P@H Job very Testing indeed

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Steviepig

my 2nd day on the job yesterday had a lot of people come in for guinea pigs.buying the ****ty little pet shop cages.if i want to keep my job we have quota's to keep to and selling 12 cavvie 80 cages a week is one of them.I just felt like screaming at the customers "go home build a c+c cage ffs get rid of the sawdust and give them sum fleece etc" and as for the guinea babies that arrived half of them didnt look 6 weeks old at all.but still being on prohbation i cant question the manager or even the local breeders.but on a good note i get a discount for my piggies get to handle lovely pigs and rabbits everyday and doing my first guinea pig workshop on saturday cant wait.theye have some lovely hamsters and reptiles I'm looking forward to handling today at work.
 
Sounds like you are going to find it tough but at least you are giving them fabulous care when you are there!
 
It must be so hard for you. I went in the other day for some pellets for my pigs and rabbits. There was a family looking at buying some rabbits and I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I had to tell them ( in detail :red ) all about how they should be kept and fed etc I also rubbished everything the shop assistant had just told them (she was telling fibs so they'd buy them and go)

The point is i cant shop there and keep my mouth shut so working there must be very hard. On the plus side you can help educate other staff and the public and maybe eventually implement changes :) Good luck
 
I would find it hard to keep my mouth shut too. Good luck though, in time you should be able to do great things.
 
I would find it really hard working there, especially if "unsuitable" people came in to buy animals, I struggle just going in to buy hay!
 
I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut either and would end up taking everything home from the adoption centre :red:x Good luck though. It sounds like you will be able to give great advice once your probation period is over.
 
Perhaps you could encourage customers to go for the larger cages when they are buying pets? I'd also be recommending this forum and other websites on which they could learn more about cay care. It's not affecting PAH sales at all and helping educate the owners.
 
Does p@h stock larger cages? If not, could you ask the manager if they could stock them, and then you could encourage people to buy the larger ones, so the shop would make more money anyway if they bought them.

Good thing you can give them lots of advice about caring for them and food and health and everything, which will surely impress your boss anyway :)
 
I couldnt keep my mouth shut either.
Good idea about sugesting a bigger cage, but is/when you do sugest it just point out they are more expensive so the company would be making more money, as thats how they think is'nt it? Money over animals welfare
 
Well i guess the customers that go to P@H won't be intrested in the animals welfare anyway or otherwise they'd go to a recue centre? Although i do know a few friends who go to P@H for their piggies but i'm not one to judge :) My local P@H sells fantastic cages - one of which is a two story indoor cage which i have no problem with, it's huge! The only thing i can suggest is encouraging the owners to get a larger run with the smaller cages least then the piggies can have a good run during the day, or maybe suggesting a larger cage when their older? Perhaps you can slip in one of the guniea pig care books for them to read through at home.
I personally don't have a problem with sawdust and hay, my piggies are happy with it and I'd recommend it to others...though it's personal choice if you put your piggies on sawdust and hay or fleece and blankets :)

Good luck with the job though! Hope you enjoy the workshop on sat! :D
 
I was in there the other week, a girl had a Cavie 80 in her trolley so I went and asked what animal she was buying it for she said guinea pig. I told her that it wouldn't be bigger enough, and then told her of a website that was selling a bigger one for the same price they sold the Cavie 80 in P@H. She seemed pleased with what I was telling her and put it back on the shelf.
Probably just waited for the "crazy lady" inbreeding to leave before she bought it though :(
 
Must admit we came home with that cage when we adopted Gert but that afternoon we went out and got a run and attached it permananently to the cage in the living room so she always had access to it.
 
AudioHeart said:
Well i guess the customers that go to P@H won't be intrested in the animals welfare anyway or otherwise they'd go to a recue centre?
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I think that is very unfair and judgemental of you.

Many people are unaware that there are guinea pig rescues out there. Perhaps the rescues themselves should promote themselves a bit more, go to their local PAH and ask to put up posters and leave their contact details with staff there?

People also adopt unwanted pets from the PAH adoption areas rather than buying them as such from PAH.

My sister and her family took on three boars from the adoption area and they certainly have interest in their animals welfare. I shop regularly in PAH for supplies for my own GPs and dogs, as well as for our rescue.

Not everyone that shops there "aren't interested". Many may be "uneducated" in what constitutes good animal care, that's were hopefully staff such as the OP can help.
 
Can't stand that place, especially when they sneakily put their 'unwanted stock' in the adoption section.

I would never shop there and fund it, everything they sell can be bought cheaper online anyway.

I know a lot of people that have rescue animals and shop there who should know better but I suppose it's convienance and liking to see what you buy.

But then you could say that we should be boycotting a lot of places like Argos for example that sell tiny hutches.

I would imagine that a lot of rescues would rather have nothing to do with P@H and wouldn't want to collaborate with them (although I know some do). I think that a lot of people that buy animals from P@H would need a complete re-education on animal care which would put them off going to a rescue. I'd be interested to see if any P@H do actively advertise rescues though, I know they are rather generous when it comes to donations.

It's a bit of a vicious circle though, however you look at it. If anyone can buy a animal chances are a large percentage will not know about the appropriate care unless the staff are trained up well. Hence, kids get bored, animal gets sick etc etc and they come into rescue. Particulary with buns and pigs because old stereotypes still exist in regards to their care.

I had some on the phone the other day who basically said I was lying about rabbits being classed as 'exotic' ! rolleyes
 
hanna101 said:
I would imagine that a lot of rescues would rather have nothing to do with P@H and wouldn't want to collaborate with them (although I know some do). I think that a lot of people that buy animals from P@H would need a complete re-education on animal care which would put them off going to a rescue. I'd be interested to see if any P@H do actively advertise rescues though, I know they are rather generous when it comes to donations.
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I've been to one where there was a rabbit rescue with some of their bunnies for adoption on show there, right near the entrance which I thought was good of the shop to allow.


Are the recommended cage & hutch sizes for guinea pigs/rabbits just that a recommendation? So no legal implication of selling a cage that is too small.
 
I'm now sure what the legal cage sizes are, but sure it's a lot smaller than 4'X2', unfortunately. :(
 
Bailey said:
I've been to one where there was a rabbit rescue with some of their bunnies for adoption on show there, right near the entrance which I thought was good of the shop to allow.


Are the recommended cage & hutch sizes for guinea pigs/rabbits just that a recommendation? So no legal implication of selling a cage that is too small.
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Sadly the recommendations for hutch sizes in the welfare bill are just recommendations not law, hence they can sell these terrible 'prisons' for animals. You could argue that it 'doesn't meet their needs' which is in the bill but very hard to prove and prosecute for etc. As some people would buy a little hutch just as a base, whilst others use them as a permanent home which they are trapped in forever. It's disguisting when I think about how my rabbits binky and run at 50 mph around the flat! It would be a lot easier if selling animals was heavily restricted and only certain size cages were sold.
I hope this will happen one day and I make sure I am proactive writing letters to companies to encourage them to make changes. :)
 
Splat n Dexter said:
I think that is very unfair and judgemental of you.

Many people are unaware that there are guinea pig rescues out there. Perhaps the rescues themselves should promote themselves a bit more, go to their local PAH and ask to put up posters and leave their contact details with staff there?

People also adopt unwanted pets from the PAH adoption areas rather than buying them as such from PAH.

My sister and her family took on three boars from the adoption area and they certainly have interest in their animals welfare. I shop regularly in PAH for supplies for my own GPs and dogs, as well as for our rescue.

Not everyone that shops there "aren't interested". Many may be "uneducated" in what constitutes good animal care, that's were hopefully staff such as the OP can help.
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Whoops! I'm sorry I wasnt out to offend anyone...as i said before I'm not one to judge and it's up to the person buying to make that decision on where they buy their pets, however i was just putting forward my opinion no offence was intended, and I do understand their adoption centre which i mentioned before my friends have bought from P@H adoption centre and i am not one to say where abouts peeps get there pets from- its just my opinion that rescue centres should be the first stop for choosing a little one a new home! :)

And I have no problem with their pet supplies/staff! I regularly shop there myself and they have a fantastic range and some staff have brilliant knowledge it’s just the pet section I don’t agree with as we’re all entitled to our opinion. Sorry no offence was meant! :S

P.s forgot to put the customers who buy the pets not all customers! :)
 
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AudioHeart said:
Whoops! I'm sorry I wasnt out to offend anyone...as i said before I'm not one to judge and it's up to the person buying to make that decision on where they buy their pets, however i was just putting forward my opinion no offence was intended, and I do understand their adoption centre which i mentioned before my friends have bought from P@H adoption centre and i am not one to say where abouts peeps get there pets from- its just my opinion that rescue centres should be the first stop for choosing a little one a new home! :)

And I have no problem with their pet supplies/staff! I regularly shop there myself and they have a fantastic range and some staff have brilliant knowledge it’s just the pet section I don’t agree with as we’re all entitled to our opinion. Sorry no offence was meant! :S

P.s forgot to put the customers who buy the pets not all customers! :)
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None taken. Thanks for clarifying.
I do feel though that many people are unaware of guinea pig rescues exsisting here in the UK, so a pet shop seems the obvious place to go for these animals for the general public.
 
While I absolutely agree that a rescue should always be the first stop for anyone interesting in getting a guinea pig or any small pet, I just wanted to add my thoughts on P@H because I must admit to having been very impressed recently.

I buy hay and nuggets for my boys from my loca P@H and although a year ago I had similar complaints to other posters here, I have recently found that the staff are knowledgeable on the care they genuinely need (I have listened to advice being given to new owners and it was exactly the advice being given on this forum) and when I popped in during the hot spell we just had, the rabbit pens had sparkling clean, accessible water bottles, a pile of hay, fresh veggies and each pen had a rotating fan focused on it.

So while it really isn't the ideal choice, they do seem to have improved their care and welfare relating to the animals they sell. Perhaps the P@H near me aren't typical of stores around the UK? I hope they are though.

It must be tricky for you working there and being forced to follow their sales targets and so on - you're on the inside so to speak. It would be great if you could tell new owners about this site and recommend larger cages for the future, or a big permanant run etc.
 
P@H sounds amazing compared to Sully's pet shop here . . . rolleyes
 
It is a shame that not all of the public know of many fantastic rescue's here, it's sad that there isnt much advertising for smaller animals at rescue's, however saying this my local pet shop which doesnt stock animals does have a great notice board with all the animals that are needing new homes at our local rspca branch its a shame that more pet shops cant do this too :(

P@H is much much better than it was in previous years, the new store just opened near me is really good, the staff have a lengthy knowledge in the animals and in food/other products.:)
 
AudioHeart said:
P.s forgot to put the customers who buy the pets not all customers! :)
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well i dont think you really have the right to judge people in that way to be honest. I have bought guinea pigs from there before and a hamster so does this mean i dont give a :x about them? Just because rescues do home checks dont mean they go to better homes at all. I got my cat Maggie from the cats protection and they couldnt care less about her once we had her, we called hundreds of times because she didnt get on with my other cat and they just said leave her it will take time. they never got on and they never come back. And my OH useless cousin left her rabbits out in a drafty hutch with no bedding no water no food and about 3 inches of solid poo and they didnt in the cold weather at begin of this year yet she still passed a poxy home check. So you work it out.....

Sorry about the rant but it winds me up!!!
 
thb i like pets at home as i find the bits that i need eg claw clippers and toys in there but i can find some toys that they do stock at cheaper prices else where so i will be from the other place instead. i have always found the staff really friendly and helpfull but i do wish that supplied local hay and straw for the piggies instead of big manufactured saw dust and rubbish hay

however on the animal front i have alway rescued my piggies and i will always continue to do so however yesterday i went to the rspca centre near me, it my only rescue for miles!, and they didnt have a single piggy in so i couldnt adopt it then today i saw and fell in love with a really cute baby piggy so i have got her to go with my other two xx
 
Steviepig said:
my 2nd day on the job yesterday had a lot of people come in for guinea pigs.buying the ****ty little pet shop cages.if i want to keep my job we have quota's to keep to and selling 12 cavvie 80 cages a week is one of them.I just felt like screaming at the customers "go home build a c+c cage ffs get rid of the sawdust and give them sum fleece etc" and as for the guinea babies that arrived half of them didnt look 6 weeks old at all.but still being on prohbation i cant question the manager or even the local breeders.but on a good note i get a discount for my piggies get to handle lovely pigs and rabbits everyday and doing my first guinea pig workshop on saturday cant wait.theye have some lovely hamsters and reptiles I'm looking forward to handling today at work.
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i know what you mean! i'm looking for a part time saturday job and my dad suggested PAH, but i said i wouldnt want to work there for all the reasons you've described! i would worry every time someone bought an animal :(
good luck to you in your work, its great that you can look after the animals when you're with them :)
 
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