Your Thoughts on Impulse Buying

[Dr Doughnut]

Whenever I walk into a petstore, I occasionally (sp?) see a little kid stare at the hamsters. Then I see them buy 2, most likely in the same cage. I don't like this at all. I also see alot of little kids buying pets, and I just know they dont have a single clue on taking care of them.

I hate it when I find people impluse buying. It is just not right.

Your thoughts on impluse buying, especialy for kids?

 

[Matt & Guins]

I dislike the idea of any animals being sold at petshops - as MANY of them are soley impulse buys.

So many times you walk by and see people purchasing a puppy or kitten - and just wonder how many of these people have properly researched it first and have all the equipment (and finances) needed to care for such an animal.

I dont like the thought of kids of any age purchasing animals without parental concent (and hopefully parents can be there with the $ to help care for also).

Matt

 

[nonamian_girl]

I would think most stores have policies that you have to be over the certain age to buy an animal? But of course you never know.

 

[extensiblecow]

No matter how innocent the animals are in the pet shops, I cringe every time I see a pet being bought and carried away - God only knows if it'll end up with RSPCA, on the streets, or abandoned ...

Not to generalised, some owners treat their pets well after they bought them from the pet shop; there are many more homeless pets floating about looking for a home, someone to love, and be loved.

I rather animals not domesticate for human's companion. But when they are, I feel that we have to be responsible to ensure that they live with the same right as humans have to walk on this planet.

I prefer adoption, if not nature.

 

[Lissa]

The petshops around here have age policies for mice and rats but not for other animals.

I guess because mice and rats are relatively inexpensive and easily affordable for children.

I hate seeing pets in the windows of shops (I hate seeing pets in shops, full stop).
Large shopping centres with pet shops are impulse buying heaven.
Because shopping centres bring in all different types of people who are shopping for all different types of items who happen to be walking around with a lot of money, it's a recipe for disaster in an the eyes of any one who knows better than to buy from petshops. It's brilliant for the petshop manager. This is why the put cuties in the window. Do you think if they were to have a display of pet accessories or pet food in the window that it would draw the attention of so many people? Probabaly not.

 

[Piglet]

When I was about 7, I was dead set on the idea of getting hamsters so I dragged my mum into the petstore. Thankfully, she contravened just in time and we didn't fall into the trap of buying the whole shabang - cedar bedding, tiny cage, cheapest equipment basically. I too HATE when kids crowd around the guinea pig pen and screech to their mums ' I WANT ONE!!!!'. Eurgh, that's lame. Hopefully their parents prevent them from going too far.

 

[C&K]

I don't think anyone here is going to agree with impuse buying. 99% Are not going to agree with any sort of "buying".

An impulse buy is not buying everything you need and doing your research to take care of the pet properly. Often it means picking the cheapest cage set up at the store, crappy food, or even just the pet and throwing it into a rubbermaid container when you get home!

So, with an impulse buy, you have an animal in your arms, that you don't know how to take care of, have no idea how long it will live for (5-7 years for guinea pigs and rabbits is not uncommon) don't have a proper set up for, and have not really given serious though to how much time you will have for the pet, or how you will feel about cleaning out poo from the cage 6 months / a year down the road.

With a child involved, it is even worse, because the animal is usually treated as a new toy, as what happens to almost all toys, once they are no longer new they get ignored for the new shiney ones, leaving a pig sitting in a cage overdue for a cleaning, often not being fed regularly, lonely, (because the impulse purchaser rarely purchases two or more) and with the next big clean up on moms part, or next family vacation that is planned, the pig is boxed up and dumped at the local shelter!

Yup, impulse shopping sucks! Especially when kids are involved. The animals almost always end up dead from improper care, or at the very least, neglected and dumped!

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

I hate to admit, I was an impulse buyer. I knew nothing about pigs - I was 14 at the time - and relied on my mum's memories of looking after her pig and rabbit some 25-30 years ago. We researched and got crap information, and it was only around 18 months after I got Charlie did I find this site and sort things out properly. He wasn't badly looked after - it was basic and old, but it kept the poor pig going pretty healthily.

Had I known about rescues I would have rescued (all our dogs came from rescues/animals needing to be rehomed nearby). But I was 14, in a severe phobic state and we were told that I should "have a pet of my own to look after so that I had someone relying on me to look after them so that I had to pull my socks up and resume normal life".

Now I do have to admit, it worked in the long run. I had threats that the pigs (I started out with 2 boys then ended up with just Charlie after I rehomed 1 boar due to fighting between the boys) would be rehomed if I didn't get my act together. It was only after a 2-week stint in bed (around 4 months after I got Charlie) because I was so phobic/depressed that I got fed up and really forced myself to sort myself out. It was hard but I did it. For the pig.

The advice from therapists/counsellors, now I think back, makes me mad because they could just go suggesting it to kids/young people like myself who are highly anxious etc. Parents go out, get the kid a pet "because the therapist/counsellor said so" and I would bet anything that many of those pets are "discarded" once the kid is better.

Before I got Charlie I thought guinea pigs were vicious little buggers (!) because I once heard that someone got bit by their guinea pig. I am so glad I was proved wrong.

So yes, impulse buying is wrong. You have to research before taking on animals, or else you risk just making the animals unhappy and ill as a result of simply not knowing.

 

[Dr Doughnut]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I think there should be a law not allowing young kids to buy pets.

 

[C&K]

How many young kids actually make the purchase? I have not ever run into this, usually the parents are in tow or around! Are you talking about kids under say, 15 actually buying pets without a parent nearby?

My 11 year old can't even get a sample from the free sample lady at the store without a parental unit standing by!

 

[Cavy Cuckoo]

Unfortunately that law would probably not work. The parents would get 'persuaded' to buy the pets by the children, go to the pet store and buy a pet as if it was for themselves, and bring it back home for thier kids.

We should seriously write some kind of a petition to where pet stores would only be able to sell supplies. *Sigh* if only that would work..

 

[SkinnyPiggys]

Our local SPCA has lots of hamsters, mice, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits up for adoption. If I ever see a family in a pet store that is considering buying a pet from there, I always talk to them about all of the animals up for adoption at the SPCA.

Most of the people I have talked with had no idea that the SPCA even had that type of animals available. In most cases, I am able to talk them out of buying a pet right there! I also talk with them about the proper care of these animals. Once they find out how much of a commitment that is involved, they often change their minds about buying. Of course there is always the ignorant people who just don't care and buy a pet there anyway! It never hurts to try!

 

[janetangel]

I was not aware kids could purchase pets at the petshops. I never thought about it. When we were ready to adopt any of our animals, I took my kids with me and we chose as a family who we got. But than we made the conscious decision to adopt. I was raised with that mind set and really did not consider pet shops as an option.
When my son really wanted Geckos, I looked and looked for an adoption place and checked our local shelters. I did end up taking him to Petco to buy his geckos. When I was there shopping for the Geckos, it may have looked like an impulsive buy, I do not know. I had to buy a lot of the habitat starters as well. I already had a 55 gal aquarium ready to set up and a few things like the rocks and a log to climb on. The rest I purchased there and asked a lot of questions about care even though I had a print out from the internet. I wanted more info. So, to a passer byer, I could have very well looked like one of those parents buying the geckos because me son saw them and wanted them. I do not know. So, point being, to me it is understandable to be upset about people buying pets at petshops. That really upsets me if it is an adult or child. I still have mixed feelings about getting the geckos from there. If the parent does purchase impulsively which I know happens a lot around the holidays and birthdays I would object. I just do not think everytime a parent is in there buying for their child, it is impulsive. It may be planned. I do think if the petshops are going to be ignorant enough to sell pets, than they should have a better screening process when selling them like the shelters do. I think this would help deter the impulsive purchase, kids would not be allowed to purchase without an adult present and people could be better educated about care and costs involved to have the pet in their home.

 

[Access]

Personally I am against impulse buying in general, except for low-cost items like generic (non-label) clothing, food, etc., I will always spend at least a few days researching a major item, or practically anything, before I buy it. It just isn't for me, I'd rather save my money than make an impulsive purchase in error.

As far as animals, it's not just impulse buying, I'm against _any_ buying / selling of animals, period. Impulse or not, 'buying' an animal is just wrong. Both my pigs are rescues, one abandoned, one adopted.

That said impulse shopping and the 'consumer mentality' is important to keep our robust consumer economy going, and I think it's quite a blessing not everyone shops like I do. If people want to 'impulse buy' an animal, let them buy a stuffed one or even a 'robot pet' like an Aibo or iDog.

Here is a Gupi link for all those consumers / impulse buyers out there:
http://www.drinkstuff.com/products/product.asp?ID=1845&title=Gupi

 

[clover-crystal]

I'm not sure how this comment will go down but in the United Kingdom the age law for buying animals is the age of 16.

 

[Rachy1412]

Yeah, I was going to say that you have to be 16 to buy a pet in the UK.

 

[GadgetGirl]

I have read pretty much all of the posts on impulse buying and I understand everyone's point. I'm sorry to say that my first baby, Mei, was an impulse buy. A friend of mine purchased a hamster for me and I fell in love with her right away. I named her April (guess when I got her?) and she was an albino. I had her for a couple of days when she got wet tail, so I took her back to the store and decided I wanted a guinea pig. I brought Mei home and was very happy that I had her. I was a late researcher and found that she should have a friend. I had no idea about the rescues and went back to the same store and got Joon.

Even though Mei was originally an impulse purchase, I know that there is nothing that will make me let her or Joon go because I love them and they are my babies.

I have a dog that was an impulse purchase that I got from a pet store 10 years ago. She was 7 weeks old when I got her and she's still with me today. I wish I had known more about the rescues then like I do today or I would have gotten all of my pets/friends from there.

There are people like me out there who (unfortunately) impluse buy but we love our animals and are willing to take care of them for the long haul. We may be a select few, but we are out here.

Gadgetgirl the piggie lover

 

[x0PiggyPerson0x]

There are people like me out there who (unfortunately) impluse buy but we love our animals and are willing to take care of them for the long haul. We may be a select few, but we are out here.

I'm one of these people too. Baby and her passed away sister, Piglet, were a halfway impulse buy. My sister and I saw some mice at the petstore, and we really wanted them. But our parents had us go home, we did research for a week or two (I know, not enough), and decided guinea pigs would be a better decision. Anyway, that weekend we bought the supplies, set them up at home, and then got the piggies the next weeked. But I still love both of them, even though they were an impulse buy, and even though Piglet's gone.

I am upset though, when I see a bored looking parent paying for his kid's new hamster, and the completely unventilated plastic cage, unhealthy food, and flavored chew chunks. Don't get me wrong, I'm against impulse buying now that I've seen what might happen, and seen the better way to go about getting a pet.

 

[extensiblecow]

Not many owners who do the impulse buy business, are as responsible as GadgetGirl or PiggyPerson; though the nice thing is off course to adopt since we have too many homeless animals about - but depending on the circumstance, some places are lack of animal shelter or RSPCA-type organisation, so pet shop could be the only option.

If you do a search on RSPCA's Adopt a Pet site for Guinea Pig in Australia, you'll be surprised how many turned up ! And most are 1 year olds, some even some couple of weeks older.

It's a sin that parents give into their children when they demand for a pet - animals are not toys. They are living being, they have needs and demands like us though they may not be the same.

 

[DaisyGP]

I don't agree with impluse buying of any animal in almost all cases. The only case I think it is ok is impluse adopting, rescuing, and even that is only when the owner(s) can provide proper living conditions, care, and money for the animal.

Here's an example. I just adopted a new guinea pig from a pet store. He was for free because he was dropped off there by his previous owners who didn't want him anymore. When I saw that he was for free I knew there was a high probability that a snake owner would come in there and get him as food for their snake. I've seen people do this.

Actually one time I head of someone say that they would look for ads in the newspaper that said free kittens and they would prevent to want to give the kitten a home. But they really just fed the kitten to their pet ball python. I almost vomited after hearing that.I wanted to kick that guy in the face!!!!>( >( >(

Anyways, when I saw that poor guinea pig sitting in there by himself and remembered that guy who does this with free pets, I snatched him up faster than you can say......umm.....something fast.

But I also could provide the care, cage, money, time, food, etc...
But it is only in those situations that it is ok to impluse adopt/rescue.