PetLand

[Winnie]

Petland has open cages so little kids can reach over and pet the aniamls welll some kids drop them and tug i dont think this is right what do you think

 

[lilipution1013]

Petland has open cages so little kids can reach over and pet the aniamls welll some kids drop them and tug i dont think this is right what do you thing

That's AWFUL! There's one pet store near me that does the same thing with bunnies. I don't think they separate the boys from the girls, and the "Do not Handle Bunnies" sign does nothing. It must be so scary for the little bunnies... and for the piggies at Petland. (The piggies at my petstore live in aquariums. Sometimes 4 in one. It's awful.)

 

[Winnie]

petcetra is one of the best alot of reps and tons of food and 2 to a 10 sq foot space candain pet stores a better than usa dude to pet store safety code

 

[Slap Maxwell]

candain pet stores a better than usa dude to pet store safety code

I don't think so.

Please use proper grammer, spelling, and capitalization in your posts, it makes them very hard to read.

 

[Cavy Chick]

A pet store here that sells bunnies, pigs, hedgehogs, chinchillas etc, has open top glass..well...tank things that you can reach in and pick up the animal inside. They have it like that for puppies and kittens too

 

[Marlania]

Sometime last year, the Petland in Baton Rouge, LA was boycotted for its poor living conditions and whatnot. I'm not sure how well it turned out because I no longer live in LA, but I did write letters in support of the boycott.

 

[John4216]

Petland here in Ohio is terrible. One of the absolute worst pet-chains I have seen. I wrote them letters and they do not even respond (unlike another chain that did respond and asked for specific store locations so they could make changes, which they did). Petland here is just awful and do not seem to care about anything but profits.

 

[DocDolittle]

Petland is one of the worst pet chains that I know of. Ours puts on a friendly face and acts like they know what they're doing, but they have to be some of the most ridiculously gross stores I've ever stepped foot in. They actually keep puppies in fish tanks and give them 'rodent' water bottles to drink out of. It disgusts me how some people are so in denial and shop there when they see the horrible conditions these animals are in.

 

[RyanR]

Petland has gotten so terrible in the last few years. Things are way over priced and their animals are getting abused.

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Yes, Pet City is bad too. They're the same company as Shoe City, so don't even shop there. I thought Petco and Petsmart were bad...

 

[smoot]

Here in Honolulu, there are two of them. One is in the mall and the conditions were terrible. I was shopping for a pig (we have no local cavy rescue groups and the Humane Society hardly gets sows) and went there to look. The pigs had sores on the bottoms of their feet and the corners were full of "beans" and there was pee everywhere.

The other enclosure had a huge fly buzzing around inside. The cubbies (I don't know what else to call them) were lines with newspaper that looked like it hadn't been changed for a couple days. I'm assuming that the boys and girls were kept together since the staff couldn't tell me which were which.
Their other (bigger) location was surprisingly pleasant. They were kept in a hexagonal glass enclosure about 4 feet wide and 6 feet tall. Ventilation could have been an issue. The enclosure was immaculate with wood-pellet type bedding and there were cardboard tubes and pigloos for them to play in. All the pigs were quietly squeaking/chirping and seemed very content. However, their water was in a dish and a pig had tipped it over. I immediately told one of the staff members and he went to fill it right away.

One problem with Petland that no one has brought up yet is that they'll only hold an animal for you till the end of the day. I think this leads to people rushing to buy the furry friend they want before they're properly equipped to take care of the new pet. Two days would be reasonable.

 

[mom to cujo]

A while ago I purchased a baby gp from Petland - spur of the moment and totally wrong - even though I kind of thought he may be ill. Took him home and immediately made a vet appt. When we got to the vet I was told he had to stay and be monitered - he was VERY sick with a uri. The treatment would've cost over 400$, but of course I agreed to it - he was mine now. Needless to say he passed away within hours. I wnet back to Petland and insisted they incur the vet bill. He had had a cagemate and when I was there I found out he had died also. They offered me another pig, which I refused and I was compensated for the baby and the vet bill! i would never buy from Petland again. It broke my heart to lose my beautiful baby, but I did learn a good lesson. NO MORE PETSTORES! No matter how hard it is to leave a baby behnid, it does perpetuate the damage done to these poor animals.

 

[VoodooJoint]

A It broke my heart to lose my beautiful baby, but I did learn a good lesson. NO MORE PETSTORES! No matter how hard it is to leave a baby behnid, it does perpetuate the damage done to these poor animals.

I'm sorry you had to learn that lesson in such a heartbreaking way. No animal or person should have to suffer though that kind of agony.

 

[DaCourt]

I knew Pet City is opening by me. We drive by it all the time. My daughter is just waiting for them to annouce their grand opening. She wants to go down and picket. It's a shame too. My city already has a Petco and Petsmart which are bad enough. THen finally, a Centinella Pet SUpply opened and all was right with the world. They don't sell any animals at all, not even fish. Now, to have this horrible place open up just 1 1/2 miles down the road.

My daughter's grandmother was going to take her shopping for shoes. It didn't go well. They pulled up to a Shoe City and she wouldn't get out of the car. She told her why and the grandmother said, but they are having a sale. She told her that she didn't need any new shoes then. This was very hard for her too...she is 9 yrs old and has like 20 pairs of shoes. So to turn them down out of principal makes me very proud.

 

[Tatalp]

Yes, petland is horrid. I actually picket them because they're so awful! And the way they are kept in the store is definetly a reason.
From www.petstorecruelty.org-
"Petland's broker (middleman between breeders and pet stores), the Hunte Corporation, is based in Missouri, often considered the puppy mill capital of the country due to its large concentration of puppy mills. Other states with many puppy mills include Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania (especially Lancaster County).

After collecting puppies from many Midwestern breeding facilities, the Hunte Corp. weeds out the sickliest ones, classifying them as "Grade B." We have been told that the Grade B puppies are sold for low prices at flea markets or to people selling animals over the Internet. Hunte Corp. reportedly used to sell its sickest puppies in Rutledge, Missouri, but now does so at a flea market in Texas. The rest of the puppies are packed into its trucks and driven to Petlands and other pet stores all over the country, usually a stressful trip of several hundred miles. At the store, having spent their whole life of 8 weeks in cages, the puppies again spend most of their time in small cages.

According to veterinarians, the confinement of large numbers of animals to a small store, with new animals being added all the time, is an invitation to rampant infectious disease. The neatly stacked rows of cages at Petland resemble isolation chambers--ideal for driving people and animals crazy, but not a proper environment for animals adapted to life on this planet through millions of years of evolution. The barren cages do not allow the puppy to experience the outdoors, where a normally developing puppy would be able to see the sky, feel the sun and wind, and run and play with human and canine companions in the dirt and grass and leaves. Small cages do not provide a rich indoor environment for the puppies to explore. Rarely do the puppies ever have a soft surface to lie on, although even in the wild, animals seek out soft nesting spots. All Petland puppies have is a mesh-floored cage (uncomfortable for their feet), maybe a single chew toy, and, if they're lucky, a hard floor tile, about 1 foot by 1 foot, that is supposed to serve as their bed. The sad faces of the puppies entice well-meaning visitors into "rescuing" puppies by buying them, even for the outrageous prices of well over $1,000 per puppy that Petland usually charges (the adoption fee for dogs at our local shelter is $85). Of course, each time they sell a puppy, Petland orders more from the Hunte Corp.--approximately 25 puppies each week for one Petland store.

Since Petland's cages are standardized, one might assume that they are in compliance with all state anti-cruelty laws as well as laws that prohibit the sale of certain species, but this is not necessarily the case. The Petland in Fairfax, Virginia, was found to be in violation of the Virginia state law that prohibits pet stores from housing puppies in cages in which their feet could fall through the mesh. This went on for many months, even though it was obvious to any observer that the tiny puppies, such as Chihuahuas and Toy Rat Terriers, could only hobble painfully around their cages, their legs falling through the mesh each time they tried to move.

The Fairfax Petland also failed to consistently provide a solid resting platform until ordered to do so by Animal Control. When it did, it used one or two hard floor tiles that were still not completely solid. Some of the larger puppies, such as the Golden Retrievers, could only fit their two front legs on the tiles, not their whole body, as required by law. Recently, when a citizen reported the absence of ANY resting platforms in the cages, Petland admitted to police that it removes the platforms each night because they make a mess. This is against the law.

Petland was also selling one or more tarantulas, even though tarantulas are prohibited as pets in our county.

Puppies are by no means the only animals suffering in Petland stores. Petland also sells kittens, rabbits, parakeets, parrots, chinchillas, ferrets, hamsters, fish, and a variety of other animals. Because even fewer laws protect these animals, they most likely come from breeding and warehousing facilities even worse than puppy mills. These animals are also housed in cramped cages or aquariums at the store and are sold with a minimum of instruction on how to properly care for them. This can lead to premature death, abandonment, and for long-lived species such as parrots, many years of suffering in an inadequate environment.

People who take jobs at Petland because they love animals sooner or later find out, as one told us, "It's all about time and money." This employee saw a lot of deaths among the small animals at the Fairfax City store, particularly birds and hamsters, and saw that many of the puppies arrived with respiratory problems. The puppies also had sores from lying on the hard mesh cage floors. Another Fairfax City Petland employee tried to nurture the puppies and was told something along the lines of (not a direct quote), "They don't need petting; they're just money. If you want to do that, go to the shelter." An employee from another Petland told us that puppies are taken from their mothers at 5 weeks old and go through so much stress and handling that Petland recommends that once the puppy arrives at the store, he or she be left alone for 48 hours. Our local Petland puts puppies on display immediately, and they are available for sale about 24 hours later.

One customer of the Fairfax Petland unknowingly purchased a dog with hereditary defect that makes simple anesthesia a grave risk to the dog's life, so that any situation requiring anesthesia, even spaying or neutering, can be fatal. Another puppy purchased at the Fairfax Petland developed a cough within a couple of days. Because it was the weekend, the dog had to be taken to an emergency clinic, voiding the Petland warranty, which requires that the dog be brought to a particular vet who works with Petland. Neighbors have seen the huge truck that arrives with its weekly delivery and heard the cries of the puppies as they are unloaded.

What happens to the puppies who are rejected by Petland's store vet and are put back on the truck? According to someone who has worked on this issue for many years, they are not sent "back to the breeder," as we have heard Petland employees state. If they cannot be passed off to another stop the truck was making, they are sent back to the Hunte Corp., who subjects them to yet another long truck ride and sells them, along with other "Grade B" puppies, at a flea market or to people selling dogs over the Internet.

Several local vets who have treated puppies purchased at the Fairfax Petland have stated that the many of the puppies are sick. One said, "I HATE Petland!" Another said of a Petland puppy, "This puppy is a walking time bomb." A local trainer working with Petland puppies found many of them unsocialized, extremely difficult to train, and mentally and emotionally ill."

And if anyone here lives in DC/MD/NoVA, there are weekly protests you can attend at (oh the irony!) Pickett shopping center in Chantilly, VA. www.petstorecruelty.org have all the details.

 

[John4216]

I just wish they would come pickett here in Ohio as I would be there and would make sure the Media was there also.

 

[littlebear]

I do not like PetLand that much but the one in hawaii were I live is not that bad they say that you have to ask to holad them. But whent he sales person take them they just grab them like they were dogs!

 

[rouxnavg]

Re: PetLand (African Grey Parrot)

Hello, my name is Susanna van Greunen and I became the first-time proud owner of a baby African Grey in July of this year called 'Papagaai'. She was hand-raised and we bonded immediately. After about one month of going to the Petland in Round Lake Beach, IL, as often as possible to feed her, I got to take her home. Petland offered a warranty, one year, but in order to affect it, I needed to take her to a vet. I took her to a vet recommended by the staff at the shop. This was not an avain vet and he did not do any kinds of tests, just a cursory glance, told me the bird is thin, but that it can be blamed on the weaning and learning to eat by itself. Me, new owner, believed everything I was told.

So, I spent a lot of money buying her cages, gyms, the best foods and fruits and vegs and just enjoyed the little girl. This past Friday things changed. I got home in the evening and she did not eat a thing during the day. I was concerned, gave her a little baby food, which she ate very little of. Saturday morning I called an avain vet, however they could not see me until Monday. They referred me to Animal 911, bless their wonderfull hearts. I took her there right away and they watched her, did tests and realized that she had a red inner mouth, some mucus in her throat, she was dehydrated and they wanted to pursue further tests, gave her some antibiotics etc ... she also had the reverse of normal birds on her 'gum stain' (forgive me if this is the wrong words, hard to read the report) of 90% neg and 10% pos cocci. As far as I understand this is completely opposite from what it should be.

However, with the vets' treatments and efforts, little 'Papagaai' passed away on Sunday, she took a turn for the worst and had respiratory distress and stopped breathing.

When I informed Petland, they immediately stated that it is the first bird they have lost and that the warranty does not cover infections and all kinds of stories. I did everything they told me to do, they told me that the warranty will cover the bird for illness and problems for one year. Now they renege on that and stated that it only covers them for hereditory and congenital diseases, that it was only warranteed for 7 days against infections and other diseases.

In retrospect, I should have taken the bird to an avain vet, I should have gotten a second opninion, I should have done things differently, which is hindsight. I do think that it was an existing condition, since she never ate until her little crop was full, she always wanted to be close to me, drank water from me, which I thought was very cute, but it might have been reaching out for help, not feeling good, needing body heat ... I don't know ...
I paid for a tissue sampling and other tests to prove exact cause of death on the insistence of the petstore owner, but I am not sure that proves anything.

However, I need some advice as for further actions. Please let me know if anybody had similar issues and how they managed it. I know I might be grasping for straws ... so be it ...

Best regards
Susanna

 

[Bellebelle]

We have a petland here and it used to sell guinea pigs and rabbits (living together of course). A few years ago the piggies stooped appearing and they've never turned up for sale again. This petland was alright if you needed bedding but one thing you never do is ask for animal food, the bird food is full of weevils, the piggies food has mice holes chewed through it. The only time we go there is when we have broken a water bottle or food bowl and need another one quickly otherwise we travel an extra half hour to a shop that sells everything but the animals.
Emma

 

[jdomans]

I would follow through about your bird and nail their behinds to the wall.