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P@H

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Lol. Its not ewww its YAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAY GO KYRA GO KYRA GO KYRA lol
 
Tom_cat said:
I know, that on here there are people who pretend not to like P@H to all of you who dont, then actually buy all of their goods from them, including the animal itself!

I feel it is quite sad, that people have to do that as they know, that when they come on here and say where they got the animal, they will have all of the 'Why didnt you go to a rescue?' or 'Are there no rescues around your area?' or 'I dont like people buying animals from P@H' that is always said when people say about buying from them, or have just baught from them.
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I have had no experiences with P at H Scunthorpe never bought pets from there. We go there for the odd bits and bobs and Hutch stain etc.

However the section above Tom where you indicate that forum members are feeling so uncomfortable about mentioning P at H purchases that they actually feel the need to lie about it does concern me. I would like members to be able to speak to one of the mod team if they have had negative comments from other members to the point that they actually feel they have had to lie about purchases. This sort of thing does not make for a happy forum. :(
 
I know it doesnt Lindsay. Its sad isnt it. But when i baught from P@H i didnt mention were i got them from, and when i was asked i felt that there would be certain people who would question why i baught from them and not a got a rescue. So i lied! I didnt say P@H, i said another shop when i was quesitoned about it.
 
The animals P@H sell are a very small part of the 'stock' sold, they have a huge selection of products for just about most animals. In my own opinion, the hay, sawdust and so on may not be to the taste of some people or not the quality that some would chose, but it is affordable and good and does promote the care of animals. Whilst some of the staff are less than knowledgeable (they are youngsters paid minimum wage with little experience - so I think it is almost too much to expect a great deal of advice !) there are also some very committed individuals who genuinely care for the animals.

Whenever I go in to pick up supplies for my various pets, the animals are immaculately clean, with lots of runs,tubes, hides, food, water and company...just about everything they could want including lots of space in their living quarters. I think it's worth pointing out that many of the animals sold will be better cared for whilst in P@H than once they leave p@H. They may be stuffed into tiny cages, hardly cleaned out, hardly handled and fed inappropriately. They may indeed have an awful life and suffer disease, illness and misery brought about by a new owner. So, I have no issue with how the animals are kept in P@H but it does leads to my main gripe about all pet shops and not just [email protected] make it far too easy for animals to be purchased on a whim by people who are inexperienced. There are no checks on the owner and they quite willingly shovel a rat/gineapig/hamster into a box to be taken away into a new life that may be far from desirable.

I don't like the idea of pets shops selling animals per se, but in a comparison of the large P@H and local independent stores, I can say that p@H have come out ontop everytime. Dealing in living animals will never be 100% successful, there will always be some errors and even some disasters, so the only answer is don't buy animals there.
 
I often go exploring when I have a day/weekend off work & usually end up at a petshop or somewhere that sells livestock,i've noticed over the last 18months or so that pets@home have improved quite dramatically,although they're not perfect they have revised the way they present & sell the stock,I personally am more concerned about the smaller independant "petshops" selling stock..I recently visited one selling a single pig...red raw patches on its spine...stacked on top of a cage with rabbits...I expressed my concerns to the owner & was given the piggy( which after treatment for mites...2xivomec injections)I rehomed via a friend,I reported the shop to local licensing dept /RSPCA along with the invoice for veterinary treatment.
 
well i have bought all my guinea pigs from P@H and never had a bad experience the P@H in my area "FALKIRK" have very friendly staff and really good on giving advice infact one of the shop owners is guinea pig crazy so he knows what he is talking about. when i do go into the shop i do have a look at the animals to see if they are well looked after and have plenty of food and water etc. i have no complaints with P@H as whenever i have asked them a question they have always went out there way to help me. O0
 
My Bubble was a p@h piggy and he lived to nearly 7 so no health issues there.

Fugly is also from p@h and the only time he has been to vets was to confirm that he had spurs not anything more serious, he is happy and healthy and a mad little thing would not be without him.

Yesterday p@h checked 4 water bottles for me as I had a problem with them leaking and they were happy to do that until they found one that didnt leak.

They have just opened adoption centre there which is great.

The GPs have loads of hay a good selection of fresh veg and the staff really seem to care, the piggies are regularly handled to get them used to people. I would rather see pets in a store like this than in a garden centre tucked away.
 
Yeah, i dont agree with garden centers. They know about plants, not pets
 
yeah and most of the time the animals are quite old because people go to garden centres to buy plants the the pets just get left there!
 
I really like my local P@H, i got my 1st pigs from there then found this forum and everyone was saying such bad things about it i was paranoid my pigs were going to die or get ill! they never did! I got 4 of my pigs, my rabbit and my hamster from there and dont regret it at all! My pigs are gorgeous and very happy! the only one who has had anything seriously wrong with him was from a rescue *touch wood* my rabbit is the most friendly thing and he's healthy! And my hammy is a cutey, she's lovely! The staff at my local have never been anything but helpful to me and the advice they've given has been the same as ive got on here and from vets! I'm so glad you started this thread because i was getting so fed up with all the negative comments about it! I'm tired of all the moaning people do about it, the way i see it, if people didnt buy pets from P@H they'd get them from smaller independent shops which in my experience are far worse. In an ideal world rescues are the way to go but sadly people will always buy from pet shops and i for one would much rather it be P@H than others around here. Saying that P@H living conditions are much better than one or two 'rescues' ive seen. x
 
Positives about p@h, - rabbits and guineas separate, all animals appear clean, in my store I have only ever seen one sick animal; which they did take out the back, they have leaflets in store for advice, they honestly say when a hutch is not big enough for a rabbit, some members of staff attempt to gain knowledge, at least they offer compensation/pay the cost of vet fees for sick animals.

While I agree that people who can sex animals should check the gender themselves before buying, the fact is that lots of people just walk in, wanting a pet for their kids or themselves, they don't know any better with regards to getting an animal from a rescue or somewhere where it's guaranteed health
In reality a lot of people don't think through having pets, what they need, why different animals need different things, and the responsibility they're taking on. Which of course is why so many end up in rescues.

So the fault is with the buyer, for not researching properly, but it's also the fault of not just p@h but other pet shops for allowing the accessibility of these animals - I bought 4 guineas from p@h in 2003/4, just because I wanted guineas and remembered them from my young years. They looked healthy in the shop, were healthy and 3 out of 4 of these are still with us! But what gets me is the ease of sale - I was simply asked if I'd had guineas before, were they going to live alone, did I already have a hutch and food, ok, that'll be however much please. It does depend on the member of staff though, my 1st & 2nd guinea were sold to me in that manner, but the 3&4th the member of staff was much more helpful, took me round the store to find things I needed, suggested things to me & was generally making a sale, but a responsible sale
 
I agree Emma the smaller ones are worse. That Garden Centre not far from you....still give me nightmares! The problem is rescues aren't in every area Merseyside has none we only have the RSPCA and look at the drama I have with getting Gus! It's been a week and I'm still waiting! People would just rather go to a shop and get one because it's easier. I can understand that.

Sunshine, Twinkle and Pudsey are all healthy and never caused me problems (touchwood) Anyone can be a rescue thats the thing. There are no laws to say you can't.

We are lucky that our two local P@H's aren't bad. I'm glad they have stopped selling birds though, they were always escaping from Aintree...lol ;D
 
I'm not a fan of P@H but the one near me is really bad and I havent been to any others, from what I've heard on here I think it depends on the store :)
 
the other thing is going to a pet shop to me says its not an impulsive buy you are either going to get pet supplies for your pet or going to look for a pet, I dont think its impulse as such as you know what is in the shop ok you may get a pet sooner than you planned but the fact you are in there says you want a pet, otherwise why go. If you go to a garden centre and come away with a rabbit that is an impulse buy.

There is a lot of negative things said about impulse buying a pet but not all impulse buyers are bad pet parents. Even a impulse buyer can be responsible and put the time in.

The RSPCA nearest me wont home to anyone without a garden so if you live in 1st for flat you are deemed not good enough to have a GP, the nearest rescue I know of after that is about an hour away making you out of catchment area. Even people on here have been turned down by rescues for what are quite strange reasons, things that most people wouldnt be able to provide anyway.

I understand rescues need to be tough to make sure the animals go to a good home but some standardisation (sp) is required I feel, at the moment it appears that even different branches of the RSPCA have different rules no wonder people are confused.
 
Tom_cat said:
Good, I'm glad people understand. The staff might be thick as **** but if you are going to buy an animal, you should no everyhting about them anyway.
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Unfortunately they don't which is why I don't think any pet shop should be selling animals (not limited of course to P@H). If they didn't sell animals then people WOULD have to research and not buy their small pets on a whim. Impulse buyers CAN be good owners but lets get real here... they're not all good. I find it interesting that someone has posted about one of my local stores on here. My experience of it is very different but I won't go into detail.

I think it's lovely that people have had good experiences but this is on a forum full of animal lovers. Unfortunately they make up a small amount of the general animal-purchasing population - for every one person on here there are at least another 10 who don't and will never have a clue.

And Tom - don't make the assumption that people who moan about it don't do anything, they do. Yes, this is an open forum and we have the right to have differing opinions on this one.
 
Agree with Lorna, but you know that Tom! :)

It's like getting blood out of stone rehoming from the RSPCA but I totally understand that, they don't want the animal back and need it to go to a good home. :)
 
I agree, I am personally getting sick of all this moaning as well. You bought the animal, it is your problem, not the animals. Before you buy an animal, check it yourself. When i got mine i double checked and I have never ever gotten the wrong gender of pig. lets not be called "themoaningguineapigforum" lets be called "the guineapigforum" i like the second one better....

-go's on strike- NO more Moaning! NO more Moaning.
 
To be honest you think we moan, there are worse than us out there. Sadly for me it's not about petshops it is about were the animal actually comes from. I don't agree that if you bought the animal its your problem. You buy an animal in good faith that he/she is fit, healthy and has been looked after properley. I know too well that it isn't always the case.
 
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