Pet Stores: Petco worker gave me good advise!

[khptown]

I'm not advocating the buying of animals from Petco or Petsmart in anyway by saying this, but I do want to give one lady from my local Petco thanks. (I do shop there for pet supplies occasionally) If it wasn't for her I would never of found this site and learned about C&C cages. When I was first considering a guinea pig and looking at cages, she told me about C&C cages. She said that they were considerably less money and had more space than store bought ones and told me to do a search online. She was even excited to hear that I adopted! If I go in there when she is working she always asks me if I am getting something for my Guinea Pig.

Is this common? Is there anyone else that has actually gotten good advise from a petstore employee? I did not even think that this was allowed.

Besides the fact that the guinea pigs are in cages that are waaaay too small, they do pretty good with their guinea pigs. The store has vet access, they are given veggies, hay, pellets and water.

The sad thing is that not all employees are like her. One lady (who I spoke with at Petsmart, but worked at Petco) told me that she houses her guinea pigs in the rubbermaid bins. That lady even had an unexpected litter. Now you would think that since she worked in a pet store, she would have known how to sex the pigs. Well, I guess not. This is why so many people on here have gotten pregnant sows, and a male and female, when it was suppose to be female-female, or male-male.

Well, that is all I wanted to share. Have a good day.

[pennykit&amanda]

I don't think that's common at all. If her boss knew she told you about C&C cages, she would probably get fired (they can lose a lot of sales because of it).

But, I hope they never catch her. I also hope she gives other people advice like that.

EDIT: My local Petco takes better care of their pigs, then my local pet store. They give them veggies, hay, pellets and water... and they look healthier then the other pet stores.

[crazywiggy]

There was a thread on here some time ago when one member was saying one of her reasons for working at a pet store was to educate people. I beilve she did the same things - recommended adoption and c+c cages.

Just because pet stores are bad, doesn't mean all the people working in them are uneducated or uncaring. It's good to know some of them are trying to help.

[HowietheGreat]

I agree crazywiggy. I think many people need an income and like animals, so they work in a petstore. It doesn't mean they are bad or that they neglect their pets. Interesting that Petsmart sells Oxbow now. If they would just cease in selling small animals and birds.......

[5guinea5pig5]

Petsmart and Petco have really taken a step in the right direction recently with not selling rabbits and the rare mention of c&c cages and adoption. I hope she'll tell other people who work there and they'll tell more customers. Maybe even someday they could sell C&C cages, sell no animals and encourage adoption. But that's just my wish...

[rabbitsncavyluv]

They stopped carrying rabbits because they weren't selling and due to public pressure. Rabbits are too overpopulated, right behind dogs and cats. There's little market for them and they take up more space than smaller animals.

If they stop selling animals period, then that'll be something.

Petco promised to stop selling rabbits several years ago then they started again

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by 5guinea5pig5

Petsmart and Petco have really taken a step in the right direction recently with not selling rabbits

This last Tuesday (16th) I received a call from Petco Corporate Headquarters (forgot the man's name who called).

I was told that Petco recently stopped selling rabbits and he/Petco was wondering if my rescue was interested in holding adoption days at my local Petco.

I told him that we also rescue Guinea pigs, Rats, Mice, Gerbils, Hamsters, Snakes, Lizards, Birds, Etc and wondered if they were planning on discontinuing the sales of those animals too. After he mumbled something about market research and demand for small animals I finally got a clear answer out of him. No, Petco will NOT be stopping the sales of other animals.

I informed him that in that case my rescue could not possibly work with Petco because it is hypocritical to claim to support "think adoption first" while selling animals at the same time. Since selling leads to the viewpoint of animals being disposable, neglect abuse, supports animal mills and greatly contributes to the animal overpopulation problem THUS creating the very reasons rescues need to exist and people like me need to spend thousands of dollars out of our own pockets to clean up the mess and help the animals it would be hypocritical of me to associate myself and my rescue with a company like Petco. I told him that if ever Petco actually does start putting animals first and stops the cruel sales of animals they are welcome to call me and I would be happy to work with them.

The poor man thanked me for my time, I told him to have a nice day and the call ended.

I have to say that from the very beginning the poor man sounded frazzled. I wonder how many other rescues in the area also explained things to him and perhaps not as nicely as I did. During it all I did remain polite and calm.

[5guinea5pig5]

I don't mean to be mean but if it sounds like I am sorry. I walked into the Petco by me and they had no animals only cats. They each had a big cage and had plenty of food, water and at least 2 toys per cat. I asked the clerk why they only sold cats and he said they didn't. He explained to me how they adopted those cats from the animal shelter since a lot more people knew about pet stores then animal shelters. He also said every cent they make off those cats goes to the animal shelter. I thought he was lieng so I went to the animal shelter and asked them if it was true. They said it was. I just thought everyone's petco was like that. Sorry...

[pennykit&amanda]

Only on Saturdays will my Petco have a couple cats for adoption. Our other pet store sells them!

[auburnmare5]

I have yet to come across a "good" petstore employee. I wish petstores would teach their employees the right thing...

[sophistacavy]

I am thinking about getting a job in a petstore near me that sells animals, such as petsmart or pet supermarket. However, if they hired me then I would want them to completely change how they care for the animals (at least the poor piggies). I would have to teach them all about everything, and I don't know if they'd allow me to do that without firing me. And when I'm not working there, I wouldn't know if they were continuing to do the right thing or not. I'd have to drive there everyday just to check in on the piggies.
Also, I'm sure they wouldn't hire me if I was constantly with the piggies....thats not a job that they can hire people for, if you're hired for animal care, than that means every single animal, cleaning, etc.etc....

But I really need a job, and it needs to be w/ animals.....so I think I'm going to call my vet and see if I can get a job there. That would look even better on my resume' since I myself want to become a vet.
So, maybe there are better job choices for animal lovers than working in a pet store that sells animals.

[auburnmare5]

I have also been thinking about getting a job. My mom did say a petstore. I thought about it; would it be considered helping the petstores if I work there? What does everyone else think?

[sophistacavy]

Originally Posted by auburnmare5

I have also been thinking about getting a job. My mom did say a petstore. I thought about it; would it be considered helping the petstores if I work there? What does everyone else think?

Well, to tell you the truth, I don't see how it would be helping them, since they're giving you money, they technically lose money by hiring people. But then again, if everyone had a sit down and boycotted pet stores and just refused to come to work, then the stores wouldn't have much of a choice other then to close....I guess maybe it's like even though hiring people costs them money, the people help them not financially, but more like just maintaining and keeping the one store open. You're not necessarily helping the entire chain in general, just the one store, if that makes any sense.

I really think that it's up to your own feelings about it. Like, what if I asked you what your opinion is? Forget about everyone else's opinions for a minute, what do you think? What's more important is what your thoughts are before you hear everyone else's.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you what I'm going to! Tomorrow, I'm going to call my vet's, and ask if they can hire me (if they have any job openings suitable for my age). Working in a pet store sounds like it might be too boring for me....I mean, working in a vet's office probably sounds boring to a lot of people, but I'm going to be a vet, so it sounds fine to me! It would give me some first hand experience, in a way. But I don't know what career/profession you want, so.... it's up to you.

Good luck, and whatever job you get, have fun!!

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by auburnmare5

I have also been thinking about getting a job. My mom did say a petstore. I thought about it; would it be considered helping the petstores if I work there? What does everyone else think?

Originally Posted by sophistacavy

Tomorrow, I'm going to call my vet's, and ask if they can hire me (if they have any job openings suitable for my age).

My first job, long long ago when I was 16, was at a veterinary hospital. I was hired to clean up after they closed for the day. I cleaned the exam rooms, stocked the room supplies, scrubbed down the operating rooms, swept and washed the floors, and best of all I had the clean all of the kennels, change all of the litterboxes make certain the bedding was clean for the critters and walk the dogs.

I did this every night I worked with only one other person (teenager) to help me.

The work was hard, stinky, exhausting but it was the BEST most worthwhile and interesting job I was ever paid to do.

One of the best parts was that I was also allowed to come to work, clock-in and assist in surgeries. I learned so much when I was there that despite how hard it was I would do it over again in a heartbeat.

[auburnmare5]

sophistacavy- I think I may apply for the job. It is just a matter of if I can deal with looking at all of those poor little animals everyday knowing they are going to homes with probably unknowledgeable people.
I think I am going to try to apply for the job.
Thanks you guys for all of your help!

[werevamper]

Originally Posted by pennykit&amanda

I don't think that's common at all. If her boss knew she told you about C&C cages, she would probably get fired (they can lose a lot of sales because of it).

But, I hope they never catch her. I also hope she gives other people advice like that.

I agree. I don't think it's common either. I work at Petco and tell people to come to this site and get a C&C cage and my boss knows about it. I have yet to get fired or even talked to about it. I also recommend Oxbow food and hay and we're even allowed to send people to other pet stores if we don't have a certain product.

I hope she and other people like us don't get fired or anything for helping the pigs.

I wish I could be there with every guinea pig customer but unfortunately I have to go home sometimes.

[Henle15]

I agree. I don't think it's common either. I work at Petco and tell people to come to this site and get a C&C cage and my boss knows about it. I have yet to get fired or even talked to about it. I also recommend Oxbow food and hay and we're even allowed to send people to other pet stores if we don't have a certain product.

I hope she and other people like us don't get fired or anything for helping the pigs.

Its very uncommon and I tried to help that way too. It was too heartbreaking to know that most people have no idea of what they are really getting themself into. Many don't care about going to this website, checking on the C&C cages and also just want it for the kids (most of the time). I worked at a petco and everytime I would bring up the C&C cages and websites people would look at me and say I just want a guinea pig.

You won't be fired for telling people about the websites or C&C cages, but you are just a worker...if you were a manager or higher than you get blacklisted, also workers can too (me)...

Voodoo, I have talked with the VP of petco and he is also one of the directors of the Petco Foundation. I also brought up the reasons why small animal rescues boycott the stores for adoption days. And he stated "we are selling neutered rabbits now instead of non-neutered rabbits". I was laughing in the inside and told him "that's great, now go tell the Wildlife Center that has over 100 of them that". He changed the subject fast.

He also states that if there are rescues that are willing to put our animals in the stores, they will stop selling them. I told him that there was no way that I was leaving any of my animals in their stores with their "trained" associates. I also told him about the cages and what the requirements should be and if they plan on not selling those small cages anymore. I never really got an answer from him for that.

He said also that they tried not selling animals and people would literally walk in and not see animals and leave so they wouldn't buy anything. What does that tell us? The animals are the bait to get people in and then the workers have to try to make that impulse buy ok.

Sorry for the long post but I hope it is informative for some.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

There have been a handful of small animal rescues that have been kicked out of petno and pet stupid so they could sell baby animals instead.

[cavycrazy16]

The Petco near my house has ok size cages(about the size of a 2x3 for two pigs). They also always have hay, water, pellets and veggies in the cages when ever i go there. There cages are look like they are cleaned daily also.

[ColoradoMama]

The only advice I ever got from a pet store was about a month ago when I ran into PetSmart to grab a water bottle (I normally do all my shopping online, but this was an emergency, my water bottle I was using wouldn't hold water).

Anyways, I was approached in the aisle by an employee who asked me if I was finding everything OK. I said "yes, I'm just grabbing a water bottle for my guinea pigs".

Then she said...get this..."Don't forget to grab some of those salt licks over there. They're on sale and you can never have too many of them."

Then I repeated "I have guinea pigs". She said "Our guinea pigs love them." I went on to tell her that they do NOT need salt licks. She seemes irritated by me. I left and told myself if I'm ever in a pinch and need something quickly, I will simply HAVE TO find somewhere else to buy it.

Some advice, huh?