Pet Stores Where do pigs go if they are not "adopted" from stores???

ciaraelise said:

I never seen adult guinea pig, rabbits, hamsters, mice, rats Etc at a pet store. The stores near me can't possibly sell 10 caveys in seven days- most people in my area don't like rodents, the pet stores near me don't recommend buying pigs in pairs, and the cage situations are usually atrocious and turns off people to the animals plus the associates are usually uneducated.

The store I last visited said they 'receive new shipment every wednesday'.

Are all of these animals really sold or do the older or sick pigs taken somewhere or euthanized?

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They are probably half sold, half.. you know.

BaconAndEggs said:

They are probably half sold, half.. you know.

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No I really don't know. Maybe it's me being too optimistic about how the world works but are these babies killed? dropped off at a shelter? marked as discounted? packed up and shipped off to a weird 'unwanted piggie' warehouse??

I can't find any reputable sources on the internet that investigates this but I'm sure some novice piggie lovers on her know whats up

They sell them. They've invested money into them, they're not going to just give that up. Trust me, we sold dozens of guinea pigs a week and I live in a medium sized city. I would've never thought that many animals were sold in a pet store until I worked there.

They go up for "adoption". I took in many of those they are free because they are "damaged", aggressive, or too old to be sold. It's pretty sad.

Also take into account that some will die. I have heard several stories of people going into a store only to see a deceased guinea pig still in the cage with all of the live ones.

The sad but true reality is some guinea pigs they order in are very sick when they arrive and either the store does not recognise the symptoms so these guinea pigs never see a vet, or the treatment the stores vet puts them on does not work. I would say in a majority of cases where the guinea pig is deceased in the display cage it is the former as usual practice is to take it out back while it is treated if it is sick.

My very first guinea pig (around 10 years ago) was from a petstore before I was part of this forum and before I knew better. He was a 6 month old brown Teddy in a cage of 6 week old babies. I had called the store earlier in the day to ask how much they cost. The guy said, "Guinea pigs are $35 but we do have one up for adoption for free". I got to the store and asked why he was free. The guy said, "He is older than the others and keeps getting passed over for the babies". That struck a chord with me and I ended up getting him. He was my first pig and I had him from 2006 until 2011 when he passed. So they will occasionally "adopt" out the ones that seemingly no one wants.

The big chains offer them at discount. I've seen ads for Petsmart and Petco that lists them on sale. There was a small pet store near us years ago that used to offer some for free and it looked like they were older. I used to buy my bird food there and I'd go in the room where they kept a few cages of guinea pigs to look at them. It was a funny place..... a biker-pet store. They sold biker supplies and pet supplies.

I can't speak for all pet stores. But when I worked at the vet, I used to see pet stores, mostly from pet smart, bring in piggies that were too old and have them go with a rescue lady that we were associated it. Now I'm not sure if this was just our PetSmart or what. But I'm guessing that they go free to a good home or are sold at a discount.

Like right now Petco is selling one 45% off to a good home because he's really big and very old. I feel bad for that one cause he's in a tank all by himself.

The Petsmart here recently started adopting out the old or sickly ones. I don't consider it an adoption, though, because it's still directly taking their pig mill stock and taking their problem off their hands and giving them at least some money if there's a fee (as opposed to adopting a pig that was dumped by its owner at the pet store and giving the money to the pet store's charitable arm, which is how I got Quinn at Petco...I don't know what the Petco here does with their older stock, as the only "adoption" pigs they ever have there are drop-offs).

Females are probably sent back to become breeders.

I've seen petstores keep the same animals for weeks at times if they're not sold, so I'm sure that in most cases they just stay there until they're sold eventually, even if they get new ones in. If the store got overcrowded with guinea pigs, they probably get sent somewhere else to be sold off.

ciaraelise said:

I never seen adult guinea pig, rabbits, hamsters, mice, rats Etc at a pet store. The stores near me can't possibly sell 10 caveys in seven days- most people in my area don't like rodents, the pet stores near me don't recommend buying pigs in pairs, and the cage situations are usually atrocious and turns off people to the animals plus the associates are usually uneducated.

The store I last visited said they 'receive new shipment every wednesday'.

Are all of these animals really sold or do the older or sick pigs taken somewhere or euthanized?

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I work at a Petsmart and animals that are at the store too long are adopted out to good homes free of charge. That being said, I always sell guinea pigs in pairs and we haven't ever had a guinea pig at the store longer than 2 weeks unless it had a health problem requiring it to be vetted, treated and adopted out.

ciaraelise said:

No I really don't know. Maybe it's me being too optimistic about how the world works but are these babies killed? dropped off at a shelter? marked as discounted? packed up and shipped off to a weird 'unwanted piggie' warehouse??

I can't find any reputable sources on the internet that investigates this but I'm sure some novice piggie lovers on her know whats up

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My Local Petsmart marks them to discounts, or gives them to another petsmart locally to see if they have luck there.

pinky said:

It was a funny place..... a biker-pet store. They sold biker supplies and pet supplies.

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Lollol

Petsmarts here give them away free and call it adoption. They come complete with a "damaged merchandise" form.

At the pet store I go to they put them up for a lower price. The rats for example have three different cages, each one houses older rats. One has tiny babies, the other has teens and the last one has adults. Usually it is just two adult rats and they are usually PEWs(Pink eyed white). I come there often to get stuff for my animals and also because my cat rescue does adoption days there and I do see the same adult rats there for a very long time. For that reason I believe that at least this store gives them a very long time to get bought even though they are 'disliked' colors because they are albino. I can't say that for other stores though. Many of them dock the price then if they still wont go they will give them free to any kid that comes in, even if they don't have a parent with them.

From experience in the pet industry: most chain stores can indeed sell through a half dozen or so guinea pigs every 1-2 weeks. They are POURING into the pet trade. However, when animals hang around too long, most chain stores have policies in place to first decrease the price after x amount of time, then adopt out the animal. The animal unfortunately has to live in an isolation cage in a back room until that happens, and if you think the floor habitats are inadequate and horrible, you ain't seen nothin' yet. I do wonder what happens at privately owned stores, though, that don't have a corporate image to uphold.

I had many hamsters before I got my piggy, and I always wound up "adopting" one from the pet store. There is a Petco down the roan and I would go to get supplies, only to see a "half off" sign on the cage. I couldn't stand the thought of it being euthanized or just stuck in the cage for any longer. I would "save" them and take them to a tiny hamster haven and love them! My "Cupcake" was a hamster that was half off. She had been in the store three months and wasn't getting picked because there are always cute babies! I took her home that day and she lived me three more years.
So in my experience, they do discount them (and I have heard they will keep them in the back room if they aren't sold at discount until they can be adopted.). I would hate to think their lives are so insignificant to the store that they are just killed...

ACSrescue said:

From experience in the pet industry: most chain stores can indeed sell through a half dozen or so guinea pigs every 1-2 weeks. They are POURING into the pet trade. However, when animals hang around too long, most chain stores have policies in place to first decrease the price after x amount of time, then adopt out the animal. The animal unfortunately has to live in an isolation cage in a back room until that happens, and if you think the floor habitats are inadequate and horrible, you ain't seen nothin' yet. I do wonder what happens at privately owned stores, though, that don't have a corporate image to uphold.

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There are quite of few videos of what goes on behind the scenes at the large pet store chains.