How can this happen when they're simply sold in a store? Just because they may be in OK conditions while in the store, is the time taken to make sure they will end up in a good home?

[HowietheGreat]

Yeah, she did just that. Bought a bigger cage to place even more pigs in. If she really cared she would help adopt (not make a profit) them out from the many foster homes/ rescues and have adoption applications. Oh, and stop selling other small animals that she is buying from breeders or breeding herself. Yeah, right. It is all about profit to them.

[Ly&Pigs]

If you can convince a pet store to let you take animals not in ideal conditions

But she didn't convince the store to let her take the pig. She basically forced the woman to put it in a box by saying some false legal info and walked out with the pig.

In my original response to this thread, I said that petstore lady would restock and she did. Nothing really got changed except now there's a bigger cage to hold even more pigs. I think that CavyLove had good intentions deep down in her heart by wanting this store to stop selling pigs, but didn't realize the bigger picture overall.

By getting the store to stop selling pigs, you have to stop the demand for them. Meaning if none are sold, taken for free, stolen, etc., then there is no demand from the breeders/mills and the store loses money and eventually stops selling the pigs.

[Jennicat]

Also, I'd like to add, if you consider yourself "the rescue" in the area, it's probably not to your best interest to go around to people lying to them about the law and what they're required to do. What if she'd known you were lying? Why would she then have any reason to believe what you said about guinea pig care? Or when you said that you rescued pigs, and wouldn't she like to have a rescue program instead?

[salana]

Originally Posted by CavyLove

I AM the local rescue in my area. When people don't want their pigs they bring them to me. Where I live, I'm known as the Cavy Lady. LOL. There isnt much out here its a small town but the few rescues that do come out here, end up with me.

Are you the one that sells them to the pet store, then?

[Alusdra]

What I was trying to say is that the pet store was going to buy more anyway, so it's not like that changed. And she didn't get any money for the one, even if the methods of getting said pig are a bit stronger than I would have used, myself... even so. And as for will she give better information? Well, maybe not, but at least she knows now what are actual requirements versus the prevailing beliefs. You can't force a person to act on the information as it isn't law, but you can bring it to their attention and hope their own good nature will get them to go further (which seems like what has happened in this instance).

I'm not saying that the situation was handled perfectly, but I'm just a little confused at the negative reaction on this thread.

[Susan9608]

I guess the negativity comes from the fact that so many people come on here, talking about their pet store "rescues". Everyone thinks that *their* particular situation is different and will be looked upon differently, but they are all the same.

People taking animals from the pet store eliminates all the pet store's responsibility towards that animal. That action enables the pet store to obtain more animals.

Look at this situation. The original poster took the *one* pig from this pet store and convinced the employee to get a bigger cage. The employee did and now the store has pigS - as in more than one. All the original poster accomplished is creating a larger space in the store in which more pigs can be housed.

Her actions didn't help. It WASN'T a rescue. It has probably added to the problem, in that the store ordered MORE pigs from the breeders.

Unless the pet store (meaning the whole chain, not just an individual franchise) is shutting down or eliminating the sale of animals permanently or going over to legitimate adoptions (complete with an application, home check, etc.) then taking a pig from a pet store is NOT a rescue. Your situation, no matter how different it may seem, is still the same ... it enables the pet stores to keep on contributing to that overpopulation problem.

ETA:

What I was trying to say is that the pet store was going to buy more anyway, so it's not like that changed.

You can't know that. If no one had taken that original pig, perhaps the store would have thought, "geez, this is a big money waster; I'm going to sell anymore guinea pigs here." However unlikely that may seem, it was still *possible*.

[envisionary333]

Originally Posted by Alusdra

You can't force a person to act on the information as it isn't law, but you can bring it to their attention and hope their own good nature will get them to go further (which seems like what has happened in this instance).

The owner did not improve the cage conditions because of her "good nature." She blindly did so to protect herself from potential liability, and nothing else. Don't kid yourself. If she was that good natured they would have never been kept in poor conditions in the first place, and if she truly cared about animals she would be not working in a pet store that treats them like "stock" items and nothing more.

[landhermie]

Maybe you could show her this video, although it may not work with a snob like that:
YouTube - Pet Store Suppliers: Beyond the "waggily tail"


If it is impossible to show her it, maybe you could take screenshots of it and print them out. If it DOES help, maybe you could also print out so care information, or give her a good guinea pig website.

At least you helped one guinea pig out. If it had no water, make sure to report it to the local animal control authorities. Don't take many more, though, especially if they have more than 1. You probably shouldn't take anymore at all, but I cannot force you to not take them. If the guinea pigs who you don't take are in the cage, she won't be able to order much more, and less guinea pigs will be taken to the store. Don't buy them, no matter how tempting it is. Also, you should tell people to boycott the store. Maybe make a youtube video, petition, e-mail forward, etc. You should also maybe put an ad in the classifieds section of the newspaper. Maybe you can also make a whole website about it with banners for our sites.

Maybe if you get someone else involved who is near you, it may also help.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

To me the story doesn't make sense in the first place. Some stranger says "your cage is too small, give me the pig" and she says OK and puts it in a box right away? And the small cage accusation is made on the 8th, and on the 10th she has this big giant cage. Are big giant cages so easy to come by that she was able to change her whole set-up with only one full day's time? (Especially considering this is the "middle of nowhere").

Am I the only one who thinks the story is a little off to begin with?

[Calliso]

Originally Posted by PiggieMamaKelly

To me the story doesn't make sense in the first place. Some stranger says "your cage is too small, give me the pig" and she says OK and puts it in a box right away? And the small cage accusation is made on the 8th, and on the 10th she has this big giant cage. Are big giant cages so easy to come by that she was able to change her whole set-up with only one full day's time? (Especially considering this is the "middle of nowhere&quot.

Am I the only one who thinks the story is a little off to begin with?

You know now that you point that out..your right this story does seem very off...hmmm.

[tweetybird82569]

I really should do that, but not taking the animal (too poor ) but seriously it is horrible the way animals are treated. I'm glad the world has people like you!

[Feather_n_Coca]

I am not sure where most of you live, but I live in San Antonio. We have several PetSmart, Petco and Petland here. I have been to all of them at least once. Not once have I seen the animals in bad conditions. There is usually someone with a wheeled cart full of fruit, veigs, pellets and hay that distubutes to each aniaml. All PetSmart store in SA are male only. The GP's are kept one or 2 to an aquarium w/ a igloo, water botter, food dish and toys. The mice are more to an aquarium and the hamsters are solitary. They all have adoption days, every Sat and reduced cost vaccination programs. I always see someone working in the pet section and they are always helpful and knowledgeable about the pets they are responsible. When my daughter (pregnant at the time) wanted a turtle, the PetSmart employee advised us against it, due to Saminila(sp).

I know not all pet store are created equal and I probably have the best of the best, but I also know that I have seen the worst.

In Hinesville, GA. Stewart Pets was the worst. I went there to buy Ferret Food (Marshall) and I would cry each time I was there. The puppies were puppy mill supplied (by the owner no less), I found this out the hard way. I bought a Golden Retriever puppy. McKenzie was the sweetest boy and the dumbest! I thought I was getting him from a reputable breeder. I only buy from one who only breeds one breed of dog. Anyways, I found that the breeder (owner of the pet store) breed multiple breeds and that sometimes they were crossed bred on accident.

When we got my ferrets I bought them in Savannah & Augusta, GA from a store that took great care of thier pets and would only purchase Marshall raised Ferrets. Stewart Pets didnt care. They kept 4-5 Ferrets in the same small cage and the poop woiuld pile up for days. The wouldnt refill the water bottles and they would knock over the food bowls and eat the food off the floor of the cage.

They kept the puppies in small cages and you could tell they were unhappy and need health care. The cats were cats that people brought in and gave away, not pure breed animals and they would sell them for $30-$75 a peice. The cats had it the best I think. Their cages were something a ferret would need. But the ferrets were in typical GP cages.

I called the local humane soceity more times then I can count. They would go out visit and make them make some changes but they stayed open. I got to the point that I would drive the 45 miles to Savannah to buy the Ferrets food just so I did not have to go to Stewart Pets.

My daughter moved back to GA recently and I guess they finally closed it down. Maybe for good. Now they need to work on closing the puppy mill and put them out of business for good.

So, you see I have seen the worst a petstore can be and I have seen what I have here in SA and I think I will take that over Stewart Pets any day of the week.

[envisionary333]

Originally Posted by envisionary333

Even if they are now properly cared for in the store, you and I know perfectly well where they come from. A bigger cage and daily veggies doesn't erase the fact that they come from an overcrowded, abusive breeding mill and are probably carrying mites, have congenital problems, and may have been falsely sexed and/or pregnant.

What I said earlier in this thread applies to your situation as well. What you see in the pet store is just a fancy show to make people believe that the animals are well cared for, when behind the scenes they come from the same terrible conditions regardless.