Paula
Pigaholic Extraordinaire
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2007
- Posts
- 6,024
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2007
- Messages
- 6,024
Re: Anybody use aspen? (and I'm a breeder, too!)
The whole point is that by breeding these animals, by just supporting that the store breeds these animals, you are part of the problem, not part of the solution. The store is only interested in making money, and no one can fault them for that - it's a business. But the point everyone is making is that while you may be giving those pigs a better life than they would have in a pet store, you are still contributing to the problem of overpopulation and sentencing the momma pig(s) to a lifetime of stress and pain.
If you want to make a difference, encourage the owners of the pet store to stop selling animals altogether. Try offering a discount to customers who come in who have adopted from a shelter rather than just purchased an animal. Shelters give out free spay/neuter coupons, have some coupons printed up that the local shelters can give out for your store. That will spread the word about the business but doesn't involve any cruelty or encourage people to buy rather than adopt.
Yes, there are always going to be people that come in looking to buy animals. Encourage them to go down the road to a shelter and tell them all the benefits of adopting rather than buying. Try educating them and making a difference that way, not by giving some animals a better environment in which to procreate. That doesn't help anything.
Pet stores are part of the problem. I am doing whatever I can to change this one. Rather than lumping it in with all the other stores you have seen and simply assuming that it is as bad as you describe them all as being, why not look at this thread again and see I am trying to change things in this way, by changing this store for the better. So it is not another store full of crappy merchandise and staff only there to make some extra cash. I think you have already decided that all stores are bad. There are some good ones out there, few and far between, but they are there. I am trying to make this one as good as I can.
The whole point is that by breeding these animals, by just supporting that the store breeds these animals, you are part of the problem, not part of the solution. The store is only interested in making money, and no one can fault them for that - it's a business. But the point everyone is making is that while you may be giving those pigs a better life than they would have in a pet store, you are still contributing to the problem of overpopulation and sentencing the momma pig(s) to a lifetime of stress and pain.
If you want to make a difference, encourage the owners of the pet store to stop selling animals altogether. Try offering a discount to customers who come in who have adopted from a shelter rather than just purchased an animal. Shelters give out free spay/neuter coupons, have some coupons printed up that the local shelters can give out for your store. That will spread the word about the business but doesn't involve any cruelty or encourage people to buy rather than adopt.
Yes, there are always going to be people that come in looking to buy animals. Encourage them to go down the road to a shelter and tell them all the benefits of adopting rather than buying. Try educating them and making a difference that way, not by giving some animals a better environment in which to procreate. That doesn't help anything.