Flags Poor piggies at petco

yes
that happens all the time. This is why the majority of us stay out of pet stores.

Is there anything that can be done?

unless the cages are dirty, no water, no food or obviously sick animals(which doesn't look to be the case here); there is nothing you can do. The most you can do is boycott the stores and not purchase from them.

Talk to the manager. Email the company.
I emailed pet smart about there guinea pigs and why they were keep in such small cages, the next time i went they had added more aquariums and had 2 per aquarium.

That's what I'm going to do! Thank you @Rabbit_Lover!

Its sad, I know. I've gotten all my pigs from Petco (I know, I know I didn't mean to) I feel bad for all the pigs I see, one was so lethargic and didn't move the whole 20 minutes I was in there for food (before I started buying online)
Actually my pig Sam, when I got him he was all depressed in a corner and wouldn't come out, I brought him home and he was jumping for joy once he got used to his surroundings.
One day I hope to reason with the head CEO of Petco and Petsmart and hope they let them stop selling guineas and direct people to shelters OR have the pigs live in better conditions... I don't know, thats just me

If I see this I go to the manager and let them know they are out of hay, or water bottle is blocked so they can't reach it, stuff like that. I stay there until it's fixed. You aren't going to stop them from keeping them in these conditions so next best thing is stand up for what they need if you see it.

I had to go to PetSmart recently because Ferb's water bottle broke when I accidentally dropped it. Being a water emergency I had to go local (usually I buy everything online). They had a baby gp who was breathing so hard his/her sides were heaving. I told the clerk and she came and took the baby out to go back to the "quiet room" and another clerk came over and said all of their piggies were sneezing. I told her they all needed to be put on antibiotics right away. It's just tragic, so tragic.

I went to Petco to get some hay and there were 3 guinea pigs in one of the tanks and one had mites badly. I was disgusted and sad at the same time. Why do people let animals suffer like this?

My advice is, if you have to go into these stores, bypass the live animals. The litter and food is normally in an isle that does not include live animals.

Talk to the manager. I did the same at our Petco, one was stuck between the pigloo and side of aquarium, those are for FISH, not guinea pigs. The big area they have had 1 chinchilla in it. I asked why he got a whole area to himself and all these pigs had to be in a little fish tank. Went back to check and they were switched around. I just keep hounding them, check and see if it is done. They can't advocate for themselves and need someone like you to do it for them!!! Just keep at them.
That mom pig that lady took there will not go in with those, they will keep her in the back room and then put her out on a table for adoption. That is where I have rescued all of mine as has my daughter. We have rescued 8 from Petco, 2 from Craigslist

daisy1cow said:

Talk to the manager. I did the same at our Petco, one was stuck between the pigloo and side of aquarium, those are for FISH, not guinea pigs. The big area they have had 1 chinchilla in it. I asked why he got a whole area to himself and all these pigs had to be in a little fish tank. Went back to check and they were switched around. I just keep hounding them, check and see if it is done. They can't advocate for themselves and need someone like you to do it for them!!! Just keep at them.
That mom pig that lady took there will not go in with those, they will keep her in the back room and then put her out on a table for adoption. That is where I have rescued all of mine as has my daughter. We have rescued 8 from Petco, 2 from Craigslist

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How did you rescue 8 from Petco? Was a shelter holding them there?

lunarminx said:

My advice is, if you have to go into these stores, bypass the live animals. The litter and food is normally in an isle that does not include live animals.

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I rarely find myself in pet stores anymore that have animals, but if I do, I do check on them just because chances are something is amiss and if I can make their lives a little better for a little bit with things like enough hay and stuff, then I feel better. It's hard and I know it makes no difference once I babysit them giving them what's missing but for just a little while, they are good. Makes me feel better at least. Don't know how many no hay left, water bottle is blocked by igloo so can't reach it and such things I've seen. It's like feeding the homeless one meal in a sense, you aren't solving their problem but providing temporary relief for a little while is how I see it.

lunarminx said:

How did you rescue 8 from Petco? Was a shelter holding them there?

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No, people who have bought their gpigs there and then don't want them any more, they return them to petco. Petco can not put them back on the "shelf" to resell, they have to adopt them out. Our Petco's have adoption tables where they usually have gpigs, hamsters, rabbits and rehome them. I have paid $10 for them and sometimes they offer the cage, but I use C & C so I decline. I have gotten 3 from the Coralville Ia, store and 5 from the Cedar Rapids, IA store. They usually ALWAYS have some kind of critter. I rescued a huge bunny from there in a 10 gallon fish tank, she couldn't hop or barely turn around. I knew I couldn't keep her, but adopted her for $30, brought her home. She was wonderful and I ran an ad and rehomed her to a wonderful family looking for another rabbit!!!
I have NEVER bought a gpig, all are adoptables from Petco, well two from Craigslist.
They just return them like defective merchandise and all have been wonderful, gentle silly gpigs!!!!

Seriously. Those pictures are actually just so freaking sick. The guinea pig was sitting in its bowl *Facepalm* I have actually went in there, they had probably 8 in an AQUARIUM. There was POOP IN THE FOOD and they didn't even bother to clean it. They even had a female and a male together. The male wasn't nuetrued either. I am sickened and the only reason I have ever gone back there was to buy dog food because we were almost out. Then, we have resorted to going online because of the fact that we are so angered at the way that they treat those animals. I intend to actually get some of those pigs, take care of them and make them happy, and then, I plan to sell them for a low price to someone who can take care of them. A low price because of the fact that I would want to get them to a good home as fast as I possibly could so they wouldn't have to suffer anymore. (I couldn't keep them because I would get sick, but its worth saving them) This is the reason why I actually want to run an animal thing, and become a vet so that I can save any animal that seems to be neglected.

ThePigAlchemist said:

I'm not condoning the conditions Petco keeps their pigs in, since the cages are FAR too small for that many pigs and there is no excuse to keep intact males and females together, but poop in pig food can be a fact of life for guinea pigs. I'll find poop in my pigs' food relatively often, and I'll pick it out when I see it, but it's not too concerning since I know they eat their poop anyway. The thing that upsets me the most about pet store animals goes beyond what we see in the stores. Namely, the mills these animals are coming from, which I can guarantee are a lot worse than the conditions they are living in in the stores.

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absolutely 200%