Pet stores

[sciencenerd]

Well, I don't know if this is really a 'debate' or just a rant. Feel free to move if need be.

Now, I have my issues with petstores. I'm not going to rehash the old "problems with spontaneous pet purchases", "poor animal care", "uneducated employees", etc. That goes without saying for me. But I went into a Petland pet store the other day, just to see what kind of products they had...I've just moved to a new area and was exploring the neighborhood.

Man was I appalled. Not only do they sell puppies, kittens and a plethora of other pets...but alot of the cages are open-air allowing anyone and their mother to pick up a hamster or whatever and play with it. I mean, seriously? How is that good for the animals??

Then I explored the fish section. Besides the dead ones abound, they had those stupid genetically modified tetra things that are day glow. And if that wasn't bad enough, they had some sort of 'decorative' mollies which were weird fish with florescent markings on their bodies shaped like kitsch symbols like peace signs and happy faces. Has anyone ever seen that before? I didn't even bother to ask how or why they were sold that way.

Finally, just to put icing on the cake, I saw the birds. The poor cramped stressed out birds. No, I'm not talking about the parrots, I'm not even going to get started on my opinions about them. But in one large tank like container they had probably over 40 birds cramped inside...mostly finches, with two larger birds that stuck out like a sore thumb. One was a poor red-capped cardinal who was missing an eye, and plucking out his back feathers. The other was a yellow-headed blackbird with a deformed bill.

Now, first of all, yellow-headed blackbirds are native to western US and as far as I know its illegal to carry that species in the first place (see federal Migratory Bird Act). I'm am in contact with the local USDA office to see who I need to talk to about filing a report. However, I guess they can't do anything unless the store sells exotics, which the only ones I saw were the chins......I'm waiting to hear back about that. But then the guy tells me that both of those birds came from the breeder in california like that, and that they've been in the store for over a year because, and I quote, "The right loving owner hasn't found them yet". I gave him the 'are you freaking kidding me look' and walked away.

I don't support buying pets in pet store, at the very least don't give them the satisfaction of making a profit off of their egregious activities. But man I feel bad for those poor little birds. I've never had a pet bird before, I'm a fuzzy rodent kinda gal myself, but I had to seriously stop myself from not throwing a fit and trying to get them to give them to me to take care of. I mean, it's not like I can take those poor birds out of their misery.... they are far from domesticated species. But at least they wouldn't be in that stuffed little cage and have someone to look after them. At least the cardinal anyway, the blackbird can stay there for evidence as to why that place deserves a serious penalty.

Anyway, that's my rant for the day. I still haven't given up and gone to pick up that bird. But I might cave soon....

 

[Euphoric]

Those fish are tattooed. Yes, tattooed.

I try my HARDEST not to buy from petstores (We only have Petco and Petsmart over here) and buy online, yes its more expensive, but its worth it.

If you buy supplies, your just as guilty as buing an animal!

However, I have to say, I know of no hamster/parakeet/fish breeders where I could purchase one from..so usually if I do want one, I have to go to a petstore (but I usually go to a ma and poop place)

 

[sciencenerd]

Those fish are tattooed. Yes, tattooed.

I try my HARDEST not to buy from petstores (We only have Petco and Petsmart over here) and buy online, yes its more expensive, but its worth it.

If you buy supplies, your just as guilty as buing an animal!

However, I have to say, I know of no hamster/parakeet/fish breeders where I could purchase one from..so usually if I do want one, I have to go to a petstore (but I usually go to a ma and poop place)

Tattooed? That is just sad and insane. It's amazing what people will do for a buck. All the amazing beautiful fish out there and people want a fish with a tattoo of a smiley face.

I try to buy items from pet stores that only sell supplies. Unfortunately, sometimes its hard in those places to find the small animal items you want.

Also, you said ma and poop, which made me laugh out loud.

 

[minrex]

First, are you SURE it was a yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) and not a yellow-hooded blackbird (Chrysomus icterocephalus)? Though both species look similar, there IS a difference, and yellow-hooded blackbirds are not native to the US and can be sold and kept in captivity here.

Also, while I agree that most of the big chain pet stores aren't great (I was once in a PetCo and saw one of their geckos running around loose on the floor -- when I told an employee about it, they acted like I was bothering them and they didn't even try to catch it), we also have a couple of pet stores here in town that I don't hesitate to patronize. They take great care of their animals and they are very knowledgeable about all the species they carry (mostly pocket pets and small birds). Some pet stores do suck and it's up to the consumer to not patronize those stores.

 

[Nervousings]

how on earth is it possible to tattoo a fish, let alone get away with it? im so bothered.

 

[Vixey]

My view is different, I feel so sorry for animals in pet stores I buy them to give them a good home/life. I don't think the animal should continue to suffer to 'make a point' towards the petstore. My petstore keeps kittens in tiny cages, hardly any ventilation, and usually overcrowded...I have gotten 2 of my cats there. AND my last one was so flea infested(they do flea baths, so she had none at the time but then eggs hatched). She has such a spoiled life now. xD Even my chinchilla is just a petstore chin, but in his situation his owner didn't want him anymore and gave him to a petstore to sell.

 

[aznmexaggie]

I used to work at an independent petstore and all of the employees were very experienced with all the animals. We all could explain the nitrogen cycle to our customers, the dietary needs of a canine or the benefits of using one product over another. I think this is one thing that is lacking in the large chain pet stores... most of the employees have little to no experience with animals and are just there because... well, it's a job.

However, if you purchase an animal at a pet store, you are just making room for them to bring another one in. If we sold our parakeets, we would just order more. If someone bought one of our overpriced bearded dragons, we'd get another one in. To the store owner, that is merchandise that is moving, and the "shelf" needs to be re-stocked. We took very good care of all our animals, cleaning daily, providing enrichment in the cages, proper diets, adequate ventilation, etc. but not every petstore does as well with its animals. Just keep that in mind if you are choosing to "rescue" an animal from a petstore which takes poor care of its animals, your purchase is giving them money and incentive to bring another one in and give it the same type of poor care.

 

[Olallie]

Oh I've been to one of those petland stores. It gave me the willies. Luckily the chins were in a glass tank. (Roll eyes) and no one was allowed to touch them. But the poor hamsters, i saw this girl grab one and try to make it run on its wheel. I was like O.O where the f is that girls mother???? Poor little animals, they had a big selection of fish, and a sting ray.

 

[blondeangel]

i totally dislike petland. i mostly dislike how they are a huge huge supporter of puppymills and then try to deny it to each and every customer who ask.

i do work for petco. and am super super animal-strict in my store. and it helps that i'm a manager so I get the whatever-I-say-goes rule. I know lots of people dislike petco - but if each store actually hired caring people (key) and followed animal care as outlined the store's wouldn't be so bad off. thankfully my store is one of those that care so things I hear about people finding in other store's are not the norm in my store. we actually do retarded things like chase loose parakeets around the store like idiots & completely destroy the office looking for the mouse that escaped ran into it. i set standards in my store to the best of my ability, and then teach them to the staff. simple things like: we don't sell a pair of guinea pigs to go into a cage less then 40x21x20 or we try to discourage anyone other then hamster/mice/gerbil owners from buying the rollyballs as most larger animals can not properly move in them or their spine is not bent to bend in that style.

ps. if the "glowing tetras" you saw were actually http://www.glofish.com - they are genetically mutated fish that actually breed this way now. but if they were actually tetras - then they were injected with dye to produce that color. just an fyi. get that all the time from people who think we sell dyed fish, which petco does not.

 

[Ash]

Yes, because genetically altering the animal in a lab for sale makes it OK. I'm sorry, fish are beautiful enough on their own, why do we need to mess with them?

 

[blondeangel]

it was done over a decade ago for research on detecting pollution in our waterways. and the fish became admired by the public. and now we have what is known as glofish for sale - which are now naturally born with that color-opposed to dye-injected fish.

i can also say that something like back decades ago creating new chinchilla colors (or any animal with various colors in the species) by somewhat "playing" with genetics can somewhat compare. today we see beige, violet and white chinchillas as common colors but they were at one point a type of genetic mutation change from the standard gray color. kinda the same thing.

 

[RDZCRanch]

it was done over a decade ago for research on detecting pollution in our waterways. and the fish became admired by the public. and now we have what is known as glofish for sale - which are now naturally born with that color-opposed to dye-injected fish.

i can also say that something like back decades ago creating new chinchilla colors (or any animal with various colors in the species) by somewhat "playing" with genetics can somewhat compare. today we see beige, violet and white chinchillas as common colors but they were at one point a type of genetic mutation change from the standard gray color. kinda the same thing.

There's a huge difference between "genetically altered" and a "natural mutation". Chinchilla colors came about from a natural mutation. I don't know much about these glofish but it sounds more like experimentation altered their pigment which was then passed on...not a natural mutation.

I agree with Sumiko completely. I worked at PetSmart for a few months and hated it. I was told out PetSmart was one of the highest rated in the nation. The bird cages were rarely completely cleaned and if it was cleaned the chemicals for cleaning were always sprayed carelessly near, on or around the birds. The hamsters were never handled...it was rare for anyone to notice a health issue in the animals until it was basically too late. They had a policy of "in-treatment" before being seen by a vet. It was crap and I quit because they accused me of killing an animal that I spent HOURS with on my shifts hand feeding him and trying to get him to survive. He ended up dying because he had liver failure because he was a WILD CAUGHT reptile. Bad PetSmart!

 

[alli713]

There's a huge difference between "genetically altered" and a "natural mutation". Chinchilla colors came about from a natural mutation. I don't know much about these glofish but it sounds more like experimentation altered their pigment which was then passed on...not a natural mutation.

However, it's not like the Glofish are harmed. The original fish were genetically modified as embryos. The scientists inserted various genes from other species (coral, jellyfish etc) into the zebrafish's genome. So now all the Glofish just naturally have that gene that has them look fluorescent.

I find it slightly redeeming that they were originally made for a good purpose, not just for a wow factor. However many people these days will do anything for money so now they've become popular as pets.

There's pros and cons to it all which would be a whole new thread.

 

[Ash]

It's still not the same type of comparison, and is like comparing apples to oranges. The fish were made in a lab, whereas chinchillas were flukes that popped up.

And I'm trying to figure out how these fish are supposed to detect pollution if they can't be released into the waters because they will die (tropical fish, wrong sort of habitat). That was stated on their own website.

 

[Bethany]

And I'm trying to figure out how these fish are supposed to detect pollution if they can't be released into the waters because they will die (tropical fish, wrong sort of habitat). That was stated on their own website.

They are zebra danios that are very hearty they are used to initially stock your tank with good bacteria because they are hard to kill. Last year we had an ice storm the power was off for 12 days and all my tropical fish except my danios and 2 black neons died.

 

[alli713]

It's still not the same type of comparison, and is like comparing apples to oranges. The fish were made in a lab, whereas chinchillas were flukes that popped up.

And I'm trying to figure out how these fish are supposed to detect pollution if they can't be released into the waters because they will die (tropical fish, wrong sort of habitat). That was stated on their own website.

Yeah, I understand that its comparing two different types of mutations. I was just saying that it wasn't harming the fish.

As far as putting them in the natural water, the type of zebrafish are native to India, so they would work for warmer water climates. I'm sure if they wanted to try something like that for colder water they'd do it on a native species from a colder climate.

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

It was crap and I quit because they accused me of killing an animal that I spent HOURS with on my shifts hand feeding him and trying to get him to survive. He ended up dying because he had liver failure because he was a WILD CAUGHT reptile. Bad PetSmart!

i got an russian tortiose from petsmart. they said it was still a baby and they just got them in last month. when i took it home and researched how big it will get turns out it was fully grown. how could they have had it for only a month and it be fully grown? they take years to get that big. im pretty sure it was wild caught. they also said it was a girl because i said i wanted a girl, i researched and it turns out it was a boy.

 

[JohnnysMaverick09]

En

There are people out there who work at the big box pet stores who do care, and do our best to take care of the animals.

I've worked at PetSmart for 2 years now, and I couldn't tell you how many times I've cried over an animal passing away, simply because I did everything in my power to help but my best wasn't enough. I'm not afraid to tell customers no, if I don't think the animal(s) would be a good fit for them. I am appalled by the state of some of the animals that come in, and how the company expects me to sell them.

It is reasons like this, that I've spent countless hours of free time researching the animals that we sell, simply so I can know how to take care of them and so I can educate the masses.

 

[ShannonLee]

Our PETCO here will intentionally not hire individuals with experience with pets. They want people they can teach their care policies, whether they are right or wrong. Many of them don't know about cycling fishtanks, or anything about chinchillas temperature requirements or really anything beyond what PETCO wants them to know. I was disappointed when one of the staff saw the chin food I picked up (emergency), and she began telling me about her squirrels. Wild ones she had caught and put in a cage. Ugh.

 

[JohnnysMaverick09]

Our PETCO here will intentionally not hire individuals with experience with pets. They want people they can teach their care policies, whether they are right or wrong. Many of them don't know about cycling fishtanks, or anything about chinchillas temperature requirements or really anything beyond what PETCO wants them to know. I was disappointed when one of the staff saw the chin food I picked up (emergency), and she began telling me about her squirrels. Wild ones she had caught and put in a cage. Ugh.

That's just sad. Very very sad.