Frustrated Pets At Home,

[addictivejuliet]

I'm not certain if 'PETS AT HOME' the pet store exists in other countries, but here in England there are over 330 stores, according to Twitter.
To any one who read my previous post, you'll know I felt terrible leaving two guinea pigs up for adoption, yesterday, in a store about 30 mintues away from my house. I'm still convincing my boyfriend to let me have piggies.

PETS AT HOME sell timothy hay and burgess food and other supplies that are good and suitable. Usually.
and in the store i went to on friday - the large store, their piggies were fine, i just wanted them.

HOWEVER; a new store opened yesterday by my house, 5 minutes away, another pets at home, and a bit smaller.
I was in University yesterday so I couldnt visit the new store, BUT I went today and walked out VERY UPSET.
Their store is too small to sell piggies and piggies/rabbits for adoption, so they just sell the previously owned ones for adoption. They had rats, rabbits and guinea pigs, but the guinea pigs up for adoption were in GLASS TANKS. Now I thought I was overreacting for a few minutes, so feel free to tell me if I am/was. The tanks had sawdust, food and water, but they also had a heat lamp each, and NO OPEN LID or any open back, the entire tank was glass. What was worse, or that made me feel worse was that the guinea pigs were on their sides, breathing lightly/slowly and barely had their eyes open. The rabbits below had tanks of 3 glass sides and one wire/grid side, so they actually had air to breathe, but the guinea pigs never.

I pulled my boyfriend out of the shop, upset and explained to him how that wasn't an adequate environment and he said maybe i should do something. So i googled the RSPCA number on my mobile and called them. They were closed. So I called their emergency line. I spoke to a woman, told her about PETS AT HOME and she thanked me and said she'd send my message through to head office. Another woman called me back from HEAD OFFICE and asked me more questions, and said she was sending an inspector to the store. I guess we will see what happens. I don't know how they opened on Friday without having to meet some sort of requirements or who even passed that one tank.


WHAT I ask of you guys, in the UK, or whereever there are PETS AT HOME stores, is to go in and check. This isn't the first time this has happened. A different store housed many syrian hamsters together, and kept dead fish on display and failed to separate male and female rabbits, and they were in the newspapers and got shut down. Just have a look? Keep your eyes open and lets force them to MEET standards animals deserve.

 

[Iklepink]

Years ago Pets at Home was called Pet Smart so I am going to assume it is the spawn of the evil USA giant

Yes the store nearest to me is not very large and has a similar setup.

Its saving grace is that the guy who looks after the small animals has piggies of his own and from the information he gives out I wouldn't be surprised if he was actually a member of this site.
When he is on shift he won't put the 'adoption' pigs in the tanks he just puts their pictures up and keeps them in the back (where the cages are not great but at least have air flow and no heat lamps!)
He recommends a good pellet food and tells people that the cages they sell are terrible (and he manages to keep his job)!

The other staff are just there for the money.

I don't often go in as I get everything I need from elsewhere, at least the poor piggies in their have someone who cares about their welfare, I just wish they didn't have animals for sale at all.

 

[addictivejuliet]

@Iklepink: AWH they are lucky that guy is there to help out then, I'm glad some staff care. I doubt the ones in my store do.

 

[HugoLynx]

I got my pigs from pets at home and they also both came with URL unfortunately so I had to take them back and the vets are sorting them out. I have two pets at homes near me, one about 1.5 miles away from me and the other 3 miles. I have been to both and both had 4 130mx 120cm glass panels surrounding the guinea pig area and there was plenty of space provided for other animals also.

There was a dead fish fish stuck on the filter but it must have got stuck just a few hours before I got there but it was high up so it must have been quite difficult for the staff to notice (they where all very busy).

 

[addictivejuliet]

@HugoLynx: Sorry I don't know what URL is? Is it an illness? was there glass on the lids too? In the store 30 minutes from my house, they have 3 glass walls and no roof to the 'cage' so that's fine, they can breathe. But in the store 5 minutes from my house, they have four glass walls, and a heat lamp and didn't look healthy :/

 

[bubblepig]

I live in the United States. We don't have Pets At home,(that I know of.) However,I have two PetsMarts about semi-fair distance from me. Thanks for standing up for those piggies,I hope something gets done.

 

[addictivejuliet]

@bubblepig: It was all I could do. I knew even if I adopted the piggies in that tank they'd just put others in. Thanks for your support. Are PetsMarts bad?

 

[bubblepig]

Ugh,YES! They have their fish and reptiles in tanks,OK right? That's not just it. They have their guinea pigs,hamsters (I heard it was OK for hamsters but idk.) and chinchilla's in them. Even birds ! While they seem healthy enough,I'm concerned for their oxygen. I never thought the SPCA could do anything,that they would simply brush it off. But I think I'll call them and report them.

 

[HugoLynx]

Sorry excuse my typo I was meant to say they had an URI infection. There was no lid on either of them (if my memory servers me well one the one closer to me). I did question them a little when I had to bring them back. They claim that they get their pigs from breeders who have a RSPCA checks every now and again to make sure they are healthy and when the piglets are brought to the store they are checked by the vet and left in quarantine for a few days then checked again by the vet and put on sale. They all did look healthy thankfully. They came to me with the infection which worries me because this means that they haven't checked them properly. They did a quick check of course but they failed to notice the one of them was breathing heavily and the other quite obviousally had a bad eye. This makes me question their competentness and vigilance.

What I thought was strange was that a few days after I had brought them back, all their other male stocks where gone and they only had females. They had 4 females and about 7 or 8 males and they can't over a space of 5 days have sold ALL of the males, I mean the chances are very very low. They still had the same amount of females. This was very fishy to me because as the male number go down, so should the females. I have a theory that after this case they took back all of the other males and got them checked by the vet, found there was something wrong with all of them and put them in quarantine for 6 days like they did with my pigs. It was quite a stressful process because after they took my pigs away they did the same for the males so when mine came back I had to wait for the other males to come back so I can buy two at the same time. It has now been about 18 days. I was due to collect them on on thursday but they moved it to tomorrow because they had to keep them in quarantine for a little longer which means I had to wait a whole 14 days extra for them not checking the pigs properly.


I am sorry for the mini-rant but it just shows they may not be doing things properly.

 

[MrsSuzy]

It's terrible isn't it!

I go to Pets at Home because my girls LOVE the Alfafa King Timothy Hay (Alfafa is the brand, not the content) and I can't find it anywhere else, but it breaks my heart to go near the adoption centre. The shop closest to me is quite good in terms of space for the piggies. They are the large(ish) open enclosures like @HugoLynx mentioned. However, the ones in the adoption centre are the small, enclosed glass bits like @addictivejuliet mentioned.

I haven't been there in a while (really avoid it) but I'm running out of their Timothy Hay so will check for sure next time and call RSPCA. If everyones expresses their concern over this, maybe something will be done. Please do so!

 

[addictivejuliet]

@bubblepig: Good idea. That is terrible. i would report them if you can. the RSPCA here were grateful for my phonecall and sent an inspector round. I'm currently sick and in mu mum's house but when I go back to my flat I'm going to check PETS AT HOME and see if they were made to change the tank.

 

[addictivejuliet]

@HugoLynx: URGH pets at home really annoy me sometimes. That sucks that they never checked over those piggies properly. I wish a new a friend that was a vet, I'd take them with me to check xD So are you getting your piggies back today, do you mean? I hope they're all better now D: If they just checked them properly in the first place, they wouldn't have to do all this faffing about. Gosh. I feel like getting a job there JUST to take care of the animals and advise people to make C&C cages!!

 

[addictivejuliet]

@MrsSuzy: I mean PETS AT HOME guinea pigs for sale (the young new ones) that haven't been previously owned, look healthy and happy and are in open glass tanks in my stores, with no lid/roof. But it's the adoption ones I get upset about. NOW that is 3 of us from the UK have said that 3 separate PETS AT HOME stores have guinea pigs in tanks that aren't really suitable. All I can do is urge you to call the RSPCA if that is what is required. Their phone lines were busy so I called the emergency helpline which usually ends in 999. They seemed grateful for my phone call, said they obviously don't tell PAH who reported them, and sent an inspector out. I'll let you know if they have changed the cage when I go back this week.

 

[MochaAndMoo]

There isn't much we can do, usually RSPCA inspectors will brush it off if they have water, clean bedding and food.
We can stop shopping there. Hit them were it hurts the must, their money. If you stop people from shopping there, then they will lose money, and over time, they will end up having to shut-down.

 

[addictivejuliet]

@MochaAndMoo: I agree. However, if that guinea pig had/has died, they will be in trouble. Plus they are 5 minutes away from my flat, overstaffed and no one does any work, I will be giving them hell if they don't look after their animals dont you worry.

 

[Lishar]

Those poor little piggies!!! D'=
Im glad my boys are safe with me in my home!... And not an anoying pet shop!

 

[addictivejuliet]

awhhh yepp.

 

[asnnbrg]

Heat lamps + closed glass tanks = heat stroke, as far as I can tell. Those poor pigs. I'm glad you called, and I hope those pigs were saved.

 

[Nat453]

I guess I got lucky with my local PaH store, although they're in sort of tanks, they can breathe and they do have somewhat adequate space. The employees are very friendly and quite knowledgable about the small animals. They get lots of water, hay, pellets and veggies. Of course, there's still the issue of pet mills, I know some litters are bred locally in nice environments, and given everything they need, but not all are so lucky. Fortunately I hardly ever see many small pets in store, apart from ones in the adoption part.

 

[SqueakyPig]

I have two Pets at Homes near me. One if them is brilliant and the other one is horrifying. The good one keeps them in properly size cages (equivalent to a 2x4 c&c) and they are on kiln dried softwood, Burgess pellets and have fresh water and hay. They also have tunnels, chews and hideys. The cages are made of glass but have vents and open tops. The rabbits have huge cages, and separate the males and females. Same with hamsters, chinchillas etc., cared for very well. It's a small shop, so they don't sell many animals, and they have a Vets at the back with an exotic vet. They don't have an adoption centre there. On the other hand, the other shop is terrible. It's a big department pet store, and the animals are in horrible conditions. Wired floor cages with barley any cedar chips (all soiled, it smells so bad) the size of 1x2's. No hay, just straw, and museli. Empty water bottles, no toys and about 5+ in one cage. The same goes for rabbits, hamsters, chinchillas etc. I've only seen them give veggies once, and that was one of those "workshop" days when kids come in and shout and roughly handle the animals. They also have wheels- for the pigs. I've also emailed them before, asking where they got their animals from, and they said they got them from breeders around the country, but I can't find the reply in my inbox at the moment. Sorry for the long post!