Really ticked of at local pet shop

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milliekitten

Hi all
About a month ago I went to a large pet shop (not going to name it but its on the wirral and not P@H) and was quite shocked with the way they keep the rabbits and guineas, they are all kept together just split into male/female groups, the sawdust stank of urine and for some reason a rabbit and guinea were squashed in a tiny cage in the main pen! They have signs up saying Not to feed veg and I witnessed them selling a rabbit and guinea to live together, but what was worse was the special offer "buy a zoozone 1 cage and get a guinea pig free or buy a zoozone 2 and get a rabbit free!" zoozone1 zoozone2

When I got home I sent them a very nice letter pointing what I'd seen and how guineas should never be kept alone or with rabbits, well as you can guess I received no response so when driving past today I thought I would see if I had mad any difference, I was sadly disappointed it was worse, they still have the special offer, the smell of urine was worse, children were reaching into the pens and a tiny guinea pig was being squashed by about 10 rabbits :( Well if I had more money I would have bought the lot and if I had more guts I would have made a fuss right there and then but I have neither :( So my question do I try writing another letter? Do I try contacting the local press? or could all northwest guinea pig forum users visit and bombard the management with complaints >:D >:D

Love
A very ticked Sarah & the gang ;)
 
I'd write once more stating what you have seen
then questioning the special offers
then mention the RSCPA and the Small Animal Act that states animals should be kept with their own kind then mention that if you don't see any changes within a week you wil be contacting the local Trading standards and the licencing Dept at the Environmental helath who issue thier pet licence!
That should shake them up a bit!
Ron x
 
I would contact your local council and RSPCA anyway. There are regulations regarding the size of cages in which animals should be kept so if the cage was tiny then I'm sure your local council will be interested.
 
Sarah if its the garden centre one then it's disguisting I've been there too. Perhaps we can get our heads together and sort something out.
 
I hate those plastic lids as well remind me of tanks! :-X
 
O0TGPF WILL WIN O0

:o WATCH OUT TO ALL THE OTHER PLACES THAT STILL DO NOT PUT THE ANIMALS WELFARE FIRST BEFORE THE MONEY ! :smitten:
 
our fodder store in south oz keep rabbits and piggies together. i have told them it is wrong and dangerous to the piggies, have contacted the council and rspca and they have all said more or less mind your own business there is NO harm in keeping a bunny and piggy together. and the state of some of them with bald patches and scabs etc makes you want to cry :'( :'( :'(
went in there thursday to get hay and straw and they would have had a four foot wire cage with about 30 chooks in it. :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff: so from what i have read on here oz laws for piggies are as usual miles behind yet again >:( >:( >:(
hoping you can do something for these poor animals in this petshop sending hugs and conquering vibes to you all :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
I cant beleive that. How can you other an animal for free?

Get in touch with your council and rspca. someone needs to be done to stop that. xx
 
Hi all,
Louise I'll pm you the name of the place and we can compare notes! I've got the afternoon of work so i'll start on another letter, i've also emailed the makers of the zoozone cages to see if they issue any recommendations on suitability for rabbits/guineas ect.
Love
Sarah
 
Hi Sarah, drop me an email [email protected] inbox is full until later! :)

The one I am thinking about is on the way to Chester and is a garden centre. We love the garden centre but we were disguisted with the animals. Last time we were there there was a gorgeous Alpaca rabbit on woodshavings! 98) And they stunk, so looks like the place (if it is the same one) has taken a turn for the worst! :tickedoff:

Speak soon off to clean pigs and spoil them with fresh grass and dandilions! :smitten:

x
 
I think you should definitely get in touch with the local Council and RSPCA - that's a terrible way to keep animals! :tickedoff:
 
Just finished work (so much for fininshing at 1pm :tickedoff:) have received an email from hagen who make the cages, I quote

"Dear Sarah
Thank you for your email.
The Zoozone 1 is not recommended for rabbits, one guinea pig would be OK, the Zoozone 2, one small breed rabbit or two guinea pigs.
Kind regards"

Right I wouldnt keep a hamster in those cages let alone a guinea pig so when i've finished the letter to the pet shop I think I might start one to hagen! I've got my glass of wine, my laptop and sat in the sun, time to get writing O0
Love
Sarah
 
Go girl! Give them hell! ;)

I was in our local pet shop a few months ago and over heard the shop assistant giving advice saying that a guinea pig and rabbit are fine to be housed together! I spoke up and said they shouldn't be, the assitant looked at me with disgust and said she'd been trained in this area and i didnt know what i was talking about! :tickedoff: :tickedoff: I was fuming, my husband had to ursher me out of the shop! >:(
 
Ok guys this is the first letter I sent and the first draft of the new one, feel free to suggest improvements, point out my rubbish grammer etc ;D

Letter sent 13th April:

Dear Sir/Madam

On a recent trip to your store I found myself concerned at the apparent lack of knowledge of the animals you are selling, I am referring to the rabbit and guinea pig display. As a large pet supplier I was surprised to see that you ignore RSPCA guide lines and keep both rabbits and guinea pigs in the same enclosure and sell them as companions to one another.

“Companionship - to be with other rabbits or humans. The widespread practice of keeping rabbits and guinea pigs together is not recommended.â€
Source - http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=RabbitsPetCare

Also of concern was a sign stating to feed rabbits vegetable matter sparingly once a week.
Again from the RSPCA website I quote
“A mixed diet of grass, rabbit pellets, apples, carrots, dandelions and a good quantity of hayâ€

My final concern was the selling of indoor cages with a free rabbit or guinea pig, neither cages meet RSPCA guide lines on size requirements and as anyone with an interest in guinea pigs should know the only number of guinea pigs you should never keep is one.
I implore you to re-examine your small animal department, remember that you are what members of the public see as setting the standard if you keep rabbits and guinea pigs together then why shouldn’t they? If you sell tiny hutches to keep them in then what’s wrong with that? You are condemning these animals to short miserable lives and sending the wrong message to the public.
Please find enclosed some more information on guinea pig and rabbit care which I hope you use and pass the information on to your staff and customers.

Yours Sincerely

Miss S Hodgson



Letter 2 first draft:

Dear Sir/Madam

I wrote to you on 13th April 2008 with regard to your sale and display of rabbits and guinea pigs, voicing my concern with the enclosures, the hutches and cages you are selling them with and the apparent lack of knowledge and accurate advice given by your staff. I am yet to receive a reply.

On another visit to your store on Bank holiday Monday I was dismayed to see the animals again in mixed guinea pig/rabbit groups and the special offer “buy zoozone 1 and get a guinea pig or buy a zoozone 2 and get a rabbit†still running, also the smell of animal urine was very overpowering and the number of children and their parents reaching into the pens must have been causing the animals great distress.

I will reiterate the information I provided before and hopefully this time you will take notice or I may be forced to contact the RSPCA, DEFRA and the local council as I believe you are in breach of the pet animals act 1951 and breaching 3 of the 5 main points from the animal welfare act 2007, I enclose copies of both.

Rabbits and guinea pigs must be kept with their own species, they are not to be sold as companions to one another
Guinea pigs must be kept in pairs or groups as they are sociable animals and to keep only one would be cruel.
Guinea pigs require a house of at least 2ft X 3ft for a pair larger for more. Rabbits require even more space with large breeds being more suited to becoming house rabbits or kept in an adapted shed.
Guinea pigs require fresh fruit and vegetables twice daily, rabbits once.

As I stated in my previous letter I believe that those of us who work in the public sector have a duty to provide our clients with up to date and accurate information about the products and services we provide. I find it very sad that you feel it is acceptable to continue misleading your clients and leading these animals to an unhappy and often shortened life. I hope that when I visit your store in the near future I will see considerable improvements.

Yours Sincerely

Miss S Hodgson
 
very well written, would also stress that the animals must be seperated into their own sex like all the male piggies in one or more cages and all the females seperately in another cage or more. to prevent unwanted pregnancies and the smae with the bunnies.
the only mistake i saw is in letter 2 line 10 you have Guinea pigs require a house of at least 2ft X 3ft for a pair larger for more. instead of Guinea pigs require a house of at least 2ft X 3ft or a pair larger for more.
like i said very well written and if they can keep the sexes seperate hence less prenant babies having babies. really hoping it works and action is done. sending hugs and success vibes for you and those poor animals. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: please keep us updated. O0
 
If this is the aquatic/petshop wedged between 2 garden centers then I agree, we stopped buying from there years ago becuase of this practice. They also sell fish and tanks together (any fish owner will know you need to get the water right before introducing fish 98)) We have complained several times over the past few years, nothing has changed the shop is perforing the exact same bad practices it did when I was a child. Unfortunatley it is not the only place on the wirrral behaving like this. In a way I hope it is ignorance, but I'm pretty sure it is cash over conscience with these shops. :'(
Still great letter sarah. We should compare notes as we are only round the corner from each other (so to speak) O0

Jane
 
That's the one Jane. We used to go there for an afternoon out, from where we are its easy to get to from the Runcorn Bridge. But I refuse now they had a long haired bun on woodshavings and she was cacked in mattd fur it was horrid. We have a couple of really bad ones in Liverpool but this place takes the biscuit! :(
 
It is quite a common place for people to go on a sunday afternoon. I used to pester to go there when I was a little un :)

My OH didn't know anything about GP's when I met him. he assumed that it was okay to keep GP's and rabbits together., because that's what he saw in every pet shop. He was (and he won't mind me saying this ;) )ignorant, he's far from that now. I got me a man that adore GP's as much if not more than me :smitten:. Anyway my point is The people who run this pet shop are not ignorant. They are fully aware of how each animal they sell should be cared for, and still they take no notice. Unfortunately this means they are giving unsuspecting customers duff info. Its all about the bottom line. >:( and to hell with the animals :'(
I remember the very last time we went in there was a really wild rabbit in one of the pens biting and kicking everything in there with it. I kicked up a fuss and complained but was told nothing could be done. the really sad thing about it is that it basically its an average petshop, they keep the pets the way most other pet shops do. It pains me to say it but P@H are actually leading the way on the wirral as far as petshops go. :embarassed: (going off issue a bit still very unhappy about the breeders they purchase from though)

Anyway. I'm happy to write a letter to them myself. Keeping the pressure up may help. They are probaly the largest petshop on the wirral, and should be acting responsibly.
 
I totally agree Jane. It was me that didn't know anything about Guinea Pigs, Peter did keep them as a youngster and used to breed. This was in the 70's and just thought it was ok to do so with his brother. He loved the pigs and had a special one called 'mum' who is the image of Fleur now! So when I was learning about them we have a bit of a conflict about how things have changed and it's just not the done thing now. So we have both learnt together. His idea was to keep the family line going, I can understand that but I will not do it and thankfully he sees my way of thinking.

I'm unhappy with where the animals come from at petshops because we just don't know if they come from rodent farms and animal mills. I remember Pets at Home having loads of rexes in and I mean about 40 surely that is not from a breeder's garden.

But then you do get the average person taking the babes in I have seen this with rabbits and the woman said to me I've just dropped my baby rabbits off, I had to walk out and hold my tongue!

I have written to this pet shop without a reply! We won't be visiting again. :(
 
Hi
Yes it is the pet shop you think it is ::) I havent received any reply to either letters and to be honest as long as people spend money there I dont think they are going to change no matter how much we pester them :'( I havent been there since and dont really want to as I know I would get upset. I have thought of writing to the local paper but the pet shop advertise with them quite often so I dont think the paper would publish it.

Jane did you see in the globe/news this week that P@H Bromborough have 'donated' two piggies to a local school, i'm not sure I really agree with that. All the kids are now going to want one, I bet P@H sell a lot of piggies this weekend :'(
 
I don't agree with any animals in schools not even fish! Emily's school have a rabbit called Domino and she stays there over weekends. I have told them I'll take her for weekends not a problem! She hasn't been spayed hasn't had her myxi vac or the virus one and she lives in a small hutch and is hardly handled. The other day she was in her run and she was just sitting in the rain. My Dad who is the caretaker says she is stupid I said no she is depressed. :(
 
I didn't read that.... to be honest we use the globe to soak up wee under the vetbed ;)
I have no probs really where pigs are kept as long as they are looked after and have all they need. Lets hope P@H gave then good advice and a responsible teacher is taking fulltime care of the little mites. I suppose thats one way to get shut of the pigs that don't sell (or is that being cynical?)
sarah have the

Jane pups arrived yet?
 
our lcoal pet shop was selling seperate sexes of guineas with rabbits, they had a big enclosure, but the last 3/4 times i have gone, i haven't seen any guinea pigs at all, he must have stopped selling piggies for some reason.
 
Hiya Jane
Still no mini pigs ::) I swear for the past week she has given every sign that they are coming but nothing, she is a week over her due date, she was a bit cranky just now when I did there tea so who knows tonight might be the night ::) ;D
Love
Sarah
 
hi sarah,

I don't blame her for being cranky :laugh: its boiling, shes covered in fur and she's probably carrying half her body weight extra... I'd be soooo grumpy if I were in her position. ;D
;D just read your other post, bet they weren't expecting that when they got on the bus today! you'll be giving the old men heart attacks.

jane
 
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