# Petland Horror



## wolfsnaps (Apr 27, 2007)

This is a blog I wrote on my myspace that I wanted to share with you dog lovers. Keep in mind I only lasted four days there and I saw all of these things in such a short amount of time. PLease feel free to pass this story along. I want to get the word spread. Thank you:



Don’t go to Petland...my story


So I got this job at Petland. I used to work at a pet store and so I thought this would be a good job. But, they sell puppies. Before I started working, I looked up the Petland company and was saddened to see how much negative attention they got. Surely this couldn't all be justified. So I took the job. My training consisted of one of the best sellers in the store showing me how to sell a dog. I was disturbed by how his technique was similar to selling a used car....and he stressed the importance of UPSELLING....basically doing everything possible to make the customer buy as much as possible so his commission would be hefty. Yes, they get paid commission. If you have ever gone to a Petland, did you notice how over friendly and helpful the sales people are. They want your money. Its just like buying a car from a sleazy car salesman. Only instead of a hunk of metal, they are trying to play with your heart strings and have you fall in love with a furry, living breathing animal.



I listened carfeully, trying to learn their techniques because I was really wanting this job to work out. I was taught never to say "selling a puppy" but rather "the puppy is going home". I was taught that the puppies don't come from puppy mills, they come from USDA approved breeders...I mean, what the **** does that even mean? Its just a fancy term for mills, don't let them fool you.



The prices themselves were outrageous, but being located in a wealthy neighborhood, the store was making money. $4000 for a dog to me seems ludacris when, for the same breed from a GOOD breeder, you could get one for $1200-$1500 which will be socialized and healthy. Since the pups came from mills, they were cheaper to purchase and then the store could sell them for any price and make a good profit. The health of the dogs was what really concerned me. One dog had a broken tail. She was $1500, was nervous from being undersocialized, and HAD A BROKEN TAIL. She also shivered a lot. When a customer asked me about that, I didn't know what to say so I asked my bosses. They told me to say she was dreaming. But these were not the movements of a sleeping dog. They were those of a sick or severely cold animal. The man shook his head and left.



Parvo, sadly, was also present. If you don't know what that is, its a common sickness that puppies are prone to, especially when they come from less than ideal conditions *cough* puppy mills *cough*. Parvo is expensive to treat and mostly fatal. Also, it is highly contagious. So, in a kennel situation, as this store is, when one puppy has it, how many more do you think will come down with it? How many puppies will die? Not only that, but say you take a puppy home after paying ridiculously high prices only to find out it has come down with parvo. Now you have to pay even more money to treat this puppy that you have fallen in love with. After the puppy dies (because lets face it, most do) you can't even get another puppy because it has infected your living quarters and now you have to wait 6 months to a year before it is safe for a new puppy.

UGH

The sales people I worked with did not even properly follow standard guidelines to keep things safe. Petland has rooms for people to play with and assess the puppies. After each puppy room is used, they need to be wiped down with disinfectant before a new puppy could be placed inside to keep germs, viruses, diseases from spreading (which they shouldn't have in the first place, but I digress). I noticed times where the place was so busy, the staff did not clean the rooms. And when they did clean the rooms, they failed to clean the most important areas, the floor and floorboards. You know, the places where the puppies touch the most. I guess it was too much to bend down to clean. Also, puppies were not allowed to mingle with others and yet I saw staff carry puppies from different cages together in their arms to save time. And you wonder how Parvo gets spread.



Dead animals (it happens) are to be frozen and sent to a vet to be incinerated. I don't know for sure if it is a law ( I think it is) but it makes sense to keep diseases from spreading. I noticed one staff person throw away a couple of dead animals directly in the garbage. Now this in itself was the staffs fault and not directly the fault of petland.



My last day there, a dog warden showed up. He was called in by a customer, no doubt and was talking to the owner about a dead dog, looking for its paper work which, surprise!!!! was missing. I was new and only heard this because I went to the bathroom and overheard them. Animals do die but you have to wonder why they were losing dogs.



Also, the store I worked for had 51 puppies, and had ordered another 20. They did not have the room for all this and so puppies were being housed 3 to 4 per cage which was not large enough for one puppy, but gosh aren't they cute in the window...

Petland also has other animals. I have a ball python so I now a thing or two about them. They got in a new shipment of balls and I had a look at them. They were adults. I looked at one and my store manager came over, looked at the snake and said it was fine. Yeah, well I thought I would be the judge of that. Well wouldn't you know the adult ball was covered in ticks. I looked at the others and it was the same. So, either they don't check their animals or that one staff member was an idiot (probably both). This means the snakes either had very shady, unhealthy pasts or they were wild caught meaninf a new owner of one of them would never be able to get it to eat and it would die. SO sad, even if you don't like snakes. I ended up pulling the ticks off the snakes myself and when the kennel manager came, she soaked them after I whined about it. Then they tried to feed them which I thought was a waste of time since they were no doubt stressed out and guess what? None of them ate.



Birds of petland usually are housed in open top cages so you can poke them and freak them out. The parakeets at the one I was at would constantly flutter out of their cages and plop onto the floor.

I wonder how many they lost in the store? I wonder how many got trapped under displays and are dead?

I should mention that this is a scratch of what goes on there. I only worked there 4 days!!! 4 DAYS and I seen some bullshit that I wish I didn't. If you are still reading this, I hope I have gotten to you. I hope the message is clear. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING from PETLAND. Every penny you spend there keeps these stores operating. Even if you buy crickets or a dog brush there, you are giving them your money. There are nice stores out there that would benefit from your business that take good care of their animals and do not sell puppies.





Besides, there are so many shelter dogs and cats out there. You could save a life. If you insist on a purebred dog, go to a good breeder who will provide you with a wonderful animal.





If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I use AIM and my aim is wolfsnaps888. You can email me at [email protected] as well. Even if you just want to talk or share your story. Soemthing has to be done about this. People should not make money this way.





Thank you for reading this and please spread the word!!


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## kpollard (Aug 3, 2008)

that's interesting, apparently not all petlands are made equal. We have one here in town, and yes they have puppies and kittens; but they're all from the humane society in town and are adopted, not sold. It's always clean and the animals are always healthy and they are fairly knowledgable about care.

That's horrific about the one you worked at though, I wouldn't have made it for long either.


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## K8IE (Apr 28, 2008)

kpollard said:


> that's interesting, apparently not all petlands are made equal. We have one here in town, and yes they have puppies and kittens; but they're all from the humane society in town and are adopted, not sold. It's always clean and the animals are always healthy and they are fairly knowledgable about care.
> 
> That's horrific about the one you worked at though, I wouldn't have made it for long either.


Maybe it is called "Petland", but if it is a place that is supporting rescues and shelters and adopting out homeless animals, I can assure you it is not associated with the REAL Petland. The REAL Petland gets their pups from the Hunte Corporation and other disgusting "middlemen" or local BYB's.


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## digits mama (Jun 13, 2007)

Thanks Wolfsnapps...After reluctantly visiting a Petland for the first time. I noticed the robotic, rehearsed, dead responses after asking the staff where these pups come from. I was only in there 10 minutes and was appalled.


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## Criosphynx (May 15, 2008)

those ball pythons had ticks because they were wild caught adults. They were litterally plucked out of a bush in africa. They do not acclimate or feed and waste away for about a year before they die. NO reputable petshop should stock wildcaught _adult_ snakes. Heck, theres no reason anymore to even have WC babies. Its sickening.


We don't have a petland here. If we did you could bet my top dollar they will never get my business.

Perhaps i should write a similar blog about my experiences working for petsmart. _They are very similar if not worse._

Thanks for sharing.


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## InverseLogic (Jun 1, 2008)

I currently work for a Petco, and I really don't have one bad thing to say about my store. I realize all stores are different, but that's just how it is. I'm sure Petland (never even heard of it), and Petsmart are similar.


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## tigress (Feb 6, 2008)

InverseLogic said:


> I currently work for a Petco, and I really don't have one bad thing to say about my store. I realize all stores are different, but that's just how it is. I'm sure Petland (never even heard of it), and Petsmart are similar.


No, no they aren't. Petland sells dogs and cats (something Petsmart and Petco don't do). Petland is also a smaller store setup than Petco and Petsmart (I've worked at petsmart, shopped at Petco, and i'm pretty sure once went in a petland in Atlanta hearing it was some new pet store and they encouraged adoption and when I came in it was obvious they were just selling dogs and cats and trying to make people think they were being responsible. I mean it was like shopping for your next new radio the way they had set up the cat and dog purchasing).

Trust me, do not compare petsmart and petco to petland. They are much better at least. Imagine going in a store and seeing a whole wall of puppies and kittens in display boxes that are obviously set up for ease of cleaning but not to make the animals feel at home at all, they're just there for display.


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## digits mama (Jun 13, 2007)

Our Petsmart only has rescues to be adopted out. From the local shelter..Not Puppymill pups.


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## InverseLogic (Jun 1, 2008)

It was more of a reply to Criosphynx. I know that Petco/Petsmart doesn't sell puppies/kittens. I was just saying that if his Petsmart was bad, not all of them are like that. My Petco is awesome, though one Petsmart I've been to, all the employees were teenagers who could care less about working and more about talking to each other about a girl they screwed the other night.

Also, would like to add that alot of the Petco/Petsmarts I've been to have really great adoption events. Just today, the Petsmart I went to was hosting a Great Pyrenees rescue. My Petco last week was hosting a Labrador rescue. It's really a great thing, especially when you see a three legged dog being adopted out to a happy family. I love it.

I've never heard of Petland, but it sounds like another puppy mill petshop, and we have a ton of those here.


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## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

I seem to remember a Petland in the Houston area some time ago but I don't think it's around anymore. The OP's story was absolutely horrible...but then to many people, animals are nothing more than possessions and sometimes (often times) a status symbol. UGH


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## kpollard (Aug 3, 2008)

K8IE said:


> Maybe it is called "Petland", but if it is a place that is supporting rescues and shelters and adopting out homeless animals, I can assure you it is not associated with the REAL Petland. The REAL Petland gets their pups from the Hunte Corporation and other disgusting "middlemen" or local BYB's.


No, see, that's what's weird--they are clearly a Petland, they use the corporation's symbol and it looks similar to any other Petland you'd go into. It's just not the same, not even close to what I've been in with other Petlands.

and, our store here shows up on their website as one of theirs...

http://www.petland.com

Same place? So bizarre.


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## K8IE (Apr 28, 2008)

kpollard said:


> No, see, that's what's weird--they are clearly a Petland, they use the corporation's symbol and it looks similar to any other Petland you'd go into. It's just not the same, not even close to what I've been in with other Petlands.
> 
> and, our store here shows up on their website as one of theirs...
> 
> ...


Hmmmmm... so they have adult dogs and dogs of all ages from their local humane association for adoption, already spayed/neutered, etc, and require adoption applications, etc? I cannot imagine how any humane association or shelter of any kind would associate themselves with a chain of stores that has such a horrible reputation of animal neglect and abuse and buying from the Hunte Corp. If I lived closer I would go in there to "investigate" to see exactly how they run their place if they are indeed affiliated with "the" Petland....

OK wait, I just read this on their site:http://www.petland.com/CommunityService/AdoptAPet.htm
So apparently they DO get some dogs from shelters and put them in their displays for homes. I wonder though if this place does only that or if they do that as well as sell puppies for huge profit that have come from puppy mills. My guess would be they do...


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## kpollard (Aug 3, 2008)

Are you asking if ours sells as well as adopts? They don't, the only cats/dogs that they have there are the ones from the humane society in town. I've seen a few other Petlands that are set up this way; and I've also seen some in malls and the like that only sell dogs.

And, I just want to say that I'm not defending Petland the chain, but I WILL defend the store here in my town. I've been in there a lot since they have the best prices of anywhere in town; and they are also the only place that sells Teddy's dog food. All of their associates are very nice, the puppies are in big spacious cages that are always clean, the kittens are in a little cat condo area, and all of their other animals seem very healthy. They routinely take the puppies out to play with them and get them socialized, you will usually find an associate with a puppy out when you go in. There are never ever ever more than 10 dogs in the store at any given time, and like I said, they ALL are from the shelter here in town. It's not your typical pet store, but yes, it is a Petland. It will come up on Petland's site as a PL, and they use the logo/employee wear of every Petland.


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## K8IE (Apr 28, 2008)

Sorry, I wasn't trying to start an argument, I was just seeking info. If your Petland truly is a place that does adoptions of homeless pets only for a small adoption fee and sells pet supplies, then that is great. I am just very puzzled as to how there can be a chain store that has such a bad reputation (and rightfully so) and then have stores within it's franchises that actually do adoption of homeless pets, know what I mean? If I were to open a place like that to work in cooperation with shelters and rescues, I would surely not buy a franchise from Petland, but would open it under my own name and operation so as to not have any confusion or have my name associated with Petland and their doings. Again, I wasn't trying to accuse you of lying, I am just confused.


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## kpollard (Aug 3, 2008)

I know exactly what you mean, and I don't understand it either. Not even a little! I've been to a few in malls that are obviously selling dogs that don't appear to be very healthy; so when I moved here and went in I was very apprehensive....and then pleasantly surprised/confused.


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## Criosphynx (May 15, 2008)

InverseLogic said:


> It was more of a reply to Criosphynx. I know that Petco/Petsmart doesn't sell puppies/kittens. *I was just saying that if his Petsmart was bad, not all of them are like that. My Petco is awesome, though one Petsmart I've been to, all the employees were teenagers who could care less about working and more about talking to each other about a girl they screwed the other night.
> *
> Also, would like to add that alot of the Petco/Petsmarts I've been to have really great adoption events. Just today, the Petsmart I went to was hosting a Great Pyrenees rescue. My Petco last week was hosting a Labrador rescue. It's really a great thing, especially when you see a three legged dog being adopted out to a happy family. I love it.
> 
> I've never heard of Petland, but it sounds like another puppy mill petshop, and we have a ton of those here.




Inverse You are spot on there about petco, just not petsmart

They are two very very different companies, run very differently.

I worked for petco for a year. 

I* work for petsmart for four years at three different location in two states*. I can tell you the issues they have are company wide.


I must admit that petco is the far far lesser of two evils. I will gladly shop there. Petco has great vet program and every sick animal (except fish)saw a vet no matter the $$$ cost. THAT SAID, tooo many animals died anyway. They need to stop selling live animals until they can figure out how to do it without sick animals. Buy your dogfood there, not your bird.


But petsmart is a horrible company i know many people who still work for them, at locations i never did. Iam convinced that everystore they have has some of the issues i experienced.


The animals they kill may not be puppies and kitties, but they are lives nonetheless.

BTW they do adoptions instore because you will most likely purchase training classes, food, and other items there, their motives are probably 10% save lives and 90% make money. Why else would they sacrifice valueble and expensive retail space to house rescue cats and dogs?

god, i could go on and on....


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## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

Criosphynx said:


> BTW they do adoptions instore because you will most likely purchase training classes, food, and other items there, their motives are probably 10% save lives and 90% make money. Why else would they sacrifice valueble and expensive retail space to house rescue cats and dogs?


Ah, but therein lies the flaw in your argument. PetCo ALSO does adoptions...I got Roxxy at one of their stores. So is PetCo any less about making money and more about saving lives?


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## Criosphynx (May 15, 2008)

alphadoginthehouse said:


> Ah, but therein lies the flaw in your argument. PetCo ALSO does adoptions...I got Roxxy at one of their stores. *So is PetCo any less about making money and more about saving lives?*


no, I was refering to both companies.


iam not defending petco. Iam just saying that both companies have issues and are money hungry. Just Petsmart is far worse.


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## InverseLogic (Jun 1, 2008)

Some Petco's do house their adoption animals in store. I'm glad mine doesn't though. That would probably change the outlook of the store for me.

The most we get IN STORE are rabbits or rats that an owner relinquishes. We currently have two HUGE rabbits up for adoption. The owner had to "get rid" of them because he discovered his youngest son was allergic/had asthma.

Our adoption events are held outside or inside the entrance by the registers. I'm sure that Petco as a whole sees a big advantage in this when it concerns sales of puppy classes/food/grooming etc, but at least they're supporting adoption over "buying". I see this as a good thing.

It probably sounds like I'm pro-Petco, but I'm not. I guess I'm more pro-mystore than the company as a whole. I really enjoy working there, haha.


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## Criosphynx (May 15, 2008)

InverseLogic said:


> Some Petco's do house their adoption animals in store. I'm glad mine doesn't though. That would probably change the outlook of the store for me.
> 
> The most we get IN STORE are rabbits or rats that an owner relinquishes. We currently have two HUGE rabbits up for adoption. The owner had to "get rid" of them because he discovered his youngest son was allergic/had asthma.
> 
> ...



I agree the adoption is not a bad thing, no matter what the motives.


It is a fun job.... until you hit management...lol 

I got tons of free animals working there.


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## tigress (Feb 6, 2008)

InverseLogic said:


> It probably sounds like I'm pro-Petco, but I'm not. I guess I'm more pro-mystore than the company as a whole. I really enjoy working there, haha.


Heh, that's the way I feel about the pet store I work at (The *other* one that person says is worse  ). I really don't like corporate but I do like my coworkers and my managers and I think they do care about the animals. And I think our charities division (which is seperate from the actual corporation which just pays for their operations) does a good job (I've had peole at the rescues tell me how much we have helped them).


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## lovemygreys (Jan 20, 2007)

InverseLogic said:


> I currently work for a Petco, and I really don't have one bad thing to say about my store. I realize all stores are different, but that's just how it is. I'm sure Petland (never even heard of it), and Petsmart are similar.



You should really learn more about what you're talking about before making statements like this. Petco and Petsmart are nothing like Petland. Petco and Petsmart support cat and dog adoption while Petland supports puppy mills. HUGE difference.

Personally, I can't see shopping at Petco b/c they seem to have a problem keeping the animal food they sell in sanitary conditions before it reaches their stores. They also make questionable decisions - giving money to groups who do nothing to actually help greyhounds and have an official anti-racing stance, which I find personally offensive.


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## InverseLogic (Jun 1, 2008)

lovemygreys said:


> You should really learn more about what you're talking about before making statements like this. Petco and Petsmart are nothing like Petland. Petco and Petsmart support cat and dog adoption while Petland supports puppy mills. HUGE difference.


Thanks for the insight, but if you read some of my previous posts, then you would know that I was completely ignorant about Petland, and in another post, I realized what Petland really was. This was all before your quoted post.



> Personally, I can't see shopping at Petco b/c they seem to have a problem keeping the animal food they sell in sanitary conditions before it reaches their stores. They also make questionable decisions - giving money to groups who do nothing to actually help greyhounds and have an official anti-racing stance, which I find personally offensive.


Really don't know what you're talking about, but it doesn't concern me at all.


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## Criosphynx (May 15, 2008)

tigress said:


> Heh, that's the way I feel about the pet store I work at (The *other* one that person says is worse  ). I really don't like corporate but I do like my coworkers and my managers and *I think they do care about the animals.* And I think our charities division (which is seperate from the actual corporation which just pays for their operations) does a good job (I've had peole at the rescues tell me how much we have helped them).


Of course... no one applies for a pet store job without liking animals. I've seen thousands of applications.. "i want to help animals" "i like animals" "i want to work with animals" after a while we start looking for apps that don't say the same cheesy stuff over and over.


Employees that like animals doesn't change the fact that *Petsmart allows up to $200 in "pet loss" a week and the number is ussually without exception in the $400 range or higher.* What department do you work in? If you were pulling dead hamsters, birds and fish daily for four years you might see where im coming from better.


_Ask yourself what company allows for $200 is live animal loss a week? Shouldn't that number be *ZERO*?_

also how long have you worked there? It took me a while to wake up too.


also as a note death isn't limited to The store. Grooming kills dogs, Banfield has *accidents*. The employee turnover is outrageous and the level of training doesn't exist that should. Reading a Manual doesn't make them pet experts. Im sorry.


for the past four years i work for a* real reputable pet store*. Animals very very very rarely die and they don't get sick. Once you see the way a good shop is run and realize that petsmart isn't the "normal" way it makes you very angry.


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## GroovyGroomer777 (Aug 21, 2008)

I worked at Petsmart for 2 and a half years in the grooming department. They sent and paid for me to go to grooming school which is why I applied there in the first place. They also had great medical insurance.

However.... it was a nightmare. Here I was, a young naive dog groomer with the notion that I would be able to groom dogs gently and slowly, taking as much time as needed to make them look adorable, thoroughly clean, and as comfortable as possible. As soon as I finished "school" (which in no way actually prepared me for the real grooming world) I was thrown to the wolves. 

My manager would take it upon herself to schedule me extra appointments without my knowledge while I was already fully booked. When I ran into trouble with time she would say things like, "Just deal with it", or "Shave that golden real quick" (How can I do a good job real quick?), "You have to make this amount of money" ect. I later found out that she received bonuses if the salon brought in a certain amount of money. I would go above her head and let the other managers know that she was rushing me and that I felt I needed more time to be slow with the dogs and do a quality job. They would tell me that they would speak to her and then she would come back to me and ask why I was going over her head and nothing else would change besides that she began to hold a grudge on me. It was a very high school like mentality there. 

If a client complained because they were not satisfied - the money was pulled from my paycheck. This happened to all the groomers. It was almost always because I had needed help or more time with a dog and could not get either. If a dog was not done on time because we were overbooked, the money was pulled from my check. We had no support whatsoever from management. A client could ask you to make their dog "Very short but not shaved" and then complain that the dog was too short. Again, refund the customer and pull it from my check. 

Forget it if you were sick. I rarely called in but if I did it was practicaly an argument on whether or not I was actually too sick to work. 

The back room where the dogs were kept was very crowded and dirty. There was no where to bathe large dogs except to tie a leash to the tub. If the dog was scared and ran a circle around your legs you would have a leash around your legs or ankle tightening.....you could be in trouble. This happened to me once and luckily I stayed calm enough to fix the problem before I lost my foot. They did nothing to make a safer working environment when I complained about this. 

There is much more I could say but I don't want to bore anyone. My point is that Petsmart treats their employees like crap!!


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## InverseLogic (Jun 1, 2008)

GroovyGroomer, that sounds really similar to my friend who used to work in a Petsmart groomers (not condemning the company specifically). She quit, and now runs a successful grooming shop downtown. I don't think she could be happier.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

tigress said:


> Imagine going in a store and seeing a whole wall of puppies and kittens in display boxes that are obviously set up for ease of cleaning but not to make the animals feel at home at all, they're just there for display.


As someone who owns pet rats, Petco and Petsmart are no better than Petland. I no longer shop at either, I finally found an online shop for the last thing I need that I used to buy there. Petco and Petsmart DO sell live animals, just not dogs and cats. Their cages are set up to display animals, they are even more overcrowded than the dog cages described earlier, and many of Petco's animals are sold specifically to be *fed live* to snakes. Apparently some Petsmarts do this too, but their prices are high enough to prevent it most of the time. 

Now, look at that imaginary wall of puppies and kittens and imagining them being fed alive to another animal...still think Petco and Petsmart are that great just because they don't sell dogs and cats? You might not like rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters or guinea pigs...but don't fool yourself into thinking Petco and Petsmart are all that great because they give floorspace to local rescues. Yes, sometimes they adopt out small animals which have been turned over to them. But if they also sold cats and dogs in addition to helping rescues, would you still think it was ok? Probably not.


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## Criosphynx (May 15, 2008)

jesirose said:


> As someone who owns pet rats, Petco and Petsmart are no better than Petland. I no longer shop at either, I finally found an online shop for the last thing I need that I used to buy there. Petco and Petsmart DO sell live animals, just not dogs and cats. Their cages are set up to display animals, they are even more overcrowded than the dog cages described earlier, and many of Petco's animals are sold specifically to be *fed live* to snakes. Apparently some Petsmarts do this too, but their prices are high enough to prevent it most of the time.
> 
> Now, look at that imaginary wall of puppies and kittens and imagining them being fed alive to another animal...still think Petco and Petsmart are that great just because they don't sell dogs and cats? You might not like rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters or guinea pigs...but don't fool yourself into thinking Petco and Petsmart are all that great because they give floorspace to local rescues. Yes, sometimes they adopt out small animals which have been turned over to them. But if they also sold cats and dogs in addition to helping rescues, would you still think it was ok? Probably not.




Petsmarts employees are hung by the throat if they knowinglly sell an animal as a feeder. You can be writen up or fired. The company is very against it. We were strongly encouraged to to refuse sales if the animal was thought to be a feeder. 

That said As both a snake breeder/owner and a rat/breeder owner, that not *all* snakes will eat prekilled food. Its a fact of life. There is nothing wrong with using live food. Its not optimal or as humane... i agree... but it is at times very neccessary. 


And with that, that said. I wish they would stop the sale of all live animals so that people will go to speciallty stores that can guide them into making informed decisions about their pets.


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## K8IE (Apr 28, 2008)

Criosphynx said:


> I wish they would stop the sale of all live animals so that people will go to speciallty stores that can guide them into making informed decisions about their pets.


I totally agree.


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## tigress (Feb 6, 2008)

jesirose said:


> and many of Petco's animals are sold specifically to be *fed live* to snakes. Apparently some Petsmarts do this too, but their prices are high enough to prevent it most of the time.


Now this, I honestly don't have a problem with. I'm sorry, I know you like rats, but snakes have to eat too. And as Criosphynx says, sometimes you just cannot get them to feed prekilled. At least they get a relatively quick death (which is not something you can always say about the meat that those of us who are not vegetarians eat). Snakes can be very picky eaters and they have been known to starve to death if you don't give them the right food (they're not very smart so sometimes it has to be just right for them to recognize it as food).

Shoot, reptiles in general. I know people come in asking us for only the gold goldfish cause that's all their turtle will eat (For some reason a lot of turtles don't like the silver goldfish).

If it makes you feel any better, I know of people who have snakes who end up with pet rats/mice cause they find certain ones they just attach to that they cannot get themselves to feed to their pets. Just cause they have an animal that eats another animal doesn't mean they also don't care for that animal as well.



Criosphynx said:


> And with that, that said. I wish they would stop the sale of all live animals so that people will go to speciallty stores that can guide them into making informed decisions about their pets.


+1


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## Criosphynx (May 15, 2008)

tigress said:


> Now this, I honestly don't have a problem with. I'm sorry, I know you like rats, but snakes have to eat too. And as Criosphynx says, sometimes you just cannot get them to feed prekilled. At least they get a relatively quick death (which is not something you can always say about the meat that those of us who are not vegetarians eat). Snakes can be very picky eaters and they have been known to starve to death if you don't give them the right food (they're not very smart so sometimes it has to be just right for them to recognize it as food).
> 
> Shoot, reptiles in general. I know people come in asking us for only the gold goldfish cause that's all their turtle will eat (For some reason a lot of turtles don't like the silver goldfish).
> 
> ...



The prekilled/live debate rages on!


I have seen how mice and rats are "humanely gassed" before they are frozen and i can vouch that its not pretty or quick. In fact it makes me wonder if PK food is more humane after all sometimes.

The aquatic turtles don't eat the silver fish because they have alot of trouble seeing them 

And yes the meat we eat is treated far far worse, agree agree agree, But thats another thread onto itself. 


on another note a fish store i used to use started carrying puppies. I was pissed because they have nice fish and i can't give them my money anymore.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

Either way, the rats and mice for petsmart and petco are still raised in mills just like the puppy mills, and are mostly sold as pets. Whether or not you think live feeding is ok, I'd think most people who are against puppy mills would think mills of any animal are wrong.


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## InverseLogic (Jun 1, 2008)

jesirose said:


> Either way, the rats and mice for petsmart and petco are still raised in mills just like the puppy mills, and are mostly sold as pets. Whether or not you think live feeding is ok, I'd think most people who are against puppy mills would think mills of any animal are wrong.


I agree that mills of any kind are wrong (well, except for maybe mills that produce food for pets, such as mice/crickets). Especially ferrets. I own four of them, so I'm attached to them. I hate seeing more and more deaf ones come in (white stripes). Marshall farms is such bad company.

The good thing is that my store at least, is trying to drop more and more live animals. A lot of the reptiles and small animals we used to sell are no longer being sold, and the same goes for a few birds.

I'm lucky to have good co-workers who feel attached to the animals we sell though. The bird specialist for example actually started to cry when she sold one of our cockatiels. She's really attached to all of our birds. This in turn leads to really great care for them. I think this is a step in the right direction if a store must sell companion animals (I would rather they not have any as well though, but it doesn't look like that's changing anytime soon). I realize this isn't common in plenty of Petcos/Petsmarts, so I feel lucky to work at my location. I would have quit shortly after hire date if I witnessed anything horrible or morally wrong.


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

InverseLogic said:


> I agree that mills of any kind are wrong (well, except for maybe mills that produce food for pets, such as mice/crickets). Especially ferrets. I own four of them, so I'm attached to them. I hate seeing more and more deaf ones come in (white stripes). Marshall farms is such bad company.


Ugh I hate marshall farms. I work for a store that sells marshall farms ferrets and every so often we have to remind them not to send us ferrets that aren't weaned yet! I mean come on, if the babies are screaming for their mothers and trying to suck on everything they should not be sent out. Not all the white striped ones are deaf, we have had many come through that can hear just fine.


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## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

Wolfsnaps- you may not know the answer since you only worked ther for 4 days, but what do they do with the pups and kittens that aren't sold?


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## InverseLogic (Jun 1, 2008)

melgrj7 said:


> Not all the white striped ones are deaf, we have had many come through that can hear just fine.


Oh! Looks like I have more research to do. I have an albino ferret who's deaf. He's easily the most cuddly and loveable of the bunch, and that's kind of unheard of in ferrets.


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

InverseLogic said:


> Oh! Looks like I have more research to do. I have an albino ferret who's deaf. He's easily the most cuddly and loveable of the bunch, and that's kind of unheard of in ferrets.


I have noticed that the white stripes with a wider looking head than normal tend to be deaf.


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## pup_at_heart (Jun 19, 2007)

Ew...what a disgusting story! I am not the least bit surprised though. 



animalcraker said:


> Wolfsnaps- you may not know the answer since you only worked ther for 4 days, but what do they do with the pups and kittens that aren't sold?


I was wondering the same thing...


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

pup_at_heart said:


> I was wondering the same thing...


I'd bet sales/discount, or they might return them to the mill to become breeders or something.


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## K8IE (Apr 28, 2008)

Typically a pet store will hold onto a puppy/kitten as long as they can trying to get their top price out of it. Most of them want to make at least a 50-60% profit on their animals. As they get older, and less likely to fetch the price the originally asked, they will "discount" the dog/cat, just like the clothes that are going out of season in the department stores. It is disgusting but true. Dogs or cats will stay in their cages until they are 6 months or older sometimes, until there is little to no hope of them ever being potty trained because they are used to going to bathroom wherever, and are totally neurotic due to lack of training, socialization and love. Then the pet store will realize they are not going to get what they want and sell them to someone for like $100.


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## wolfsnaps (Apr 27, 2007)

K8ie is right. I asked that to my coworker because there was this cute wire haired dachshund that had been there since the place opened. I am a fan of the breed because my dog is half doxie but everyone thinks he is a wire haired. Anyways, I really wanted to take the little guy home but I am already at my limit with pets. When I walked in my first day he was "on sale" for 699.99 and when I walked out my last day he was 499.99. They marked him down everyday. My coworker said he would stay until someone "brought him home." SO basically he would never leave his tiny cage. And most customers commented on how ugly he was compared to the cute puppies surrounding him ( I wanted to deck those people...maybe I just happen to like the ugly ones?)

Anyways, I hope someone buys him. Wednesday I am going to pick up my measely check and I will see if he is still there. I am hoping he is not. He is really the only dog I worry about. I mean, yes, I feel bad for all of them but most of them are your typical CUTE so people will fall in love with them. But this poor puppy....sigh, I tried talking my mom into it but she is not ready for a dog right now. I could cry over this. I wish I could save him myself.
Anyways, I wouldn't be surprised if they send him back to be a breeder if he is there for a long time after he is as cheap as possible. He never even gets to socialize because no one wants to take him out and see him.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

wolfsnaps, remember if you buy him, or whoever buys him, that tells the store they should just keep selling. You may be rescuing one, but you're funding the breeding of more in the mill, supporting the store, voting with your money. If you buy him you will be making room for more and literally paying the mills and stores to keep doing this.


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## wolfsnaps (Apr 27, 2007)

Oh yes, I know. Its a viscious cycle. I want to see the dog go somewhere safe and loving, and yet, if I buy him, another dog will take his place and pull on the heart strings of another unsuspecting sap. The only way to stop this cruel monster of a company is to not buy from them, and spread the word. SO let's all do this. Don't shop there, and tell everyone you know, and maybe even those you don't know, NOT TO SHOP PETLAND...Thats why I posted this. But I still feel bad for those unwanted pups


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