My disgusting page on pet stores.....

[CavySpirit]

From an email:

dear Teresa,
your page on pet stores disgusts me! i work in a pet store (im from Auckland, New Zealand), and our animals are very healthy, we have a vet clinic next door to us that checks the ongoing health of all our animals.
all our staff can sex animals just fine- we don't get any complaints of them being the wrong sex. they have adequate space, clean cages, and top quality food. sure, i know that not all pet stores look after they're animals well, but not every store is like that and it is wrong of you to tell customers this, instead you could tell them to look at the health of the animals in the store. in our store the staff are fully trained and we screen our customers, we dont sell animals to children and warn the parents of the responsibility, then refusing them if we don't believe they can look after the animal properly. we make sure they get a big enough cage for the animal, and if they cant get a big cage then we wont sell them the animal. we sell puppies, kittens, fish, chinchillas, rats, mice, birds, rabbits and guinea pigs. if we don't have the animal someone wants we refer them to the local rescue centre. our customers come to us because they want a purebred animal rather than a mixed breed from the pound. so we are not responsible for animals in pounds not being rehomed. our smaller animals (mice rabbits guinea pigs etc) are taken fromt he public, usually ones that would otherwise be put down or dumped from unwanting owners. before we sell them the vet checks them to make sure it is in full health before we sell it.i think it is very ignorant of you to assume all pet stores are bad. please email me back, yours sincerly (name withheld)

 

[pigsforlife]

Some people have no idea. Made me laugh though!

Out of interest what thread was this person referring to?

 

[crazywiggy]

Wow, that response is really something. So you sell purpose bred animals, encourage more to be bred and encourage impulse buys - but you're not contributing to animals ending up in rescue? Hmm....

May I ask what your response was to this? And what did this person say then, if she replied? I'm curious to see how she tries to dig her way out of her responsibility.

 

[pigsforlife]

So you sell purpose bred animals, encourage more to be bred and encourage impulse buys - but you're not contributing to animals ending up in rescue?

You spoke my mind crazywiggy! I too would like to know your response to this email. What makes me laugh more is that the ignorant person isn't T rather the person who wrote this email.lol

 

[thalestral]

I find it really sad that people who think they are doing all the right things can be so wrong by not seeing the bigger picture :/ I'm sure this person thinks their heart is in the right place, but even by acknowledging that not all pet stores look after their animals well she must be aware of some of the problem at least.

And if you do believe in those good proper breeders, then we all know that those same people would never sell through a pet shop! Ick.

I hope you don't get too much "hate" mail T, the ignorance in the world is just depressing sometimes.

 

[CavySpirit]

I don't have the time to reply to these kinds of emails. That's why I posted it here. My reply was to simply direct her to this thread.

The flip side is I also just got this email this morning:

Subject: Bless you and THANK YOU!!!

I'm a 41 year old woman and have 2 piggies I absolutely LOVE... I woke up this morning with the thought of breeding them before they get too old... thank GOD you wrote the page against breeding!

I have completely changed my mind and will NOT be doing that.

Thank you again!!!

My emails run about 1/2 complimentary and 1/2 insulting on general comments like this. But most are emails with questions that I usually forward on to my wonderful helpers to help answer. I just don't have the time.

 

[i-love-nev]

lol OMG! I just hope she realises how stupid she sounds! oh T you have every right to put what yoou have on your "disgusting" pet store page its explains just what petstores are like lol I cant stop laughing at that email though she sounds like a 5 year old child!

 

[i-love-nev]

I don't have the time to reply to these kinds of emails. That's why I posted it here. My reply was to simply direct her to this thread.

The flip side is I also just got this email this morning:



My emails run about 1/2 complimentary and 1/2 insulting on general comments like this. But most are emails with questions that I usually forward on to my wonderful helpers to help answer. I just don't have the time.

Its great that you help people change there minds like that right on T!

 

[Susan9608]

so we are not responsible for animals in pounds not being rehomed

I'd argue that since you offer a "purebred" alternative, then yes, you are responsible for animals in shelters not being rehomed.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Out of interest what thread was this person referring to?

It's not a thread the person's referring to, but rather this page:
https://www.cavyspirit.com/petstores.htm

 

[VoodooJoint]

I'd argue that since you offer a "purebred" alternative, then yes, you are responsible for animals in shelters not being rehomed.

Especially considering that at least 25% of all SPCA shelter animals are purebred.

That's not even taking into account the breed specific rescues.

AND, of course, yet another "wonderful" petshop that fails to see the bigger picture...the support of BYBs and mill type breeders. I think we can also assume that this "wonderful" petstore also fails to provide for sale truly excellent brands of food (or sells them alongside the cheaper crud), sells small cages (that they deem as "large") and also offers the dangerous, unhealthy treats and supplements along with wheels, balls and harnesses and all of the other things that cause harm to animals.

Of course, causing harm (in a secondary degree way) to the animals they sell is good for business since they will happily sell another animal to replace the one they helped kill or injure.

 

[jilovecavies]

Wow, that response is really something. So you sell purpose bred animals, encourage more to be bred and encourage impulse buys - but you're not contributing to animals ending up in rescue? Hmm....

Amen! You were reading my mind. *sigh*...some people, some people. :sarcastic

 

[ellenvega]

These people are just incapable of seeing the big picture.

 

[guineapigfan9000]

Agree, and the same think happened to me with the breeding thing.
I was thinking of doing it, but decided against it and became very, very prorescue and antibreeding after finding the Cavyspirit page.

 

[pigsforlife]

It's not a thread the person's referring to, but rather this page:
https://www.cavyspirit.com/petstores.htm

Thanks Ly

 

[nikoley]

i wrote that email. i acknowledge that we are contributing to the problem of more cats and dogs by offering puppies and kittens, but that is not my point that i wanted to get across. all i wanted you people to realise is that we look after our animals well and send customers away with the right information. if they want to buy a guinea pig we make sure they know everything they will need to know about them. the smallest cage we sell for guinea pigs two metres by one and a half metres. is that still too small for you all? the cages our small animals are kept in are cleaned out 2 or 3 times a week. they are fed super premium food (not supermarket brands), fruit and veges and vitamins and minerals are added to their water. they are also given one on one playtime with the staff every day where they are brushed, checked over and we make notes about their personality so that we can tell the future owner about them. if they are not looking like themselves they are taken to the vet next door. like myself, the majority of our staff are studying, or have finished studying, animal courses at university. i am currently doing a bachlor of applied science majoring in animal management and welfare. our animals are not in overcrowded cages and are happy and healthy. i know full well that by selling animals ourselves we are not helping the too many animals problem, but there are always going to be people that would prefer purebred animals. alot of the animals we sell the breeders would have otherwise put down because they are not 'show quality', for example the white boxers we sold recently (white boxers are apparently unaaceptable in the ring.but these pups were perfectly healthy, the breeder was just going to put them down as they were the wrong colour!!!).most of our animals are showring rejects for these kind of reasons, would you rather we let the breeder put them down or send them to the spca instead of coming to us where we give them the best care and do a questionaire on potential owners? we have desexing contracts on most of our animals and i have had stuff thrown at me by angry customers when ive refused to sell them an animal because i didnt believe they were appropraiate for the animal. i also volunteer at the SPCA twice a week. so please don't call me ignorant.

 

[sparkyisnumber1]

I have a quick question for everyone... If the animals that are at the petstores and NOONE should adopt them. What happens to those little guys?????? I mean they need to be rescused just as much as the little ones at the shelters. I dont see how its far for the animals at Petco who have to live in that condition, when they didnt ask for that, then everyone is like "dont get animals there, they arent treated right and arent healthly" Well to me I think everyone should adopt them and give them a better life and make sure they have a heathly one too. I know I got my little guy form Petsmart cause I didnt have the heart to leave him there. So i took him home and then to the vet. He is fine and loves his new brother.

 

[Susan9608]

I mean they need to be rescused just as much as the little ones at the shelters

<sigh>

You don't rescue animals from pet stores; you *purchase* animals from pet stores. While that may seem to be simply an issue of semantics to you, in reality, there is a big difference between the two. Purchasing a pet from a pet store tells that pet store that there is a demand for the pet purchased. The pet store then arranges with their contracted breeder to obtain more animals to be sold in the store. The breeder then goes to their stock and breeds *more* animals to then sell to the pet stores, who will then sell to the general public.

In a rescue, when a pet is adopted, the rescue then has room to take in another animal who is already in existence. The rescue can then take in the pet dumped because the kids got tired of him or the pet dumped because she wasn't cute and young anymore. The rescue can take in the animals dropped off at the vet to be euthanized simply because the owners couldn't be bothered to care for them property. Rescuing an animal from a shelter saves lifes already in existence, rather than creating more animals.

Can't you see the difference?

so please don't call me ignorant.

If the shoe fits ....

I find your position to be one of extreme ignorance. If you could open your mind and let down your defenses a little, perhaps you could see why. Even if what you say is true and that your particular pet store is the most wonderful pet store in existence ... even if it was true that your pet store was perfect in every single way ... it would still be bad and wrong. Why? Because your pet store is *selling* animals; your pet store is treating living, breathing, sentient beings as merchandise. And that is wrong. It is also wrong to continue to breed and supply new animals in an already over saturated world.

It's just wrong. Period. No matter how wonderfully you claim you treat the animals in your store, the fact remains that you are selling animals as merchandise. To me, that's ignorant. And cruel. And just plain wrong, no question about it.

(sidenote: all new users are "cavy cagers." It has nothing to do with whether or not you love cavies.)

 

[pigsforlife]

vitamins and minerals are added to their water.

Guinea pigs should only need vitamin c - no other vitamins and minerals, and it should not be added to their water. When vitamin c is added to water it disintegrates and you can not tell how much vitamin c the guinea pigs are getting, let alone the fact that it changes the flavour of the water. If the guinea pigs are getting enough of vitamin c enriched fresh produce then they should not need any supplements as it is, but in the case that they are not they should be supplemented with a vitamin c chewable tablet or the syrup.

 

[envisionary333]

i know full well that by selling animals ourselves we are not helping the too many animals problem, but there are always going to be people that would prefer purebred animals. alot of the animals we sell the breeders would have otherwise put down because they are not 'show quality', for example the white boxers we sold recently (white boxers are apparently unaaceptable in the ring.but these pups were perfectly healthy, the breeder was just going to put them down as they were the wrong colour!!!).most of our animals are showring rejects for these kind of reasons, would you rather we let the breeder put them down or send them to the spca instead of coming to us where we give them the best care and do a questionaire on potential owners?

And do you honestly feel that this is a justified reason to contribute to the overpopulation problem? Do you really think there aren't hundreds of thousands of purebred animals waiting for homes in shelters? I've recently been informed that 25% of the animals put down are purebred. What about them? Do you think that just because a particular purebred isn't available right at the moment someone wants them, the customer should just go buy one instead of waiting or looking farther away to find the exact animal they are looking for that will inevitably show up and could killed just because of that person's laziness and impatience? Do you realize that by taking the breeder's rejects and profiting on them, you are just making it easier for the breeder to produce even more rejects without having to deal with the mess of killing them? And what does breed have to do with guinea pigs anyway, you can find every kind of breed you could possibly want in a shelter, guinea pigs or dogs. I have a gorgeous Peruvian, beautiful Abbys, shiny Americans, and lovely crested piggies ALL adopted from shelters. When my shelter didn't have a Peruvian, I waited for a few weeks, and now I have my beautiful little lady that otherwise might have been put to sleep. A lot of the breeding standards are finicky and irrelevant to the average owner, so gorgeous "purebred" animals will end up in shelters just because their ears are a little too long or their back is a little too sloped. Do you think that really matters when a loving dog just needs a loving owner? Do you really think it's fair for owners to intentionally allow shelter animals to die while they pick out their pets based on largely irrelevant physical features? Is that something you really want to support?

I know your heart is in the right place, and I commend you for trying to help the animals in your care. (Although I'm very interested to hear what this "premium" food you feed actually contains, not to mention the useless and sometimes harmful "vitamins and minerals" in the water...) But I simply cannot agree with your claims, and as hard is it may be, I hope you can look at the bigger picture and consider the animals who die by the thousands because of pet stores like yours. If you truly, deeply care about animals, and I believe you do, take some time to think this through. It might be painful, but it's worth it. Most of us come from the same blissfully ignorant place that you are in now, and though our words are harsh, it's tough love. We want you to learn what we did so that we can better help the animals that are out there get the respect, love, and proper care they deserve, rather than a lonely death in some random shelter.

And Teresa, for all the terrible responses you must get every day for the wonderful, compassionate, selfless work you do, at least you know that every one of the members here are infinitely grateful and appreciative for it. You've saved the lives of thousands of animals, and changed my life and perspective permanently. Thank you for creating a chain of hope and teaching us how to keep it going.