I think I might pop into my local P@H today and see what they are up to... :-\
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smiler
Of course every store is different, but ours has always been pretty horrific!
And if you do go there, be cafeful as you will end up taking them all home! ;D
\I dont understand why they have to sell pets? Why cabt they ust stick to selling pet products? ?
And if you do go there, be cafeful as you will end up taking them all home! ;D
\I dont understand why they have to sell pets? Why cabt they ust stick to selling pet products? ?
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maisydaisystar
I LIVE A MINUTES WALK AWAY FROM MINE, AND I WANT TO LOOK EVERY DAY, IT'S GONNA BE HARD NOW AS I'M LOOKING FOR ANOTHER PIGGIE TO REHOME.
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neep_neep
smiler said:
Did you not fill out a little white slip? That's the one you keep, and then a pink one is given to the tills.
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Cavy Crazy
I have brought (sorry, this was a couple of years ago) a couple of guineas and a rabbit from p@h and have had a guinea who has had a heart murmur, one with dental problems and one with a small chunk missing from her ear. >
As far as the staff 98) idiots, we only have one in our local p@h home who can tell the difference between a rabbit and a guinea pig. Oh and one of my guineas is allergic to sawdust.
As far as the staff 98) idiots, we only have one in our local p@h home who can tell the difference between a rabbit and a guinea pig. Oh and one of my guineas is allergic to sawdust.
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bobbysgirl
I also only have limited experience but our two were from p@h in the new year - they were both sexed correctly, and we've not had any problems with them so far, fingers crossed. We had to fill in a little slip that also covered the guarantee for a couple of weeks or so, I can't remember how long though exactly :-\, just in case they did come down with anything. We didn't get any care sheets though but apart from that they were quite good there.
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Cavy Crazy
For some reason many of the guineas that are from p@h start having health problems when they reach eighteen months. ?
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smiler
Cavy Crazy said:
I word..inbreeding :tickedoff:
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Cavy Crazy
I would say so. I would hate to know what gones on.
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baby-wilson
Jane said:
I have bought both my pigs and a few fish from like 3 different pet shops and we were NEVER asked for a phone number, adress or proof of age! They get the animal, box it up, get your money, and say BYE BYE!
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Cavy Crazy
The best thing to do is to always get your animals from breeders or rescues, but you have to be aware of the backyard breeders. When I get some more guineas it will either be from a rescue or from a professional breeder. 
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neep_neep said:
The Pets at Home store in Rugby use these slips. I have seen staff filling them in when people have bought pets. I have also heard them giving advice re the keeping of pets. I feel our local store has come a long way over the past year or so.
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Cavy Crazy
That's good to hear, our p@h store also use the slips but that is about it. ?
boureki
Senior Guinea Pig
Alison said:
Hiya
Your dedication to your employer and animal concerns does you credit, but I'm afraid my opinion would be for the adoption thing in these stores is purely spin to justify getting rid of the 'less cute' or 'too old'or 'got bored' amongst the genuine reasons. I really believe that if these stores truly care about animal welfare they would not be selling these little chaps in the first place. If they are encouraging to adopt not buy, why sell? I wonder if there are any figures which show the numbers of animals in rescue that come from pet store purchases?
If they don't bother to ask questions when re-homing like any decent rescue would, these animals have a very reasonable chance of being right back in a rescue a bit down the line until the next time...and possibly so on. It can also be seen as a cheap pet - if the min donation is £5 why pay the full price for shop stock? Not very encouraging and quite depressing.
I just think back to a time I was at one of these stores, there was a family who went in to buy cat food, and went home with an impulse buy of a couple of rabbits and associated paraphanalia. I hovered to see how the sale was made. Kid picks out cute bunnies. Cute bunnies scooped up and held out for inspection by 17 year old assistant. No questions were asked. No info was given. Buying a pair of shoes was more involving than this transaction, at least you try on shoes!
I promised myself I wouldn't wade into another one of these threads but I just can't help it! I now boycott any store selling live animals. I also believe we can choose to vote with your feet.
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Cavy Crazy
Agree. My store is quite bad. Sadly I don't have the choice of shopping in another pet store as it is the only one near us, apart from the pets at home about half an hour away. ?
boureki
Senior Guinea Pig
Cavy Crazy said:
There are quite a few pet stores online now, such as Zooplus and SPH Supplies if that helps
I know what you mean, most stores these days these large chains, there isn't much smaller competition is there?However, I did get caught out a few weeks back looking for a 1M cage - I ordered one online from a large pet supply in Surrey and when it came it had pet hair on it , so I rang up thinking it was a return and the guy said the stock is kept out the back with some of the store animals which is why it had hair on :-\ if I had known they sold animals I wouldn't have touched them.
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Cavy Crazy
I have order a few times over the internet and have always receive unacceptable products so I was just wasting my money, I am going try to order more items, food and so on from one or some of the rabbit and guinea pig rescues, that way I know I will be getting good products and will be helping guineas and rabbits.
daftscotslass
Senior Guinea Pig
Alison said:
They are well cared for then up until the moment they leave. While I'm sure some go to lovely homes there is no scrutinisation of who the animals are sold to. For all you know the supposed adoptables could end up as snake food because of their bargain price. What will happen with the more special needs adoptables, will there be more scrutiny as to who they are sold to then? To me it's like going to Tesco and buying reduced produce - the animals are literally past their sell by date and are being sold off cheaply.
I also object to you saying the new owners are given information about the history of the animal - all the information I had about Rosie was what I had found out by looking in her enclosure - that she had a litter of babies.
Same here for new hamster if that's what he is no info they couldn't tell me what he/she is and no care info we are taking him to the vets today to get him/her checked and sexed as we dint think he/she is pooing and its itching all the time probably from being in a urine soaked box! They didn't seem to care about who I was or if I had cared for animals before it was just a hassle as the manager had to be called down to do the transaction.
Alison
Teenage Guinea Pig
I agree that P@H should not sell animals but I am only one person and don't believe that I can make a difference.
I enjoy the other aspects of my job, meeting customers pets (especially puppies), but most of all telling people about all the wonderful pets I have owned over the years. I agree with all comments that i have read but just remember that there are P@H staff that do care about animals and have extensive animal care knowledge.
Everyone has to work and will have parts of the job that they love and things that they hate.
I enjoy the other aspects of my job, meeting customers pets (especially puppies), but most of all telling people about all the wonderful pets I have owned over the years. I agree with all comments that i have read but just remember that there are P@H staff that do care about animals and have extensive animal care knowledge.
Everyone has to work and will have parts of the job that they love and things that they hate.
Alison I think you have already made a difference you have tried hard to make sure the pets that are kept and sold in your shop go to good homes, and that the right procedures are in place if we had more people like you in our stores they would do so much better.
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neep_neep
Whenever I sell an animal, I scrutinise 100% of the situation, and usually try and persuade them to go away and think about it and do some more research if they are thinking about doing it on impulse. I know for fact that other staff do this too. I'm pretty sure you'll find plenty of rescues out there who don't homecheck, so are the people adopting from rescues just out to get some cheap snake food too? It's the same sort of situation. There aren't supposed to be prices on the adoption animals, so the 'snake food' people won't know how much the animals are. Besides which, it really is far cheaper to go out and buy some frozen ones ;D
Although I do agree that there are staff who don't ask questions, and these people should be reported to head office. It is company REQUIREMENTS for the staff to talk to and inform the customer, so those staff who don't are just plain lazy and clearly don't care for their job, and in my opinion should be sacked!
The whole company ethos is that the pets should come first, and it really is the individual staff in individual stores that are letting us down
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