Not All Pet Stores Are Bad

[kathleen5]

no reputable shelter or rescue would hand over their guinea pigs to a pet store to sell...I certainly wouldn't. Perish the thought.

There are many pet store in my area that have animals that can be adopted from our local shelter in their stores.
Kathleen

[fawnmarie]

Most of the pet stores I've been to lately have adoptions, but usually not for small animals. Some of the shelters have a GP or two, maybe litter of hamsters. Not sure why, but most of them don't have small animals, either - the pet stores do. I've seen a pet store take in small pets from unexpected litters.

I would LOVE to have a pet store, and if I ever get the capital I'd look into that definitely. As far as selling animals - well, I look at pets as children. I would have a hard time selling them, but I could see letting the shelters in for events, or even keeping them sheltered at the pet store, and running a rescue right out of the pet store. I would love to have batches of GP's in the store, making their music, and hold adoptions.

I agree, that all are not evil. I'm sure some of the mom & pop places are very much in love with their charges and feel they are doing something important that they love.

Fawn

[salana]

Of course pet stores take in small pets from unexpected litters. It saves on shipping and paying the piggy mill fees. If they can manage not to correctly sex and separate them, then they get another generation of free merchandise a couple months later.

All the pigs I've gotten from pet stores came from a mom-n-pop store. They had this sort of racket going, and I'm sure they felt they were doing something important, but they also sold me a sow who was pregnant with a lethal.

[kathleen5]

[size=2][font=Comic Sans MS]It’s good and very educational to read everyone’s views on this topic and I am so glad that no one is getting flamed.[/font]

[font=Comic Sans MS]Kathleen[/font]

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[fawnmarie]

Well, it's sort of a dream come true - to own a petstore and work with furbabies all day. I'd hate to think that something like that couldn't be done right.

Well, whether or not it is ....

I would like to think that it's possible to run a pet store with the actual pets in mind. Like I said, I think of them as children. It would be great to run a rescue and adoptions out of a pet shop. And yes, you need to "pay the rent" and of course you can sell toys and food and bedding and supplies along with the adoptions so you can pay the electric bill and the employees. But that doesn't mean that the owner couldn't become intensely involved in the adoption and training process with the new families.

It's gotta be possible. There's gotta be a middle ground somewhere.

Fawn

[ParanoidEv]

The local petstore here is okay. They don't sell animals anymore except for fishies. They do sell some stuff that isn't good for piggies (like balls & food with seeds) but they do sell one of the best piggie foods around and their hay is fine too, better than I can find anywhere else.
We also have a store that is really great, it looks like an old big barn and they sell all kinds of pet supplies and also fresh fruits & veggies.