Pet Stores Please tell me this is not happening

[animalmadlover]

I found this in an old post Don't watch if your sensitive, I couldn't watch all of it. https://www.petsmartcruelty.com/
This is sick, disgusting, there are no names for how cruel this is. Please tell me that something was done about this. Enlighten me!

I actually, literally had a nasty stomachache ache after watching only part of it!>(

 

[Kiyisha]

I think I'm going to vomit.

 

[LoveMyHerd]

I couldn't finish watching it.

 

[animalmadlover]

I want to do something about this! Heres a "how you can help" page: https://www.petsmartcruelty.com/what_you_can_do.asp
If everyone on this forum and elsewhere wrote letters everyday, there'd be a lot of pressure going on!

Unless the problem is already solved. Please somebody~ tell me that this is old news!

 

[sierralj97]

I lost it at the hamsters.
I just...how can people do such things?!

 

[AnnikasMommy]

After reading your comments I'll not watch the video but I will def write letters!

 

[4cavies]

Oh my God! They were neutering a rabbit themselves on some dirty work bench then cleaning the area with a LYSOL WIPE?? What in the world???

 

[tobyandheidi]

And the fact that they were force-breeding.. Gosh. It made me want to vomit, then punch the owners silly and throw them in jail.

 

[Guineadog]

Hi watched the whehole video but cried. Also at the hamster part. He stomped.on the hamster! Everything else make me cry too. I just...I want the people doing that be in prision forever. Who would even work in such a place!!!! Im so upset right now

 

[ClemmyOddieIndy]

Yes, Rainbow is a horrible place. No, nothing has been done. Rainbow still exists, and it is where PetSmart gets their animals. Once the animals get to PetSmart they are treated better, but the cycle is supported by their purchase.

 

[bpatters]

Yes, it still happens. And everyone who buys a pet store pig from one of the big pet stores supports the practice.

 

[ciaraelise]

I watched and am so nauseous now.

These poor innocent animals. How is this able to happen . . .

 

[bpatters]

These poor innocent animals. How is this able to happen . . .

It happens because people buy animals at pet stores. They tell themselves they just couldn't leave the poor pig there, or that their child wants one, or they don't want to wait on a shelter or a rescue, or any of the other reasons that let them ignore that they're participating in such treatment of animals. They'll say they know it's bad, but they wanted the animal anyway, so they got it.

 

[poop_patrol]

This happens because:

1. At some level of company management, far removed from the animals, the animals are just inventory...a line on a spreadsheet whose importance is tied to profit. The people who "call the shots" at these large companies never come into contact with the animals so they are removed from the suffering of the animals. Many companies talk a good game when it comes to animal care (it's good PR anyway). And some companies even do a decent job of caring for the animals they are selling. But consider that even if a store properly cares for the animals it sells, it has little or no idea what condition the animals are kept in at the breeders. How many sows are kept in too small cages, back-bred until they can no longer support a litter just so the stores can have fresh "inventory". How many breeder pigs and babies do you think receive any kind of vet care? And this is just the suffering that takes place BEFORE the pigs get to the store. I don't know a single pet store that screens their buyers to make sure they can provide adequate care for the purchased "inventory". So even the best possible store supports the suffering of animals at breeders and with ill-prepared owners.

2. Hiring qualified, caring individuals in the store is not aligned with the goal of the store...to turn a profit. Yes, there are many many good, compassionate animal lovers who work at these stores and some even do a damned good job caring for the animals. If you are one of these, then I thank you. There are also many many careless, poorly trained, or downright cruel employees working at pet stores. The fact that good, caring, and competent people are sometimes hired, is in most cases just a happy accident. How many stores provide zero, inadequate, or downright incorrect training in the care of their animals? Compassion for animals is not one of the qualifications most pet stores are looking for when hiring their employees.

Sorry for the rant and for getting all melodramatic. And I know I'm preaching to the choir here at this forum. But I've seen all these videos before and they do really tug at your heart-strings. There's been too many threads and stories about how folks just had to "rescue" the pet that they saw in the pet store. Now, many people don't have this information and innocently make the mistake of purchasing from the store. But if you've read this thread then consider yourself informed. If you decide not to purchase your next pet from the store or if you can convince a friend not to do so, then we have truly rescued an animal somewhere.

</rant off>

 

[emcronc]

It happens because people buy animals at pet stores. They tell themselves they just couldn't leave the poor pig there, or that their child wants one, or they don't want to wait on a shelter or a rescue, or any of the other reasons that let them ignore that they're participating in such treatment of animals. They'll say they know it's bad, but they wanted the animal anyway, so they got it.

I'll speak only for myself, but when I purchased two pet store pigs recently, I honestly and truly had no idea about any of this. Perhaps that's just naive because I really had never stopped to ask myself where the pigs come from, etc. I wish I had known what I know now and I can assure you that I wouldn't have supported them by buying from them. I love my girls and don't regret having them, but in the future, I'll surely do things differently.

 

[poop_patrol]

I'll speak only for myself, but when I purchased two pet store pigs recently, I honestly and truly had no idea about any of this. Perhaps that's just naive because I really had never stopped to ask myself where the pigs come from, etc. I wish I had known what I know now and I can assure you that I wouldn't have supported them by buying from them. I love my girls and don't regret having them, but in the future, I'll surely do things differently.

Don't feel bad! Enjoy your pets! Tons of people have gone the same route. What counts is how you act after you've been informed.

 

[mufasa]

@emcronc you're not the only one here to have had that happen. I got Mufasa at a pet store, and he was one of those "sick pet store pig" statistics that you read about. Poor little guy lasted barely two weeks. The important thing is coming here and finding out the truth. I found this site shortly after buying Mufasa, and now I'm the owner of two happy, healthy adopted piggy girls. It still makes me angry to look at photos of Mufasa and think about the life he was cheated out of because of a mill and a pet store's greed. At least he was very well loved while he was here, and his life wasn't in vain because it caused me to become educated and rescue two girls.

 

[lunarminx]

You've heard of puppy mills and now you have small animal mills. The animals bred are so mistreated,I'd rather see them put down humanely. And sadly most of the pets sold go to substandard care.

 

[ClemmyOddieIndy]

This happens because:

1. At some level of company management, far removed from the animals, the animals are just inventory...a line on a spreadsheet whose importance is tied to profit. The people who "call the shots" at these large companies never come into contact with the animals so they are removed from the suffering of the animals. Many companies talk a good game when it comes to animal care (it's good PR anyway). And some companies even do a decent job of caring for the animals they are selling. But consider that even if a store properly cares for the animals it sells, it has little or no idea what condition the animals are kept in at the breeders. How many sows are kept in too small cages, back-bred until they can no longer support a litter just so the stores can have fresh "inventory". How many breeder pigs and babies do you think receive any kind of vet care? And this is just the suffering that takes place BEFORE the pigs get to the store. I don't know a single pet store that screens their buyers to make sure they can provide adequate care for the purchased "inventory". So even the best possible store supports the suffering of animals at breeders and with ill-prepared owners.

2. Hiring qualified, caring individuals in the store is not aligned with the goal of the store...to turn a profit. Yes, there are many many good, compassionate animal lovers who work at these stores and some even do a damned good job caring for the animals. If you are one of these, then I thank you. There are also many many careless, poorly trained, or downright cruel employees working at pet stores. The fact that good, caring, and competent people are sometimes hired, is in most cases just a happy accident. How many stores provide zero, inadequate, or downright incorrect training in the care of their animals? Compassion for animals is not one of the qualifications most pet stores are looking for when hiring their employees.

Sorry for the rant and for getting all melodramatic. And I know I'm preaching to the choir here at this forum. But I've seen all these videos before and they do really tug at your heart-strings. There's been too many threads and stories about how folks just had to "rescue" the pet that they saw in the pet store. Now, many people don't have this information and innocently make the mistake of purchasing from the store. But if you've read this thread then consider yourself informed. If you decide not to purchase your next pet from the store or if you can convince a friend not to do so, then we have truly rescued an animal somewhere.

</rant off>

The video is not of stores, it is of Rainbow Exotics which is the supplier for PetSmart. You can't extrapolate that to the quality of life these animals experience at the store. Having worked at PetSmart for 3 years, I can say every person I worked with loved animals. That is why they get a job at the store, and not a single person liked Rainbow. I know of multiple complaints by stores across the country about Rainbow, and I believe there was even a period of time where PetSmart almost severed ties with Rainbow over some of this, and the outrage/frustration of employees was one of those reasons. I remember watching a manager break down sobbing after an entire shipment of guinea pigs came to us that were extremely ill (like dying) and she turned them away. They were already dealing with too many sick animals from there.

The reason this happens is because people buy guinea pigs from PetSmart at a ridiculous rate. In the words of one of my coworkers "We sold the $%*# outta them". We ran out of guinea pigs constantly, because of how many pigs we would sell. The town I live in has 3 PetSmarts and 3 PetCo's, not to mention all the mom and pop local pet stores. Rainbow is the result of supply and demand. PetSmart can not keep up with demand unless they buy from a large mill.

Guinea pigs are viewed as products and inventory by PetSmart, however, PetSmart is very strict on the care of the animals. When you are hire you sign a contract that says you WILL get any sick animal emergency attention at any cost. The only time an animal is allowed to be put down is if the vet believes it is the most humane option, and the animal is unsaveable. I think that does show that the company has a moral compass about animal care, I think where it's faltering is that the company serves it's stakeholders, and only it's stakeholders (shareholders, customers and employees). That is how most companies operate, and it can lead to choices that seem ethical from a business perspective, but unethical from the outside. Supplying a high in demand product, that you can up-sell other things with just makes sense from a business perspective. The only way we will ever see a stop to this is if people stop buying guinea pigs. That is it period.

 

[mufasa]

While the video is of the supplier and is not indicative of in-store care, Petsmart has the option to sever ties with Rainbow at any time. Can't keep up the demand? Then stop selling guinea pigs altogether. Just as, "But he looked miserable and I wanted to save one" is no excuse for anyone here to buy a pig from a store, "We have to buy from that awful place to have enough to sell" is no excuse for pet stores to keep supporting the breeding mill misery.

The people at my local Petco and Petsmart all seem to care about animals, and I know the front line employees have no say. I do have one burr in my britches over Petsmart vs. Petco though. Our local Petco takes in dumped piggies, hamsters, etc. and adopts them out (minimal fee goes to charity fund, not to store, and you get all the equipment the animal was dumped with...it's how I got Quinn). None of the Petsmarts here do the same. I know they give the old "we can't mix adoption animals with sale animals" line, yet somehow Petco manages to do it. They just maintain a separate area for the adoption pets. While I can't be totally in favor of any pet store that sells any live animals at all, that makes them slightly better in my eyes.