Pet Stores: Is anyone proud of their petstore?

[Wednesday_12]

I know some petstores are horrid, and the animals in them look so sad
But I have to get my guinea pig supplies from somewhere!
So I researched all my local petstores- and found that one near I live, actually has pretty high morals

When you purchase an animal from them, they give you information packs, with instructions on how to care for your new pet. They actually care about animals A LOT, and are always willing to give you good information, tricks, tips and recommendations for your pet.
I've seen them make sure that parents are fully informed about the new animal they are buying for their child, so that parents are aware that animals are ongoing costs and ongoing responsibilities.

Furthermore, I cannot fault them on the cages they hold their animals in. The store is large (and so are the cages), with lots of ventilation. The animals seem happy, active, and not too traumatized by small children. (Children can't get too close to the cages with the way it is arranged).

I don't support petstores, I adopted my piggies, and cat, but as I said- I need to get supplies from somewhere, and I think that as a petstore, these guys are doing a pretty good job.

Furthermore- they regularly donate to 3 animal rescues in the area, to help support them.

Anyone else have petstores they think are doing things right?

[krittercrazy]

Originally Posted by Wednesday_12

So I researched all my local petstores- and found that one near I live, actually has pretty high morals

What does you research tell you about where the pet store bought their animals from? What are their morals like? What are the living conditions there? How often are the sows bred? How many die giving birth? How many babies are still born? What is their diet like? Do they provide veterinary care? What are they contributing to the shelters besides more animals?

I get my supplies from a pet supply store that does not sell animals or on line.

[Wednesday_12]

Thanks for your positive response Clearly you have better morals than I do.

I do not know where they get all their animals from, but I do know that their cats and guinea pigs are given to them from 'accidental' litters, and not from breeders.

Unfortunately I do not have the option of buying everything for my piggies online.

[krittercrazy]

I was not talking about your morals or mine. I was under the impression that you were talking about the morals of the pet store. I brought up the morals of breeders.

You asked if anyone had petstores they thought were doing the right things. Yes,the ones that do not sell animals.

Ask them where they get their animals from. They may get some of them from "accidental litters". Most likely they have a supplier that they can say send me X number of such and such an animal. That supplier is a mill. The so called "reputable breeder" will not sell to a pet store.

[Amsley246]

Petstores are one thing and Pet supply stores are another. No one here is proud of a petstore. More times then not they sell horrid products, give out bad info, get there animals from scum of the earth places and to top it off, dont even treat those poor animals very well at all. And this happens way more then not. Pet supply stores, as long as they absolutley do not sell animals, can be ok. There is a lot of junk on the shelves for animals and it's not fair to them.

Sorry if this sounds a bit harshly but I'm suffering a loss of one of my beloved pigs right now. She was bought at a petstore when I didnt know so well back then, a few years back. She was my first pig.

[Wednesday_12]

Originally Posted by Amsley246

Petstores are one thing and Pet supply stores are another. No one here is proud of a petstore. More times then not they sell horrid products, give out bad info, get there animals from scum of the earth places and to top it off, dont even treat those poor animals very well at all. And this happens way more then not. Pet supply stores, as long as they absolutley do not sell animals, can be ok. There is a lot of junk on the shelves for animals and it's not fair to them.

I know... thats why I made this post, because from what I can see, they are doing pretty much everything right. These people genuinely care about the welfare of animals.

Krittercrazy- sorry for my harsh response.
Like I said, I know that the kittens and guinea pigs come from 'accidental litters', but I have not enquired about the other animals they have.
If it makes any difference, I live in New Zealand, and as far as I know, we do not have pet supply stores here. At least I have never seen one?

[krittercrazy]

Wednesday - unfortunately pet supply stores are few and far between. I drive an hour to get to the one I go to, worth it though. I keep hoping that more people will help create a demand for this type of store. I often wish I had a good head for business so I could open one up myself.

I know you really want to see the good in the petstore and that the kittens and guinea pigs are from accidental litters. But do they always have them in? How many of the accidental litters are from the same people? Is the pet store educating them on the importance of spaying and neutering? Of seperating the males from the females? How many accidental litters can a person have before they are considered breeders?

[Cornish Cavies]

Thankfully here the majority of pet shops don’t sell animals just accessories and feed etc. Sadly the main one here is PAH and they seem to have a very large turn over of animals

[Piggie Problems]

I live in England and the pet store i go to is great, it sells animals but they are treated very well (large cages, healthy and happy animals) I've gone there for all my pets and I've never experienced problems furthermore they always make sure their animals are going to a good and safe home.

[Cornish Cavies]

Originally Posted by Piggie Problems

I live in England and the pet store i go to is great, it sells animals but they are treated very well (large cages, healthy and happy animals) I've gone there for all my pets and I've never experienced problems furthermore they always make sure their animals are going to a good and safe home.

The trouble is you cant tell if someone is going to give them a good home by just looking at them

[JD In Van]

I have two pet stores in my area who only sell either supplies or animals who who are rescues (Ie They have small SPCA education centres in their building with a few animals from the local shelters).

While I object to the inhumane treatement of fish (ironically in the fish industry it's better to buy from hobby breeders who love their fish and treat them and properly), I'm fairly proud of these shops for at least saying no to the inhumane treatment of mammals and try to buy as much as possible from them.

[Ly&Pigs]

I just found a pet supply store near my vets office in Mountain Home. It sells supplies only and carries some good brands although they have some not so great brands too. The only problem seemed to be that they don't carry any cavy foods. They do however have great prices on ferret hammocks, tunnels, tents, etc. which I use for my ratties.

[JD In Van]

Also I don't know about where you guys are but my local SPCA also sells pet food and supplies (mostly dog and cat centric but we do get things like cat toys, occationally hay and grooming stuff from them), we try and buy as much as possible from there because all the proceeds go to the SPCA rather then into some company's pocket.

[1frankie7]

I am proud of the supply store here though they do not sell animals but they have supplies for everything.

[ferndalezoo]

We don't have a lot of good choices around here (metro Detroit). Ther is a Pet Supplies Plus that doesn't carry animals, but also doesn't carry ANY good brands for cavies except Oxbow, which they overprice, and NO good brands for chinchillas at all. They just recently started carrying a number of good brands for dogs and cats, though.

There is a Mom-and-Pop supplies-only place that has great prices on pretty much everything, and carries a lot of very good brands. Unfortunately, they are also big supporters of the local backyard breders, complete with a prominant bulletin board where they can list their wares.

We end up buying online a lot.

[Jenni_Feathers]

There is a great store in St. Louis that I like to go to when I drive in. It's in a ritzy type neighborhood, and many items are quite pricey, but they do not sell any animals, and they only sell top-of-the-line products. All their stuff is all natural, from the foods and treats to the shampoos and the supplements they sell. They only stock the top brands such as Innova, Merrick, Nature's Variety etc. none of the SD or Iams type crap is to be found there, anything you buy in there is going to be very healthy, corn and by-product free. I love it. They also have alot of really cute collars and leads, and beds, bowls, and toys. I just wish they were cheaper and I could afford to buy more than a bully stick for Bellie and lamb trachea for Shadow haha, that's what I do though, go in and drool over all the stuff I'd love to get them and then walk out with a small goodie for each dog.

Only thing though- its mostly k9 stuff only...a bit of kitty stuff, but no Guinea Pig or rodent stuff. I only go to the above store when I'm going into St. Louis already, so only a few times a year. Most my everyday pet supplies I get at a local owned pet/feed supply store. They're great as well. They do sell many lower quality brands but they also sell the Taste of the Wild that I feed my dogs & cats, and they sell the Mazuri 5664 I feed the piggers & I get their hay and litter (for their "kitchen areas"). They also sell no animals (not even chicks as many other of the same type stores around here does) and have great, reasonable prices & wonderful service. It's great, don't know what I'd do with out them.

[rattatrattery]

I live in FL and there arent any decent stores by me. I recently bought my first skinny pig and friend at a Petland near by, but the skinny was ringworm infested and the other mite infested. Obviously if they are selling animals in this condition, they cant know too much about the animal. sooo i learned my lesson on buying from a petstore! I adopt shelter piggies

[MissFormosa]

We have one here in Brooklyn called Vinny's Pet Shop. Website: Vinny's.

I am very proud of them!!! I would definitely recommend them to my fellow Brooklynites.

They carry cat, dog, and small animal food. They don't carry "cheap-o" brands of pet food (like Kaytee, 9 Lives, etc.). They carry the quality stuff. Once we were there picking up more hay and a woman was trying to decide what dry food to buy her cat. She couldn't decide because she said they all offered good nutrition and the owner said, "well, we just don't put anything on our shelves. We read the ingredients first!". I haven't been to another pet store since.

Best of all they don't sell animals. They do invite rescues to come have events at the store. That's how we got our new little kitten Abbadabba. Vinny's didn't get any profit off our adoption and it supported the rescue, which was really good. I can't remember what cat rescue it was, but they made you fill out a 3 page application and did a home visit...even walked 12 blocks to do it before we could have the kitten (and quizzed us on cat care the whole 12 blocks)! They just didn't want the kitten to go to a bad home.

Also, they make shopping personal. You can email them your pet's photo and they print them out and attach them to the metal shelving they use using magnetic picture holders. You feel so happy when you see your babies pictures posted up! They will special order anything you want at no additional cost.

Lastly, I had sent an email thanking them for their good work and how happy it made me that they didn't sell animals. Here is an excerpt of that email, posted with permission:

As you stated, it is nearly impossible to sell any pets in a pet store in a healthy environment where they can thrive. And rarely do the employees have the knowledge or compassion to properly care for and assess sick animals (which happens even in good conditions).
We have been in business for 30 years and there is always an owner, if not all 3 present. I will be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn when it comes to small animals, but I am always willing to learn. If there is anything you are looking for, please let us know and I will try my best to get it in.

[fridzalone]

I don't really know how I feel about petstores. Honestly I don't buy my piggies at petstores, it's more like pet kiosks and pet marketwhich is much smaller and usually owned by poor people and only sells animals (i use "petstores" in some of my comments because its easier and understandable). I'm not proud of them, but if someone asked me where they can get piggies, usually I told them I get it from those kiosks.

About general petstores, I don't think i'm proud about any of them. Most of petstores only use those animal to make people come to their stores. And most of them don't really know how to treat them well.

[sdpiggylvr]

First off, have you seen the video? If not... PetSmart Cruelty // Now Playing On PetSmart Cruelty TV

Petstores are NOT doing pretty well. The video says it all. Petstores get their animals from irresponsible, selfish, low-lying breeders. They're not even breeders ... they're just in it for the money. They keep their pets in tiny cages unfit for any animal with barely enough space to turn around. They FORCE their animals into mating. They do not provide adequate food, vet care, or any type of love or care at all. That's before you get to the happy, lively, we-care-about-pets petstore. All those stores SEEM to care about pets sooo much, but they don't really - they just care about the money they're making.
Petstores sell all sorts of things that are unhealthy for most pets. They sell the packaged treats for small pets which are like eating junk food. They sell tiny petstore cages that aren't sufficient for most small pets. They sell unhealthy, fattening pellets. They are NOT reputable, they are NOT doing pretty well.

It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Look at any local petstore. Do you see pets in clean, spacious cages with proper food and water? NO! You see several pets crammed into tiny cages.

It's no question - petstores ARE NOT GOOD.
Ask anyone on here.