Frustrated Is petsmart a good place to get Guinea pigs?

Again, never said the info itself was bad in this case. I want to be sure that people who ask questions on this forum are provided with reliable sources of information. PETA- an organization that has been accused of stealing people's pets to euthanize them, intentionally twisting facts and putting them in the wrong context, spreading false info about milk causing autism, and supporting the idea that pit bulls are inherently bad and violent dogs- is not a reliable source in my book.

People who are on this forum to learn deserve to be provided with good source material. That's all I meant.

Stick around. You'll find that no one is recommending unreliable sources.

Oh and also how long will I be a newbie? How are you an administrator?

magicpiggie said:

I have to disagree, there are some things a vet cannot see. That is why even if the vet says the guinea pigs are okay, you still quarantine.


Where there are pet stores, there are rescues. There will always be people that impulse buy and what happens when they don't want the pigs anymore? They take the pigs to the shelter, and there are always people looking to re home.

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I just wanted to say that I did quarantine them for somewhere between 2 to 3 weeks because it was stressed a lot in the reading that I did before introducing them.

I didn't try to accuse you of not quarantining. I was just telling @scoottie that you should still quarantine even if the vet says that the pig is not sick because a vet can't get everything.

The_Cavy_Crew said:

Oh and also how long will I be a newbie? How are you an administrator?

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You'll be newbie for 30 days from the day you join. Your status will change to Cavy Slave once you reach 30 days, and have more than 10 posts.

Administrators are selected by the owner of the site.

lissie said:

You'll be newbie for 30 days from the day you join. Your status will change to Cavy Slave once you reach 30 days, and have more than 10 posts.

Administrators are selected by the owner of the site.

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thanks, so there is cavy newbie, cavy slave, and administrator?

1. The_Cavy_Crew said:

   thanks, so there is cavy newbie, cavy slave, and administrator?

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More like Admin, Moderators, Cavy Champions, Cavy Stars, Cavy Slaves, and Cavy Newbies

I can go on and on I don't want to type everything again so if you want you can check out my 'PETCO email, any tips?' Thread

The_Cavy_Crew said:

thanks, so there is cavy newbie, cavy slave, and administrator?

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See this thread.
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/18292-Membership-Types-and-Titles

CreamCheese said:

I can go on and on I don't want to type everything again so if you want you can check out my 'PETCO email, any tips?' Thread

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I read that earlier, pretty good.

I don't know if there are Pet Supplies Plus where you guys are, but I would just like to say, they have showed me that not all pet stores are bad. They tend to be quite small stores, without a huge variety, but they sell high quality hay, pellets, chews ect. At least where I live, they take very good care of all the animals there. Everytime I've been there, I have talked to the employees, and they seem to know what they're talking about! Every animal there is kept in very clean cages, that always have food and water available. They all seem to be very healthy and happy piggies, fish, birdies ect. The food that they eat is pretty decent quality, and all the employees seem very compassionate about keeping the animals healthy. They are the only petstore that seems to care more about the animals than the amount of customers that walk through the door.

mjalred said:

I don't know if there are Pet Supplies Plus where you guys are, but I would just like to say, they have showed me that not all pet stores are bad. They tend to be quite small stores, without a huge variety, but they sell high quality hay, pellets, chews ect. At least where I live, they take very good care of all the animals there. Everytime I've been there, I have talked to the employees, and they seem to know what they're talking about! Every animal there is kept in very clean cages, that always have food and water available. They all seem to be very healthy and happy piggies, fish, birdies ect. The food that they eat is pretty decent quality, and all the employees seem very compassionate about keeping the animals healthy. They are the only petstore that seems to care more about the animals than the amount of customers that walk through the door.

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Unfortunately, even if they treat the animals well, the very concept of an ethical petstore is illogical. They likely get the animals from breeding mills, which are horrific, hellish places. Do some research on breeding mills/puppy mills and you'll see what I mean. Even if they get the animals from a private breeder, they are supporting bringing more and more piggies/etc. into the world, while thousands sit in shelters waiting for homes.

So yeah, while it may seem like they're a "good petstore," they're not. If they're selling animals for profit and not adopting them out, they are a fundamentally immoral store.

mjalred said:

I don't know if there are Pet Supplies Plus where you guys are, but I would just like to say, they have showed me that not all pet stores are bad. They tend to be quite small stores, without a huge variety, but they sell high quality hay, pellets, chews ect. At least where I live, they take very good care of all the animals there. Everytime I've been there, I have talked to the employees, and they seem to know what they're talking about! Every animal there is kept in very clean cages, that always have food and water available. They all seem to be very healthy and happy piggies, fish, birdies ect. The food that they eat is pretty decent quality, and all the employees seem very compassionate about keeping the animals healthy. They are the only petstore that seems to care more about the animals than the amount of customers that walk through the door.

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Hi, the pet stores where I live, seem to also take very good care of their animals. However, have you seen the condition of those animals parents? Where they were bred before arriving into the pet store? You need to look at the puppy mills, or place where the pets were bred in mass quantities. Usually they take the cheaper option when breeding the pets, as their goal is quantity over quality for money. So you could expect to see wire cages, cramped conditions, dirty, etc. Also, back to back pregnancies for most mothers which is bad and uncomfortable for their health.

Also, agreeing with what Kenna18155 said, pet stores shouldn't sell animals. Because there are far too many animals already out there looking for homes. Why do they need to mass breed more for profit? If anything, they should be helping to sell the animals already in shelters. (Actually, the other day I visited the pet store, they did have two shelter pigs there for adoption, so would like to see more of that).

The only truly good petstore is one that only has adoptable animals from shelters and doesnt "sell" any animals

Yes, I have seen the pet mills, and I find all of them are truly mortifying, who doesn't. I was just trying to point out that at least not all pet stores treat them badly.

Unfortunately some people like me are in a position where there are no rescues in a feasible driving distance. The nearest was a 6 hour drive away. Kudos to all of you who can take the time and effort to do that, but between working full time, family, and other responsibilities I could not. I looked for well over a month on craigslist and facebook for ANYONE rehoming their piggies. It was a futile search. I live in a very rural farming area and as much as it pains me, I'm fairly sure most small animals are on the consumption list rather than the adoption list because, yeah, rednecks and hicks. I by no means condone any of that, I actively protest hunting in my family, but it is simply what it is.

I adopted my dogs and one of my cats from the humane society. I got my other two cats off Craigslist because the lady was going to take them to a very high kill shelter if she couldn't re-home them. I am against puppy mills. I don't buy products tested on animals to the best of my knowledge. However, I am not going to throw my three local pet stores under the bus. My in town store doesn't sell live animals, just merchandise and donates 10% of their profits to the local humane society. The other two are a Petsupermarket and Petsmart in the next town over. That Petsmart takes in ALL the overflow cats from that counties animal shelter and puts them up for adoption, plus donates money to the shelters in the local area, including my own. In my search for guinea pigs, I finally resigned myself to buying them and every weekend I went to get two from Petsmart, they were sold out. Out of the three, Petsupermarket is the worst I guess, but I will say their employees were much more knowledgeable on guinea pigs and the pigs were not in a fish tank, but a large open cage.

It just really irks me, self righteousness. Not every person is in the same boat on this planet. Sometimes you just have to go with whatever options you have available. Is it better to adopt and rescue? Yes. But you know, those piggys being sold didn't ask to be born to a poor mom in a bad situation. They deserve love too. If you can't save a pig, then well, save a pig. Give them a home. Give them a life their mom would be happy for them to have. That's my opinion.

Please adopt yes, but also, don't guilt trip those that did not. Maybe they didn't have options.

Edit - I ended up taking on a friends pigs, btw. But I would have bought.

But you know, those piggys being sold didn't ask to be born to a poor mom in a bad situation. They deserve love too. If you can't save a pig, then well, save a pig.

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The problem is, you save one, but you condemn a poor sow to be eternally pregnant to replace the one you bought, and that sow's pups are bred and raised in the same horrible conditions. The minute you buy a pig from a pet store, you become part of that supply-demand chain that perpetuates the abuse.

Guinea pigs aren't a necessity. You don't have to buy one, you don't even have to have one. And I'd rather choose some other pet that isn't part of that breeding/abuse cycle than to buy a pet store guinea pig.

And if you don't think they're not abused, read www.petsmartcruelty.com. Rainbow Exotics is still in business, still supplying places like Petsmart and Petco.

By that logic, any animal kept as a pet isn't a necessity. No, you don't have to have one. I don't have to have 2 dogs, 3 cats and a fish tank. My choice. My pets are family and I love all of them as if they were furry humans. I wanted to add to my family and I preferred to add a guinea pig as I enjoy social creatures. Name me one animal that isn't sold that is not over bred.

What happens to the pigs then that don't get sold? Honest question and not being snarky. Are they given to breeders to farther the cycle? Snake food? What? I'm fairly sure most adopted rescued pigs came from stores, so either way they still made money somewhere. If you don't adopt or buy from a store, then I assume you get them from a breeder? I'm not sure that is any better in the long haul. I doubt many people travel to Peru these days and ship them back on boats (shudders at the poor things that live in South America). My point is, yes piggy mills are horrible, but if your only option is to buy if you want a guinea pig, then you shouldn't have someone on the net make you feel like a bad person for doing so.

IMO, anything that has PETA tied to it I refuse to trust. PETA is a bad organization and does way more harm for animal rights than good. Someone already pointed out their reputation for petnapping and euthanizing.

I'm by no means arguing that you should buy over adoption. Please, adopt if you can. I never said I thought they weren't abused either. I'm sure in some locations Petsmart deals with HORRID breeders than just that one. But I've also read many things that said Petsmart has stopped dealing with bad breeders in the last few years too. It's the net. You'll find anything to support any side of an argument.

What happens to the pigs then that don't get sold?

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As the demand for them decreases, so does the supply. The stores re-order to replace the ones they've sold. The fewer they sell, the fewer they reorder, the fewer are bred to resupply them. If nobody bought pet store pigs, nobody would breed to sell to pet stores.

I agree that PETA isn't entirely blameless in many things. But that video happens to be real. You can google up the news stories about the raid on the installation in Dallas. The rescues in north Texas were absolutely overwhelmed with small critters, and they would up being farmed out to rescues in neighboring states. The animals were in horrible condition.

You can justify it any way you want to. But you're either part of the problem or part of the solution. Your choice.