CavySpirit.com, unfair to pet shops -- email

Hey. I have to say, I and probably all the other posters after me will 100% disagree with your e mail. Like you said, some pigs at shelters have been through a lot. But that is why we should rescue them. They need extra love and attention! What, so they are 'used' you're just going to leave them there?

Secondly, 99.9% of pet stores are bad. Yes there may be a couple good ones, but the majority of them are not. They are awful, awful places.

In my opinion, the only good pet shops are the ones that sell only supplies, and not live animals. For the most part, the ones that do sell live animals do not have special knowledge on each type of animal they keep, therefore do not know how to give the proper care. The "gross, abusive" ones are not the only bad ones. The animals kept at pet shops, for the most part, come from breeding mills (being kept so close to other animals that disease is spread very quickly), are normally not taken to see a vet, and aren't taken care of as often as they need to be, and the way that they need to be. Even if you see the cages being cleaned, and the animals being fed/watered, doesn't mean that they're doing a good job. Of course the cages need to be kept nice looking, otherwise they wouldn't get any business.

A personal example -
Yesterday my mom and I went into a pet shop to pick up treats and a new chew block for Max, we saw a pen with a guinea pig and maybe 5 or 6 babies. I thought that it was a decent pet store, and the animals were being well taken care of, until I saw these particular piggies. The mother was scratching herself nonstop, and the babies were skinny and also scratching. Apparently they have some sort of parasite or something, and even though they had feed in the cage something was keeping them from gaining a decent amount of weight. Which I guess could be linked to the parasite? Or maybe from them being sick.

Don't support the pet stores, rescue a piggie. Think of this: If you rescue a piggie, that opens up space for another piggie to be rescued.

(I hope that helps and makes sense. I tried. xD)

Many animals at the shelters have been through a lot, but so have the guinea pigs at the pet store! Pet store guinea pigs come from breeders and even guinea pig mills, where conditions are usually terrible to say the least. Many of these guinea pigs have not had a lot of contact with humans and, therefore, will be skittish and could have behavioral or social problems. By supporting the pet stores, you are also supporting the breeders and mills who will breed more animals to meet demand. But when you adopt from the shelters and rescues you are literally saving a life. Pet stores missex animals about 50% of the time so there is the possiblity of buying a pregnant piggie or ending up with a male/female pair that will end up adding to the overpopulation problem. there is also the liklihood of ending up with a sick animal that might need expensive treatment to cure, or die within a few days. Most shelters and rescues work hard to properly care for all of their animals, make sure the adopter is well informed, and ensure their animals go to the best home possible. Pet stores do not care, they will sell to anyone who has the money. There isn't much difference in the guinea pigs from the pet store vs. the guinea pigs at the shelter, in fact, most shelter piggies came from the pet store. You can also find almost any breed, color, or age you want at shelters and rescues.

1. Even the pet stores that are "good" can't control what the breeder does, and may still be supporting abuse.

2. You can't see many parasites and infections that kill pigs, and most pet store animals have these things, such as mites and URIs. The stores and breeders don't care or don't know because they are still making money, and these things can actually make the pigs less sociable and willing to be handled, and can eventually kill them. Rescues treat these problems and get vet care for their pigs. You are getting a healthier pig at a rescue.

3. Rescues animals are cared for better; they get veggies, hay, and much more human contact (and better human contact than being chased around an aquarium by a 5 year old) There are many health problems and quality of life issues that are related to bad care- bumblefoot, bladder stones, scurvy. If you think that pet stores are decent, read about how much hay and veggies a pig needs every day, and other care they need like nail and teeth trimming and vet care that pet stores won't do, and you won't think so anymore. Rescue animals are more social and happy, and rescues will keep an animal until its ready to go to a home, whereas a pet store doesn't care, and makes the shy ones into snake food.

4. Pet store employees may care, but they don't screen homes the way a rescue does, and the pigs could be snake food for all they know. Rescues screen.

5. When you buy a pet store pig, they call a breeder, who makes more pigs, even if hers are already damn near bred to death. When these pigs don't sell they go to shelters- many rescues are breeder/store throw aways. YOU are contributing to overpopulation, and taking away a home from a shelter animal when you encourage pet stores to sell pigs.

6. When a rescue gets rid of a pig, they rescue another one, and the pet store isn't ordering more, so by getting one pig, you are saving many. Rescues also neuter and you don't have to worry about accidental babies.

7. If you are worried about your child, take him/her with you to the rescue, let him/her find a friend who is cute and friendly. Teach him that a pet is a commitment, that you do what you have to do to keep a pet healthy and happy, even if it's work and money. Explain to him/her why these pets are here in the first place. Tell him about overpopulation, homelessness, imbreeding, and euthanasia at the humane society. Teach him or her to be responsible, caring, and empathetic. Seeing the results of other people being irresponsible and selfish makes them say "I never want to be like that, and will just do whatever it takes to be a decent person, even if its not fun or easy" and that carries over to other areas of their lives in a good way. My mother had me volunteer with her at a shelter. If your kid would react as you say they might, perhaps they aren't ready for a pet. A good owner is prepared to take over care of any animal they get for their child anyway, because they realize the kids aren't always responsible.

Sasha, you have the most well stated and concise argument for why you shouldn't buy from a pet store. Brava!

Guinea pigs are prey animals. They are naturally skittish, but do warm up. Getting a pet store guinea pig doesn't guarantee that he or she is more friendly (or healthy) than the one at the shelter. That's a stupid statement.

Besides, you know about pet mills and backyard breeders, right? How do you know the breeder is treating them any better? Have you seen the conditions at these pet mills? You should if you want to talk about abuse.

The ones who have been saved generally sense it and are great pets. You can get young guinea pigs at shelters too and babies. Many dump pregnant sows and babies.

I completely agree, my dog was held under water and beaten, left in a room with 15 other breeding dogs with parvo, who used the same room as a bathroom, and was chained outside to her dead mother in the middle of winter for a week with no shelter. She was work when we first got her. She wasn't walked on a leash for the first year of her life, and we had to teach her that, and I spent six months sitting with her downtown with a bag of treats teaching her that not all people who came up to her would hit her, and it wasn't necessary to try to bite them all. Even the no kill shelters in the area told my friend (who had taken her from the abuser and eventually gave her to me) that they would put her to sleep.

As rabbitsncavyluv said, she seemed to sense that we had tried to help her, and she is the most loyal dog we have ever owned. I often get asked where I got her because she is very well trained now, and a very pretty dog. I tell them her story, and tell them if they want one just like her, to go to a shelter, and ask for the most pathetic, ancient, scared dog they can, and then work with it no matter if it takes a million trips to the vet or animal behaviorist.

P.S.-Thanks Licia, I sometimes think no one can understand my rambling.

I think that the inherent problem with the pet stores that sell live animals is that in the corporate mentality, the living animal is a piece of merchandise.

Merchandise doesn't warrant veterinary care because when merchandise is defective (or ill, in the case of a live animal) it is generally most cost-effective for the company to dispose of and replace the said merchandise, rather than fix it.

Merchandise is generally sold to the public by franchises that employee individuals making little more than minimum wage. These workers have no training in the care of special merchandise (live animals) and come to work not out of a sense of obligation to care for this merchandise, but to sell the said merchandise, in order to bring home a pay check. Sales = profits = paycheck.

Merchandise is sold to whomever has the money to pay for it. No thought is given to the type of home the merchandise (live animal) will go in to - screening potential merchandise owners is not the job of the minimum wage worker, nor is it the corporate mentality.

Pet stores are out to make money. That's the bottom line.

Animals in rescues/shelters, on the other hand, are not regarded as merchandise to be sold to whomever is willing to pay for them. Rescues/shelters are staffed primarily by volunteers, who's motivation and obligation for working at the rescue/shelter is *not* a pay check, but concern for the animals. These volunteers undergo extensive training in the care and handling of the animals, and the people paid to be on staff are usually animal professionals of some kind. Animals are adopted from shelters, not sold; therefore, homes are carefully screened to be in the best interest of the animal. People frequenting rescues/shelters are not "customers", rather, they are potential adopters. The goal of a shelter is to find homes for the animals. It's a whole different mentality.

The greatest thing about pet stores is that their very mentality can be their own undoing. The more people realize that pet stores are an inferior alternative to rescuing homeless animals from shelters, the less animals will be purchased from the pet stores. When pet stores find that they can no longer make money from the sale of animals, they will rely on their bottom line - to make money - and will quit selling live animals.

There are no "good" pet stores that sell live animals - animals are not merchandise and any organization that treats them as such is not a "good" business.

My daughter won't let me go into pet stores any more. I got thrown out of the last one.

On our visit to AZ this past weekend, we were in a mall and walked by an Animal Kingdom Pet Store. It was horrible. THere were 6 large puppies in a very small enclosure. There was a couple out site saying..."OH how cute. They are all so tired they are just laying there." Well, Courtney replied...they aren't tired..they are cramped. THere is no room to move around." They couple just lokoed at her like "oh how cute". Then she went on to tell them how buying from a store killed animals in shelters. You should have seen the looks on their faces. We were asked to leave the entrance of the store when she started saying, atually yelling..."Why are you people wasting hundreds of dollars on mutts when you can one cheap at a shelter? Don't breed or buy, while shelter animals die! Opt to adopt! Don't support the breeders. When you adopt, you save more than one life." It was so funny. I was actually laughing out loud. (I have to say though, this was the first time I had ever seen a baby ferret. They are adorable. I wish I hadn't seen it though. That is wasn't in that tiny aquarium.)

You know, I love it when stuff like that happens, I wish I could have seen the looks. I have always had a thing for insurrection and speaking up tho. I particularly like the people who protest fox hunting by wearing fake fox tails and running naked through the woods with piece of meat in hand to distract the dogs. Who says you can't have fun while drawing attention to a cause?

My shelter pigs and rescues are actually far friendlier than my petstore pigs. Cinnamon and Rolo were harrassed by uncountable kids going through the petstore. They were obviously not handled by their first owner before being dumped at the store. Rolo had a biting problem from being so nervous all the time. Now I will admit 1 of my rescues also bites but she had mites and so touching was owwy and I think she's still learning that petting isn't always owwy now. Cinnamon just goes into flat out panic even months later and will run into the sides of his cage trying to catch him. Licorice and Snickers came from the shelter and while snickers would rather not have anything to do with me most times she's still not going to dash off in complete panic like cinnamon. Licorice stands on the cage bars and begs for food and orbit well.. orbit demands attention. I found him on a wire bottom cage with no food or water. He will lay next to me for up to an hour sometimes licking my hand or arm. Most petstore guinea pigs I know start out terrified of people and often in poor health. I have also found abused animals like my dog and a few of my horses can end up being much better pets when they finally find a good person. I would rather get any animal from a shelter than risk illness, genetic, and social problems that come with petstore bought animals. As for good petstores.. there is 1 in a 200mile radius of me that might be considered a good store by some and the quality of their animals is still dependent on the people who are getting pregnant ones from worse stores or breeding those animals on purpose. The rest of the petstores here do not take the best care of their animals to put it simply.

The only "good" pet stores are the ones that DO NOT sell animals period.

hey i have a question, well i live in australia and i dont know of any shelters around my area and the only one i no of doesnt have guineapigs they only have cats and dogs so i was wondering if it would be just as good to get one out of my local paper from someone who doesnt want theirs? i refuse to buy from petshops and this is the only other thing i can think of, by the way im not getting another one this is written on my friends behalf! (she doesnt have a computer) any one got any suggestions??

For the most part I do agree that the only good pet stores are the ones that don't sell animals, but I truly beleive my petstore to be the one exception. This particular pet store is locally owned by an older women and currently only has three employees (no students). These employees seem to have more training in dealing with animals then many young vets that I have seen. They have a policy that all employees must be non-smokers so that no harm comes to the animals. They only regularly sell fish, but will on occasion have birds. Doves, which are animals that have one partner, are only sold in pairs. Also, the only time that they will have guinea pigs is when someone who was either uneducated or ignorant ended up with a litter that was unwanted or when someone simply no longer wants their guinea (our shelters aren't equipped for exotics). When I first got my guinea pig, I went to this pet store thinking of buying my guinea a friend and you will never beleive what the lady said. She told me that the only guinea pig that they had was suspected of being pregnant because she was caged with her sibling for too long before she arrived and that unless I have a lot of knowledge on guinea pigs, that I shouldn't buy her. Imagine, she actually talked me out of a sale. They do not buy from breeders, nor will they ever.
When I first went there to buy all that my guineas would need, I had no clue what I was doing and the lady there showed me all the stuff that I would need and she was actually right about everything.
I don't know what all of you think, but in my opinion any pet store that is willing to give up a sale for the well being of a pregnant guinea pig can't be all that bad.
p.s. I forgot to mention that they do sell little mice that I am assuming are for snakes, but they are kept in a nice big cage and always have food and water.

The mice from petstores are breeded to breed be feed and die I had two pet ones once they died after a month.:-(

Why not to buy from pet stores, even "good" ones:


The white pig is Einstein, a lethal.