Piggies Sold To Be Paired With Rabbits?

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WinnieandBear

WinnieandBear

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What is the score on pet shops selling guinea pigs and telling owners it is safe for them to live with rabbits? I found a supposedly "family run, ethical pet shop" online and then spotted their photo of a guinea pig housed with a rabbit. I did email and speak to the owner I assume who replied with this

"Thanks for your concern, also if you look online yourself you will see that the two species can live happily together, as can cats and dogs for example.
They have been raised together and are gentle toward one another, as they sleep together and snuggle together.
If you didn't come to your own conclusion you could of seen for yourseld. Our standards are incredibly high in comparison to most pet shops, the fact that you need to critique this small matter I find interesting. We have years of experience and knowledge, along with being qualified in various areas of animal care.
I think we are aware and capable.of meeting the needs of our animals and knowing information without looking online. Good luck looking at other pet shops, I hope if you can criticise about this you would happily to others about the abysmal standards."

Which I thought was very ignorant and quite a rude reply to a very valid customer comment! Makes me worry that this is what they tell customers who are buying either animal and this results in piggies getting stuck with a rabbit who may end up injuring it!

Anybody on here who would recommend the two being kept together? I'm sure it is not recommended at all these days with research into species...
 
1. Different nutritional requirements
Rabbits and guinea pigs need different foods to meet their different dietary requirements; guinea pigs need a diet rich in Vitamin C or else they can become ill. Rabbits are the opposite and may become ill from too much Vitamin C or a lack of other important vitamins. The 2 animals sharing the food may make it difficult to know which animal has eaten what.

2. Different language
Rabbits and guinea pigs communicate differently so it is in both of their interests to have a friend that talks the same language. You wouldn't want to lead your life living only with a gorilla for company - you might get on but could never understand each other properly!

3. Behaviour
Rabbits are a lot stronger than guinea pigs and can easily hurt or even kill a guinea pig without meaning to, simply by kicking out with their powerful back legs or jumping over the guinea pig. The rabbit may also bully the guinea pig. Sometimes guinea pigs ingest rabbit fur which can cause them problems.

4. Space and exercise needs
In the wild, rabbits run fast and free, covering the equivalent of 30 tennis courts daily. Guinea pigs have little legs and despite needing lots of space and exercise themselves, it differs greatly to the type of space rabbits need to hop, run and jump.

5. Disease
Rabbits can pass a bacteria onto guinea pigs, which can cause respiratory disease in them
 
I did email her back and explained what the RSPCA think of it and other animal welfare organisations... I was so astonished that an apparently "ethical" Petshop that thinks so much of itself would be so ignorant to different species breeds and compare them to cats and dogs. Also let her know what I thought of her unprofessional approach to customer concern! This is their website, http://www.purrrfectpets.co.uk/#!animals/cee5 which boasts about how they're the "better" petshop compared to so many others. Ignorance annoys me so much!
 
"Well I do not appreciate being dictated to, I don't see why you felt the need. Would you send the rspca an email?
I am aware of what the advisories are, however it is not law neither is.it 100% guaranteed their will be a problem, they are carefully monitored and CAN live happily. Doesn't always work as rabbits are a bigger more powerful species, however they have all.grown up together since 8 weeks old, they are not confined to a small cage and have a daily run.
I thanked you for your concern and emailed you back to confirm you yoi that we are aware of what we are doing and do not need emails saying how to do out job.
I will reiterate we are ALL qualified, knowledgeable and experienced. And have advisors also who work for welfare charities.
The animals welfare is always our priority, if there was a problem the issue would be resolved. If you are this passionate about this small almost insignificant criticism you have I can only hope you would put your passion to.good use where it is really needed in other pet shops who keep their guinea pigs and rabbits in small boxes with no excersise or stimulation, then maybe less would suffer.
Maybe if you saw for yourself you would realise how happy and content they all are together." Her next reply!
 
Sent her a reply with the links and information from everyone, such a shame places like that try and portray themselves to be caring and knowledgeable about the animals they sell and are clearly giving out false information to their customers.. sigh. x
 
For some people they are convinced that what they have always done is right. They will not change their ways if what they have done for years has worked and do not want to hear about new research and knowledge. We see this all the time in animal care, eg. Using choke chains on dogs.
 
"
Hello,
I simply expressed a concern for the way you are housing two species of animals. The extremely abrupt and defensive response indicates you or the business that you are representing are not open to take on any concern regarding the animals welfare, which in itself is not a very positive response and portrayal of a company who claim to be an "ethical" business. An "ethical" pet shop should be interested in complying with animal welfare recommendations. Not "the law" but what is considered best by professionals on how to house species of animals. Here is the official stance of the RSPCA, which lists all of the problems involved with keeping the species together but in a thoughtful and considered way. http://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/rabbits/company/rabbitsandguineapigs
It may not be "The Law" but myself and others should expect an ethical petshop to take into consideration what is clearly recommended with much research, the suggested way of housing two very different species; not what you may get away with, within the law?
From your quite frankly appalling response to a concerned customer, it is quite clear that you and the company you are representing do not care about the animals as much as you claim.
Thank you for your understanding,
Becky"

was my response, thank you for your comments by the way everyone. Yes, @gothmummy clearly complete ignorance on her part, such a bad portrayal and of course appalling attitude as my initial comment was not rude at all.
 
I tried to be as nice as possible and sent this:
Hello, first of all would like to say that you shop is amazing and truly you are doing the right thing and I wish every pet shop could be like yours. Now although I dont suggest separating them if they have a strong bond at the moment, I have a concern about the guinea pig and rabbit housed together. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Different nutritional requirements
Rabbits and guinea pigs need different foods to meet their different dietary requirements; guinea pigs need a diet rich in Vitamin C or else they can become ill. Rabbits are the opposite and may become ill from too much Vitamin C or a lack of other important vitamins. The 2 animals sharing the food may make it difficult to know which animal has eaten what.

2. Different language
Rabbits and guinea pigs communicate differently so it is in both of their interests to have a friend that talks the same language. You wouldn't want to lead your life living only with a gorilla for company - you might get on but could never understand each other properly!

3. Behaviour
Rabbits are a lot stronger than guinea pigs and can easily hurt or even kill a guinea pig without meaning to, simply by kicking out with their powerful back legs or jumping over the guinea pig. The rabbit may also bully the guinea pig. Sometimes guinea pigs ingest rabbit fur which can cause them problems.

4. Space and exercise needs
In the wild, rabbits run fast and free, covering the equivalent of 30 tennis courts daily. Guinea pigs have little legs and despite needing lots of space and exercise themselves, it differs greatly to the type of space rabbits need to hop, run and jump.

5. Disease
Rabbits can pass a bacteria onto guinea pigs, which can cause respiratory disease in them
Please note I am not trying to be rude I just think that in future you should not house guinea pigs and rabbits together. I do love your shop and am in no way trying to argue.
 
@PistachioPiggy oh well done! I really hope that she reconsiders and isn't rude to you too... I tried to be very polite at first but she was very stand offish, all we can do is educate people and hope they do the best for their piggies! xx
 
I am so pleased to see this. This shows how caring YOU are. The pet shop clearly don't care about animal welfare and the replies are appalling! I notice she said they keep a close eye on them... Do they go home with them then or does someone stay and watch them overnight? You know we are all behind you 100% of the way.
 
Hahaha, I have just read their homepage, about us section.. Have you read it? Have they even read what they've written themselves?
"I thoroughly believe that pet shops should be done differently, animals do not need to be in small pens with no human contact and little to do. We are different and Purrrfect Pets is how it should be, theres nothing worse than walking into a pet shop and feeling upset and emotional due to the animals wellbeing. We want customers to be happy at what they see, feel that the animals have the highest of care and admiration for them. "
I have highlighted the particular part. Her email back to you clearly shows different!
 
@Galaxy&nibbles I know right! I was astonished at her response after they make all of those claims on the website... thank you for the support, I hate seeing animals looked after incorrectly, not to mention if the owners/shop can't take on board customer comments! x
 
They certainly need to work on their level of politeness when responding to customer e-mails, don't they? It didn't take them long to get snarky and rude about a valid concern and question.
 
When I was a kid we kept our two guinea pigs together with our mini lop rabbit. This was in the late 80's and they were sold together from the pet store. Although we never had any problems or injuries (the piggies were often found sleeping in a corner with the bunny) it's not a fantastic arrangement. We had a ton of space for them- a 6 foot x 4 foot pen- and I think that was probably one of the reasons as to why we didn't have problems. But it's very true that rabbits could seriously injure a little piggy and it could happen in just a few seconds. Rabbits are feisty little things too and guinea pigs are a bit more docile in my opinion. Just because we didn't have any problems in the past, I wouldn't house them together again. Back then it was "common knowledge" that pigs and rabbits could live together! Thankfully, I haven't seen rabbits and pigs housed together lately here at all. Maybe some people are catching on.
 
The woman certainly needs some customer skills! It is wrong of her to berate you and reply to you in a totally unprofessional manner for a business. She obviously took it personal as her response shows. Perhaps if you have their Facebook page then post the correspondence on there for everyone to see lol
 
I was thinking that... It really winds me up when people don't take you seriously at all. Whether I agreed with someone or not, I would never write anything like that.
 
I work in retail so have high standards and expect the same towards me from a customer service perspective! Her grammar was awful and she obviously hasn't thoghht through how to respond it's all very very unprofessional, if they arr unprofessional regarding this it makes you wonder what else they are shoddy about. Such a bad representation for themselves x
 
Maybe I will pop it on Facebook and see what she says then. Nothing like a bit of public exposure I doubt she would have responded like that on a a social media pag for everyone to see!
 
PiggyOinkOink said:
The woman certainly needs some customer skills! It is wrong of her to berate you and reply to you in a totally unprofessional manner for a business. She obviously took it personal as her response shows. Perhaps if you have their Facebook page then post the correspondence on there for everyone to see lol
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Oh no put the whole conversation between you down there! Then she might think twice about what you say!
 
Well done for saying something, hopefully at a later date they'll do something about it when enough time has passed for them to believe they made the decision for themselves. People can be strange.

MyGuineaPigPals said:
Above all else am I the only one annoyed at how bad they shops grammar and typos are on their response, shes typed it in a rage with no customer service perspective
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I laughed at this. The whole time I was reading the responses I was laughing Imagining some hunched up wee woman with flushed cheeks and a snarl mashing the keyboard with her fists and swearing under her breath....Or just sat the rabbit on the keyboard and let it stomp all over it and pressed send. Oh dear.
 
WinnieandBear said:
I work in retail so have high standards and expect the same towards me from a customer service perspective! Her grammar was awful and she obviously hasn't thoghht through how to respond it's all very very unprofessional, if they arr unprofessional regarding this it makes you wonder what else they are shoddy about. Such a bad representation for themselves x
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Yes she was very defensive in all her responses so it can suggest that she can't take criticism and that she is trying to hide something. Funnily, I had just watched an episode of The Hotel Inspector in Llandudno right before I read your post which highlights how NOT to act in relation to your customers (online); the proprietor being in a similar manner to what this woman has done lol
 
I think u hit a nerve, the points have clearly been made before and she's stuck in her I know best head. Terrible customer service and even worse brand damaging...
 
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