Pets at home

Zanzan

Zanzan

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 28, 2018
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Location
Derby, UK
I was quite impressed this morning....picking up something in pets at home I heard a staff member telling a customer that she would not sell her two baby guinea pigs because the woman had said she already had one at home but would get rid of it so she could have the two babies. The staff member was adamant and said what the woman was planning to do was cruel. In my opinion they shouldn't be selling any pigs at all but I was pleased to hear this bit of progress today.
 
My ex son in law is a manager at PAH and I’m aware of the extensive training they do in all animal care.
He says they refuse to sell single guinea pigs and will carefully checkout the prospective owners as he says a lot of people would impulse buy. He has had people want to buy 3 piggies at the same time ( that’s a no from them too) They are also strict on who they sell rabbits too as well. Obviously I only know of his shop.
 
Not selling single piggies,when you may have lost a piggie,needing a single piggie to go with the bereaved piggies is necessary sometimes.Rescues are adopting out two bonded piggies more frequently.
I agree not selling piggies in pet shops would be better,but we are not in a perfect world.
 
Master Boris was a p@h adoption centre pig. Apparently he had been unwell and had to be kept alone for treatment and couldn't go back in with the others once recovered. We were told about him by the lady who adopted Tim from us after the big bond fail. She was friendly with someone who worked there and made a call on our behalf to explain our situation. Master Boris was very popular with all of the staff there and they all came over to say goodbye to him.
 
eileen said:
Not selling single piggies,when you may have lost a piggie,needing a single piggie to go with the bereaved piggies is necessary sometimes.Rescues are adopting out two bonded piggies more frequently.
I agree not selling piggies in pet shops would be better,but we are not in a perfect world.
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I have come against the problem of needing a single to go with a bereaved piggy and they wouldn't let me have one. I did point out that they were causing problems for people who had lost a piggy. I was told there a no exceptions to the rule even if the bereaved piggy had come from them in the first place.
Some rescues have stopped bondings and are rehoming pairs but I can understand it, bonding takes a lot of time and space. We tried Bertie's bondings (9) last year at home in my pen, he was hard to please and was taking up so much of the rescue volunteers time that in the end they left piggies with me to try myself. We had no success with him, we are on the waiting list to be able to try again when/if there is a suitable victim!
 
eileen said:
Not selling single piggies,when you may have lost a piggie,needing a single piggie to go with the bereaved piggies is necessary sometimes.Rescues are adopting out two bonded piggies more frequently.
I agree not selling piggies in pet shops would be better,but we are not in a perfect world.
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I got lucky when I needed one to help my bereaved piggie. They had an odd number of girls at the time I went in and that was the only reason I was able to get her.

I wish that they had a sign up to state that they will only sell in pairs, as they were stating that they won't let me have a single piggy, no matter what.
 
RosieLily said:
Shame on these owners who think an animal is a mere pot plant, there to be replaced on a whim..
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I'm not sure what you mean by this comment but feel it sounds offensive. No one is talking about replacing a guinea pig on a whim. We are talking about finding a companion for a bereaved guinea pig when the rescues are no longer doing bondings or rehoming single piggies. Pets at Home used to be the best place for us to get a baby to fulfil this role rather than dodgy back yard breeders. Many of us have had to 'replace' a very loved pet when we are not emotionally ready because the bereaved guinea pig is pining and not eating. We would prefer not to buy from a pet shop but sometimes it was the only option.

Edited to say - Sorry @RosieLily I have been corrected! It's a long time since I read the original post and had forgotten that's how this thread started. I have not removed my post as it will effect the following ones. Please accept my apologies.
 
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I feel this may be relating to the original message (rather than any of the subsequent comments) where it was overheard in the shop that the person would ‘get rid’ of their existing single piggy in favour of the two babies in the shop.
 
piggieminder said:
I'm not sure what you mean by this comment but feel it sounds offensive. No one is talking about replacing a guinea pig on a whim. We are talking about finding a companion for a bereaved guinea pig when the rescues are no longer doing bondings or rehoming single piggies. Pets at Home used to be the best place for us to get a baby to fulfil this role rather than dodgy back yard breeders. Many of us have had to 'replace' a very loved pet when we are not emotionally ready because the bereaved guinea pig is pining and not eating. We would prefer not to buy from a pet shop but sometimes it was the only option.
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I think thr poster was replying to my original message about the customer saying she would get rid of her existing pig so she could buy the two babies.
Oh @Piggies&buns....posted at exactly the same time!
 
It's fine @RosieLily it's entirely my fault. I had forgotten the original post when you posted the thread had moved on to several of us talking about our experiences. I think I read the original post late at night two days before your post. I absolutely agree with what you had written and had explained and apologised here in the edit at the bottom.


piggieminder said:
I'm not sure what you mean by this comment but feel it sounds offensive. No one is talking about replacing a guinea pig on a whim. We are talking about finding a companion for a bereaved guinea pig when the rescues are no longer doing bondings or rehoming single piggies. Pets at Home used to be the best place for us to get a baby to fulfil this role rather than dodgy back yard breeders. Many of us have had to 'replace' a very loved pet when we are not emotionally ready because the bereaved guinea pig is pining and not eating. We would prefer not to buy from a pet shop but sometimes it was the only option.

Edited to say - Sorry @RosieLily I have been corrected! It's a long time since I read the original post and had forgotten that's how this thread started. I have not removed my post as it will effect the following ones. Please accept my apologies.
Click to expand...
 
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