Rescuing from pet shops....

[CavyKind]

Is it just me, surely not....

I am sick and tired of people posting on various boards, patting themselves on their own back as they post in a self righteous way about the most recent guinea pig they have "rescued"...read... bought from their local pet shop.

Point out to them the implications of their purchase (the probable breeding mill/farm/backyard breeding) and it transpires that you are the bad so and so for being so mean and nasty. The people who make up all the excuses why the just had to buy the guinea pig, sicken me more than people who buy without trying to justify themselves.

Whe will people who call themselves animal lover realise that they are part of the cycle of abuse?

Barbara

 

[VoodooJoint]

People like to live in ignorant bliss. They wanted the animal and they buy it. They don't care, or want to hear, about the suffering they are causeing. They convince themselves that it doesn't really exist because they refuse to see it.

The sad fact is that there are many MANY people you will never be able to get through to. They don't want reality to burst their bubble and will do all they can to shut you down. They are particularly pleased if they can call you the cruel one because it helps them justify themselves.

It's sickening and heartbeaking but in general people are irrational, selfish creatures.

 

[daftscotslass]

When I've piped up in various places to say just that Barbara I've been called heartless, ignorant (!) and a variety of other colourful things. I think that everyone who buys animals from a pet shop should be MADE to volunteer at a rescue to see exactly what they are contributing to and look in the faces of the animals who have been denied homes. Perhaps then they might change their mind. Unlikely.

 

[naturestee]

I just wanted to share something a friend told me. He works at the local shelter. There's a big campaign here in Sheboygan to shut down an extremely disgusting pet store. Unfortunately, people who know about it sometimes go in and "rescue" the animals. Meaning they give money to the store owners, which means they can get more animals and stay in business longer...

The other day, one of these "rescuers" purchased ten cockatiels from the store and brought them directly to the shelter! This person acted like she was doing a good thing, and yet the shelter didn't even have cages to put them in, food to feed them, etc. Fortunately there is a small bird rescue in town and they were able to squeeze these birds in somehow even though they were already over capacity. But they didn't have quarantine space any more and I hope that nothing contagious was brought in.

It drives me crazy!

 

[Ly&Pigs]

The problem is there is no such thing as "rescuing" from a pet store. When you go in to the petstore and give them money for the animal it's considered purchasing, not rescuing. People think they may be rescuing but they are only opening up the space for the petstore to bring in more "stock".

It seems like some rescuers aren't really rescuers. They aren't seeing the big picture behind what they are doing. The lady who bought the cockatiels only opened up room at the petstore for them to bring in more cockatiels. Is she going to go and buy the next batch of birds they bring in as stock in the store?

 

[MCR_Rox]

I posted on a hermit crab forum that isn't so pro rescue.

I posted this:

PITTY BUYS- Pitty buys are one of the most horrible things I have ever heard of. Sure, the hermt crabs you find there are cute, helpless, hurt, etc., but if you really think about it, there will be other hermit crabs that come beaches that will be hurt from being shipped across the country, and in terrible stress when all of the hermit crabs are bought out of the pet store. Do you support this? If you don't, you shouldn't buy pitty buys.

Sure, it's aimed at a hermit crab forum, but is meant to have the same effect,

 

[this_lil_piggy]

My new personal favorite is people lately pulling out the "you have gotten so wrapped up in animal rights that you don't know how to treat people anymore".
I've seen it said several times lately and it makes me want to scream!
Ok, so I admit we can get a little pushy too quickly sometimes... but, on the other hand I still don't understand why people join this type of website and advertise that they "rescued" from a petstore. Does ANYONE read the faq's, policies, guidelines, rules, or the numerous posts that are titled "NEWBIE READ ME!" anymore? I don't know how anyone could join and spend 2 minutes here, and not know the forum is pro-rescue.

Besides... AS IF humans are entitled to more love, care, and respect than animals?!!
Kids and domesticated animals REQUIRE my love, and care.

 

[naturestee]

It seems like some rescuers aren't really rescuers. They aren't seeing the big picture behind what they are doing. The lady who bought the cockatiels only opened up room at the petstore for them to bring in more cockatiels. Is she going to go and buy the next batch of birds they bring in as stock in the store?

Exactly! The issues with this whole situation are
1. Allowing the pet store to get more animals to replace the ones bought, meaning more animals will get abused.
2. Giving money to the pet store, therefore helping it to stay open more and continue it's horrid practices (for crying out loud, you can smell the animal feces as soon as you open the door!).
3. Expecting an already full, cash-strapped shelter to take care of the irresponsibly purchased animals which require special care and housing the shelter was not able to provide. If the bird rescue hadn't taken them in, they probably would have been euthanized. What were they going to keep the birds in, a cardboard box?

 

[MilwCavyMom]

I just wanted to share something a friend told me. He works at the local shelter. There's a big campaign here in Sheboygan to shut down an extremely disgusting pet store. Unfortunately, people who know about it sometimes go in and "rescue" the animals. Meaning they give money to the store owners, which means they can get more animals and stay in business longer...

What is the pet store and what are they trying to do to stop them? I haven't heard anything about this.

 

[melvyn]

hi i got mine from a rescue center and am proud of it, i gave an unwanted guniea pig a home thankyou

 

[naturestee]

It's Noah's Ark Pet Store, on 8th St. in Sheboygan. I don't know if there's a specific org organizing it, maybe the EWSPCA? Their website hasn't worked for a while. A lot of it is word of mouth, ads in the pets section of the classified ads (Noah's Ark advertises it's puppies there), bumper stickers (I need to find out who made those- I want one!), and a general boycott. Essentially the same stuff as was done last year to stop Pet Supply Outlet from selling puppies, which worked much faster. I've heard rumors about Noah's Ark closing, but apparently that's not true. There are probably letters sent to the paper too, but I don't read it so I can't be sure.

I suppose "big campaign" probably means something different in Sheboygan than in Milwaukee. For all I know, this isn't even organized. But lots of people know about it.

 

[Slave to the Wheek]

I'd like to add that there are a few smaller stores who DO adoptions only and don't sell pets. Only a handful I realize, but they are out there. They are the stores we need to support and advertise amongst ourselves. There are several in the SF Bay area who are still fighting the mega-stores and they deserve every stinking penny we can give them. These folks will rail you if you even ASK them if they have any animals for sale and will give you an earful why they DON'T carry them.

What really irks me, is that PetStupid/PetNo actually lie directly to people that their animals for sale are "adoptions". I've had it done to my own face. I had to argue with the clerk that he does not such thing and absolutely does NOT adopt out guinea pigs!!!

The average person would never believe that the store outright lies to people about it. I got into a very intense discussion with a dude at a new Petno in Serramonte shopping area that tried to tell me that they had guinea pigs for "adoption".

Let's just say he didn't see that one coming...maybe next time he will be more careful in his wording to people asking questions.

...and my all-time favorite is when they put the "think adoption first" stickers right onto the cages of the guinea pigs that they have for SALE.

ARGGH!

I can only make it into these stores once every couple of months due to the amount of rage that hits me when I go in one of these places for a "stake-out".

 

[DaCourt]

Where I live, we had a Petco and a Petsmart. THank goodness...Centinela moved in. I was so happy and told everyone to go there. They do not sell animals at all and will only work with verified rescues.

Then guess what happened? A Pet City moved in. Now they don't sell pigs, but they do sell cats and dogs at outrageous prices. And these stupid people pay major buckc for a Cock-a-poo-lab-a-snauzer. Hello? If you wanted a mutt you could have gone to the pound.

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Really? The Pet City stores I have been to have rabbits and guinea pigs - usually in the same tanks

 

[Ly&Pigs]

After reading another thread today where someone stated they rescued pigs from a breeder who is also a rescuer (which is an oxymoron in itself), I wanted to add to this thread that I don't believe that a person can "rescue" pigs from breeders either.

 

[naturestee]

Well, there's some news on my local hell hole. Apparently the reason this has been allowed to go on for so long was because Sheboygan did not have animal welfare laws. So they pushed some through quickly with lots of support from the mayor, and appointed several police officers as humane officers and gave them extra training. BTW, one of these officers is married to someone who works at the shelter and is a regular volunteer so it sounds like they choose good officers. Noah's Ark got it's first inspection this week, and the officer found cages of breeder rats in tiny cages in the very back of the store room. They were crowded, covered with feces (cages probably hadn't been cleaned for months), no water and almost no food, and being constantly bred. The store was given a fine and was given until this morning to clean the cages and separate and medicate the rats, or they would be confiscated and given to the shelter. I haven't talked to my friend yet so I don't know if the shelter got the rats or not, but they were preparing cages for them.

The officers will be inspecting the store at least every two weeks now.

Also, Noah's Ark supposedly put up a "For Sale" sign after it got the fine, so hopefully now that the owner realizes that there are monetary consequences he'll just give the whole thing up.

 

[kristinlove]

Alot of people buy from petstores because there aren't any guinea pig rescues near where they live. I bought my guinea pig from a petstore, but that was before realizing everything that had been said on these boards. I will never again buy from a petstore. BUT, there aren't really any places around here where I can adopt. Its a hard situation, and a lot of people are stuck in it.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Alot of people buy from petstores because there aren't any guinea pig rescues near where they live.

I don't think that's an excuse really. If there are no shelters or rescues, one can still look for piggies on petfinder or craigslist or even in their local newspapers before even considering buying a pig at the petstore or breeder. I also believe that most people who are adamant about getting pigs from rescues or shelters are willing to drive for a couple hours if need be to do an adoption.

 

[daftscotslass]

Alot of people buy from petstores because there aren't any guinea pig rescues near where they live. I bought my guinea pig from a petstore, but that was before realizing everything that had been said on these boards. I will never again buy from a petstore. BUT, there aren't really any places around here where I can adopt. Its a hard situation, and a lot of people are stuck in it.

I used to think this too. If this is the case then you just aren't looking hard enough. When I was looking for a hamster in a local shelter (now closed) I found a guinea pig and home she came. I started doing a search online and found that the only dedicated guinea pig rescue in Scotland is 25 minutes from me - I now dedicate as much free time as possible to helping out there.

I've also travelled 130 miles in a round trip just to get a pig that I had seen up for adoption online.

 

[this_lil_piggy]

Alot of people buy from petstores because there aren't any guinea pig rescues near where they live. I bought my guinea pig from a petstore, but that was before realizing everything that had been said on these boards. I will never again buy from a petstore. BUT, there aren't really any places around here where I can adopt. Its a hard situation, and a lot of people are stuck in it.

I have learned where there is a will, there is a way. I didn't know guinea pigs could even be adopted, until after I purchased two from a Petco in Memphis. Since then I have found out that our area is very hard to find adoptables, you are correct. There are no rescues or shelters, atleast in the Memphis vicinity. I have also found though, that freecycle and craigslist in this area often has them listed in need of homes. I would up adopting a whole herd of babies in October from a lady in Jonesboro, and we met in West Memphis.
With a little patience and maybe a little digging, adoptable guinea pigs can be found anywhere in this country that has a petco, or petsmart within 100 miles of them.

I will never understand why people are willing to drive 100 miles to a petco, or 100 miles to a breeder, but when it comes to driving 100 miles to adopt the excuses start flowing. So aggrivating.
(not directing those comments to you folks btw, just towards people who refuse to adopt in general)