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P@H adoption...?

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*Nibbles&Nugget*

*Nibbles&Nugget*

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Sep 17, 2008
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Location
Kent
Yesterday I had to pick up a few bits and bobs for my piggies so went into pets at home. Like everyone else I couldn't resist a little peak at the piggies. While there I saw a huge rabbit being lifted out of the main pens. I had a little laugh to myself watching the fuss he was making and thought he would be a handful for his new owner. So you can imagine my surprise as he was put in a freshly prepared rescue and rehoming area. I thought that was meant for rescue pets? Despite my shock I had pretty much guessed that was what they did so I brushed off the incident and bent down to look at the piggies.

There was a beautiful little boy (black with a white blaze similar to my first piggy Nugget RIP) As he turned I noticed this awful yellowy gunge leaking from his eye that was swollen shut. I immediately called over one of the staff who picked up the poor little guy and looked him over before grudgingly thanking me and saying he'd get him seen by the vet. Feeling a little happier like I'd made a difference I proceded to collect things for my piggies. Just before I went to pay I thought I'd look at the rabbit I'd seen earlier. To my surprise, in the pen next to him was the little black piggy staggering round and looking very frightened.

I want to explain it away and say they were isolating him for the protection of the other piggies and to give him a chance to recover but I don't think I can. The signs by the cage said the usual 'I was unwanted by my owner, please adopt me'. Are they trying to avoid paying vet bills? Is this happening at all pet at home? What can I do to complain? And how can I get over the guilt of not saying something else at the time 8...?

Amy
x
 
Legally they cant sell sick animals (though there is a lot Of evidence they do). The adoption centre is simply their way to offload unsellable livestock and returns.
 
Hi Amy,

Firstly, you shouldn't feel guilty at all, you stood up for that piggy and said something to get hime looked at. You don't know what is going on with that piggy but unfortunately, you could be right and even the possibility of that is bad.

I have to say the treatment of animals varies from P@H to P@H depending on the store manager, staff etc. Some P@H have vets inside them (Stockport for example) and they give you a free check-up with your new animal and pay for vet fees for any animal they sell that is sick. It might be a chain, but I think there is a great deal of discrepancies between each one - which one did you go into btw?

I think if you really want to do something, you should go back there tomorrow and see if the same piggy is indeed in the adoption area and then say something about seeing him previously in the pen etc.

As for the giant rabbit - one explanation is that he was an adoption rabbit but they put him in the main pain to stretch his legs a bit - the adoption areas are usually quite small (trying to be positive here).

Well done you for saying something

:)
 
Harvey, Artie and Thims all came from PAH adoption center, Artie had a eye infection and a chest infection which took him eight weeks to recover with a long course of baytril and hand feeding. And Thims has a lifelong condition where he is blind in one eye, and if his blood sugar level drops he fits. The vet told me this was due to inbreeding and so he has to have a portion of sugar daily.

I complained, and sent letters but havent heard anything back yet :(

Our local one regularly has pigs in with eye infections its sad to see.
 
What I dont get, is why its always eye infections or chest infections, like anyone who ever says they had a piggie from their who was ill always has the same thing, why is is? is it something they do or what? mallethead
 
You're not in North Yorkshire are you?

I can't even start to catalogue my complaints about Pets@home and their piggies. Eye infections are very common, plus - according to their staff who happily laugh and say they've all had it, themselves, the staff that is! mallethead , cryptosporosis. The long list of complaints goes on and on with them and me.

I have a feeling that their piggies come from a central station and all the piggies have conjunctivitis (along with gawd only knows what else 8... )

They off load anything and everything and they need to stop selling live animals. I asked to buy one of the piggies but when I asked about her eyes the assistant manager said she'd probably been poked by some hay and it would be fine - so then I asked why the rest had bad eyes - believe me the list goes on and on and on and then she suddenly pulled the poor little girl from me and said she wasn't for sale - it's been a very long story ever since.

They buy piggies from massive breeders and ship them all over - it's sick :)>>>
 
gogoguineas said:
What I dont get, is why its always eye infections or chest infections, like anyone who ever says they had a piggie from their who was ill always has the same thing, why is is? is it something they do or what? mallethead
Click to expand...

My vet told me they're prone to illness if there is a lot of stress so moving from breeder to pet shop i guess is quite stressful for the little ones to be plonked somewhere unfamiliar and very bright with people tapping the windows most days, he also said it might be down to bad breeding, cramped conditions where eye infections and chest infections can spread quickly. :(

with hamsters like Thimble their prone to a condition called Wet Tail which is fatal, and this usually happens if they are under a lot of stress too :(
 
each store has 10 guinea pigs in each week, thats 250 guinea pigs going into stores each week, which means the breeding farms will have hundreds and hundreds of guinea pigs in the farms, conditions will be really bad which means fungals and URIs will be passed to each guinea pig, ones that show signs are killed or left to die, babies that are only young may not be really showing signs of it so these are sent to the stores, they are then sold and then the issues become noticeable some sadly die.

any animals they cant sell pets at home are aloud to take them out back and euthanize them, but most stores put them in the adoption centre before they do this.

sadly they are also putting many animals in the adoption centre that are infact ill, they know charitable funds will pay for their treatment IF they are infact seen by a vet or not sold before this.
 
oh dear thats awful. ive got a pets at home near me but i never use it. I always go to a little pet shop which is nicer and less commercialised:x
 
gogoguineas said:
What I dont get, is why its always eye infections or chest infections, like anyone who ever says they had a piggie from their who was ill always has the same thing, why is is? is it something they do or what? mallethead
Click to expand...

One of mine had an eye infection to! She was supposedly checked over and deemed fine. Unfortunatly i wasnt there when they were bought i would of gone mad.
 
I've picked up one tonight, possibly pregnant. Fingers crossed she's not. Looks well otherwise and is a happy, friendly little soul.

I buy my nuggets and dog food from PAH but would very much like to switch to another brand
 
defending pets at home

{: hi there, I work for this store and have read your story with the same disgust as you. Please feel free to complain to the haed office at Stanley Green as I am sure they will take steps to address any problems gill|
*Nibbles&Nugget* said:
Yesterday I had to pick up a few bits and bobs for my piggies so went into pets at home. Like everyone else I couldn't resist a little peak at the piggies. While there I saw a huge rabbit being lifted out of the main pens. I had a little laugh to myself watching the fuss he was making and thought he would be a handful for his new owner. So you can imagine my surprise as he was put in a freshly prepared rescue and rehoming area. I thought that was meant for rescue pets? Despite my shock I had pretty much guessed that was what they did so I brushed off the incident and bent down to look at the piggies.

There was a beautiful little boy (black with a white blaze similar to my first piggy Nugget RIP) As he turned I noticed this awful yellowy gunge leaking from his eye that was swollen shut. I immediately called over one of the staff who picked up the poor little guy and looked him over before grudgingly thanking me and saying he'd get him seen by the vet. Feeling a little happier like I'd made a difference I proceded to collect things for my piggies. Just before I went to pay I thought I'd look at the rabbit I'd seen earlier. To my surprise, in the pen next to him was the little black piggy staggering round and looking very frightened.

I want to explain it away and say they were isolating him for the protection of the other piggies and to give him a chance to recover but I don't think I can. The signs by the cage said the usual 'I was unwanted by my owner, please adopt me'. Are they trying to avoid paying vet bills? Is this happening at all pet at home? What can I do to complain? And how can I get over the guilt of not saying something else at the time 8...?

Amy
x
Click to expand...
 
I'm so pleased I have never had to enter at p@h store!
We are quite isolated in out little village and I think the nearest one is around 30 miles away.
We got out piggies from the farm park, Which did breed them but not on a huge scale, they always had around 10 babies in.
The reason we got them in the first place really is we went on a visit one day and they had a small animals section, where people got to handle the piggies and were taught how to look after them etc.
There home was amazing there and they were all so well looked after. We have never had any problems at all with our sonic he is a happy healthy chap :)
We also get all our pet items from the local petstore in town who altho are small, are more than happy to order in things for us :) And ofcourse wilkinsons and other supermarkets etc
 
Thanks for the comments everyone. Its the Crayford branch that I have all the problems with. I actually go to the Gravesend branch because thats a lot better but I was on my way back from an appointment and we passed it so I decided to pop in just this once rolleyes

I got Nibbles and Nugget from Crayford and they both had serious mites problems (you could literally see them crawling all over them). Nutty on the other hand came from Gravesend, all the staff were helpful and actually let me kneel in the pen with the piggies to make my final descision seeing as I was still very upset about losing Nugget at the time. They were amazing and I now prefer to go to that one though its further away. For bedding etc. I go to a pet shop in my town center but for the food I always go to P@H.

I'm quite shocked by all the other problems everyone else has had and will be complaining. How can this sort of thing happen without consequences?

Amy
x
 
how does the person on the other post know you were talking about her store ?the one name Gilll333 who works at pets at home as it doesnt say which store you got them from until after her post? x


*Nibbles&Nugget* said:
Thanks for the comments everyone. Its the Crayford branch that I have all the problems with. I actually go to the Gravesend branch because thats a lot better but I was on my way back from an appointment and we passed it so I decided to pop in just this once rolleyes

I got Nibbles and Nugget from Crayford and they both had serious mites problems (you could literally see them crawling all over them). Nutty on the other hand came from Gravesend, all the staff were helpful and actually let me kneel in the pen with the piggies to make my final descision seeing as I was still very upset about losing Nugget at the time. They were amazing and I now prefer to go to that one though its further away. For bedding etc. I go to a pet shop in my town center but for the food I always go to P@H.

I'm quite shocked by all the other problems everyone else has had and will be complaining. How can this sort of thing happen without consequences?

Amy
x
Click to expand...
 
clairelove said:
how does the person on the other post know you were talking about her store ?the one name Gilll333 who works at pets at home as it doesnt say which store you got them from until after her post? x
Click to expand...

I think maybe she just means P@H in general?
 
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