Are pet store animals okay?

MashThePiggie

MashThePiggie

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 17, 2018
Messages
31
Reaction score
22
Points
125
Location
Scotland, United Kingdom
I got Bangers (RIP) and Mash from a lady online who had to go to university. I wouldn't have got them originally because I was planning on getting a piggie from a rescue but I was sure they were going to end up as snake food as they were free, so I got them immediately. Now that Bangers has been across the rainbow bridge for a while now, I was planning on getting a new piggie for Mash to meet. The only problem is, my local rescue has no Guinea pigs. I have checked Pets at Home and one piggie in the rescue bit caught my eye. Is it ok to buy piggies from a pet store? I have heard really horrible things about getting from there but I have observed the Guinea pig and it seems healthy (except for the small cage). I feel like I really want that piggie but I can always check that site again?
 
All my piggies (past and present) are from Pets at Home and they're amazing, just like any other piggies, but if you can you could try to give a rescue piggy a second chance. :D
 
There are no rescues near me, piggies don't seem to be the most requested pets... Which is astonishing as they're awesome pets!
 
MashThePiggie said:
I got Bangers (RIP) and Mash from a lady online who had to go to university. I wouldn't have got them originally because I was planning on getting a piggie from a rescue but I was sure they were going to end up as snake food as they were free, so I got them immediately. Now that Bangers has been across the rainbow bridge for a while now, I was planning on getting a new piggie for Mash to meet. The only problem is, my local rescue has no Guinea pigs. I have checked Pets at Home and one piggie in the rescue bit caught my eye. Is it ok to buy piggies from a pet store? I have heard really horrible things about getting from there but I have observed the Guinea pig and it seems healthy (except for the small cage). I feel like I really want that piggie but I can always check that site again?
Click to expand...

Even in chains, branches can vary a lot in quality. If you have the option, consider getting a second hand piggy. Every piggy you buy from a shop encourages the shop to order more piggies for sale from the supply breeder. The vast majority of piggies fetching up in rescue have started out as pet shop piggies. That is the ideological side of it.
There are a couple of flagship pet shops in Scotland in cities like Edinburgh or Aberdeen.

Whether you get piggies from a shop or from the free-ads, both can come with challenges. The risks are all on your side. People desperate to get rid of no longer wanted pets can be amazingly economical with the truth. Unlike with a chain shop you won't have any recourse, so it can become a very steep and expensive learning curve.

Unfortunately we don't have a good standard rescue in Scotland that we could send you unless you were living on the eastern side of the Borders and could get to North East Guinea Pig Rescue in South Shields. They have a fosterer in the Borders area.

When reading illness and pregnancy threads on this forum or anywhere online please always keep in mind that you'll inevitably get all the horror stories because people are seeking help or are sharing a bad experience to warn others. The vast majority that have no problems won't post about their own experience; they just take it for granted.
You have to always factor that into any online research so you can rebalance the problem and put it into perspective. ;)
 
I got most of my piggies from pet shops :D pretty much all of them were healthy other than one who died of illness the day after I got her :(
 
That did happen to me, my poor wee Smudge passed really soon, in fact I just posted a tribute...
 
It sounds like maybe you've fallen in love with a particular piggy, in which case just bring piggy home with you and be prepared for any potential problems. There is a difference between endorsing pet shops and breeders generally, and accidentally seeing a sad piggy you fall for and wanting to help it... if you love that piggy and can provide a good home and are prepared for some vet bills that's the main thing!
 
Both my current pigs are from pets at home adoption and my gerbils. Both were " old stock" that had got sick and split from the herd. I re homed them when they were ready to go. You can donate only a tenner which is conserning. I gave alot more lol.

Some of the adoption at pets at home are old stock and some have actually been surrendered. And some are from the charity adoption for pets. O and some have been found on the streets ( my gerbil)
 
I never follow my own advice, I always remind people of the piggies producing the babies back at the mill, then I walk into a store and see pigs that give me that 'take me home' look and yeah, theres a reason why I have 12! 6 are from shops, 4 from ones that use mills/mass breeders, and out of those, 3 were healthy from the start, while 3 got sick within the first week or so or had ignored injuries. That being said when one got sick, she was veeeery sick and her sister unfortunately passed away.

If there are no rescues, it's up to you where you sit on the scale of ethics, and it's your decision at the end of the day. Piggies need good homes, they can be healthy or unhealthy regardless of where they're from to be honest. Even some 'rescues' are glorified hoarders with sick piggies and less than clean conditions. At least with a place like Pets at Home, if illness does strike within the first 2 weeks, they will cover the cost. If you can prove they are at fault you can even get vets fees refunded years later, I got a reasonably large amount back from them a year after having Bramble because her issues could be proven to be due to the conditions she was bred in.

If you've fallen for some, I say get them XD
 
I have tried questioning pets@home staff about where they get their animals from. 3 times and all of them went quite flustered. Obviously they are told not to answer that question
 
PigglePuggle said:
Our local Pets@Home shop staff seem to be deliberately bonding their new pretty piggies with "unadoptables" from the rescue section and refusing to rehome them seperately which seems a nice thing to do and probably isn't company policy!
Click to expand...
Must have a manager that knows a thing or 2
 
Both of my pigs are from pet stores one has mild foot problems but i dont think thats from pets stores
 
I would just like to make you aware that if you do not rehome from a rescue with a mandatory quarantine and vet care, you'd best look at this guide here to avoid falling into the most common traps: What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)

While URI and mange mites are no longer so much an issue with p@h piggies, ringworm is unfortunately still rife; we have been contacted over a much higher number of cases from around the country than in previous years.
 
PigglePuggle said:
Our local Pets@Home shop staff seem to be deliberately bonding their new pretty piggies with "unadoptables" from the rescue section and refusing to rehome them seperately which seems a nice thing to do and probably isn't company policy!
Click to expand...
The one near me has been known to do this as well. Two of the staff there are very piggy savvy and have their own herds, they do what they can when they can and try to educate others as well.

I have had 5 piggies from there 1 was PTS at 10 months with in operable kidney stones, 1 has just had a bladderstone op at 22 months (both from rehoming centre together), 1 has respitory problems, (also from rehoming centre), my vets believe these problems in such young piggies are down to bad breeding. It's a risk you take but you could say that about getting piggies from anywhere. Given the choice I would adopt from rescue but we don't have any rescues here and the nearest one (55 miles away) thought we were too far for them to rehome to when I enquired.
 
I work in a pet store (not P@H, but it is a franchise) and we are happy to chat to potential new piggie parents about where their pigs have come from, how the parents are treated and everything. It is also company policy to handle and health check at least once a day, feed veggies and make sure that the pigs are happy with their partner, though they do come already bonded to us.

I got my girls from my workplace, and I have two very happy and healthy piggies :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
Our local Pets@Home shop staff seem to be deliberately bonding their new pretty piggies with "unadoptables" from the rescue section and refusing to rehome them seperately which seems a nice thing to do and probably isn't company policy!
Click to expand...
I found this out when I saw a cute little piggy called Funky advertised for adoption at P@H and I thought she was all alone so I asked about her. The shop lady immediately said "she comes as a bonded pair with her friend Patch, we can only rehome them together though we don't advertise that". The pigloo in the back corner started shaking and out waddled Patch, a huge old lady who looked like a basset hound... so I was quite reassured that Funky had a friend, and Patch will probably find a home based on Funky's cute youthful looks!
 
I got my boy Finn from a local pet shop called Petsmart in US. I walked in to Petsmart to buy stuff for my hamsters and spotted Finn in a small cage so I rescued him immediately. He has been wonderful and sweet.
I got Lara from a friend who didn't want her and I was appointed Lara's pet parent based this friend's knowledge that I know how to raise pets.

Finn and Lara are both healthy, and so are my 6 hamsters. They all eat well and exercise well. I have an exotic vet who I trust for them.
 
Seven7 said:
I got my boy Finn from a local pet shop called Petsmart in US. I walked in to Petsmart to buy stuff for my hamsters and spotted Finn in a small cage so I rescued him immediately. He has been wonderful and sweet.
I got Lara from a friend who didn't want her and I was appointed Lara's pet parent based this friend's knowledge that I know how to raise pets.

Finn and Lara are both healthy, and so are my 6 hamsters. They all eat well and exercise well. I have an exotic vet who I trust for them.
Click to expand...
Before we had pets at home it was called petsmart, well my local one was anyway
 
I got my Bruno from the pets at home adoption part. I couldn't leave him there! And despite they said he had health issues he doesn't he just needed proper care. Harold came from a local shelter but he was originally from pets at home we just met him a bit further down the line.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top