Pet Stores will never go out of business and neither will breeders
You are dead wrong about that. Pet stores go out of business all the time. And when enough pressure is brought to bear in a variety of ways, they will stop selling animals. The same with breeders.
Almost always, buying a sick or poorly treated animal in a pet store is the immoral and lazy thing to do. The right thing to do is raise a stink about it in a variety of ways. It's sooo easy to pluck down your 5 or 25 bucks and feel good about 'rescuing' that animal. But, you just become an enabler and part of the institution for more sickness and death.
Actually, in this case, it's too difficult to assess the real outcome of the status of the sale of guinea pigs in this pet store. I don't think the original poster has an in-depth experience on dealing with pet stores or this particular pet store.
But, there is one circumstance in which I feel that getting a pig from a pet store is acceptable, and that is if that store is no longer going to be selling guinea pigs. But again, that means knowing INTIMATELY the management history and future status of that store. If you don't know the store owner and manager by name and have a history of activism with that store, odds of this situation happening are rare.
In the case where a store is going to stop selling guinea pigs because of pressure or economics, then I would step in to take any remaining guinea pigs if necessary. However, I would prefer that Animal Control be involved. Also, I would make sure a rescue organization is involved if at all possible, not just another customer who feels sorry for the animal. Would I pay for the animal/s? I have yet to have a situation where I would actually pay for them.
However, when it comes to 'getting' an animal from a pet store, under normal circumstances, I am just as against get an animal from a pet store if it is 'free' as I am if you pay for it. As has been pointed out, all small animals in pet stores are loss leaders. They are there to suck you into the store to buy the supplies. They do NOT make any money on the animals.
The problem with 'getting' an animal from a pet store is that the store turns around and orders more. IF that cycle is being broken, THAT is the most important thing. And of course, it goes without saying--although it sounds like some people just don't get it--you should NOT buy ANYTHING in a pet store that sells animals, unless you have an emergency situation.
And this topic has been hotly debated before as well. I recognize that once in a very great while, you might need something from a store and you might need to go a store near you that sells animals. What do you do? Well, you need to give yourself at least an hour. On the few rare occassions where this has happened to me, I always make sure I cost them more than they make on me and at the same time, force them to invest yet more time and resources on the animals in their care. I inevitably find one or many things wrong with the care of the animals or fish or whatever and insist and wait while they make changes, open supplies, fix things. I'm vocal about it and adamant. And I have the phone number of the local animal control on my cell phone speed dial in case I need to use it.
On the case of taking the absolute LAST of store's guinea pigs, IF that store is staying in business, but continuing to sell other animals, the store has to know WHY you are taking them and you have to remain an activist for the other animals as well. You CANNOT shop for any supplies in that store. Again, that is a given. But, I do not take such a black and white approach on not getting the last of the guinea pigs because we have to start somewhere. The HRS didn't not take their victory in the past of not selling rabbits in the stores because Petsmart was still selling guinea pigs. No. BUT, it helped us. The cat and dog people didn't say, hey it doesn't matter about cats and dogs because they are still selling guinea pigs. No. Likewise, I'll take any victory we can. But the real bottomline is you cannot support the store by buying any supplies from them. THAT is where they make their money.
And you stop the chain of breeding and death by NOT buying that animal in the store. You get off your lazy high horse and do something about it. It's a lot of work to do the right thing. You don't buy the animal. You call AC. You take photos. You write to the papers. You boycott. You get others involved. You wear t-shirts. You tell all the people you know about the issues. You put up flyers. But you do not support the business.
You can talk to me about being heartless when you've gone to look at the distributors and the breeders that are cranking out more pigs and more sickness and death to take the place of the one that you feel sorry for. I've put ALL of my money where my mouth is and I've been saying the same thing for years now. When you run out of money BUYING every poor pig in the window, then come and talk to me. Perhaps you don't see it, but your position is very defeatist and negative and far more hurtful to the animals than you realize. Your sentiment is misguided. I hope you come to understand the issues more fully.
