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When To Support A Pet Shop?

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The_Zu

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My husband and I are looking at getting ourselves some guinea pigs this Christmas, assuming our landlord is alright with them! We have a no pet policy, but I'm hoping they will be alright with guinea pigs as they are caged and can't destroy properly like a cat or dog might when left alone. But on to my question!

First of all, we are going to get the guinea pigs themselves from our local SPCA. I see no need to buy them when many need homes! Especially since so many pet stores mistreat their animals :( But that also makes it difficult to want to buy ANYTHING from a pet store. You don't want to support them, even if you're not buying the animals, but buying their product. That being said, we have one pet store nearby that I think may be a pet store I don't mind supporting. I wanted your thoughts on it:

1. They have two different locations, one much further from me, but they split their males and females so that one store has only males, the other only females. (I don't know if they still have accidental sexings though)

2. They don't sell any puppies or kittens from mills, they only foster them from the local shelter to re home! You can see some of their cats and get a back story on their temperament and how they were rescued. Usually older cats, but occasionally kittens from rescued pregnant cats. They don't do dogs, only because they don't have the proper space for them. I don't know where they get their smaler animals however. They do re-home any small animals that people abandon that they bought from their shop though! All of the rabbits in now are re-homed rescues. They don't just throw them at the shelter. They often offer discounted cages and free supplies to their re-homed pets that have been returned. The cats are in small enclosures though... They get out for bigger play time and areas but I don't know how frequently.

3. They have all the proper things in each animals cage. What really clued me in was the rats! They actually had things to climb, proper hammocks and hidey holes. All the animals had proper food options, proper substrate, etc. They get fresh veggies twice a day (the ones that eat them). Imagine going into a pet store and seeing each animals habitat looking different, because its suited to them! Not just substrate, one igloo, water, wheel and food for each animal, regardless of needs. The cages still are on the small side though... I know they should be bigger for some of these animals. They do take animals out into bigger runs though occasionally, swapping between them. But I don't know if its often enough for them. Browsing their food they actually have some of the best brands, but do sell some of the stuff not as good for your pets, even if they don't use it for their animals.

4. They split apart animals that start fighting... If a hamster or gerbil or guinea reaches adolescence and doesn't get along they make sure it has its own space.

5. They frequently clean the cages/habitats, but their is still a large animal smell. Not sure if its bad for the animals, or unavoidable in a pet store with so many! The cages are also open to the public... You can pick up and handle them any time. They have staff to help! It makes for much more social animals that are stimulated, but not sure if it isn't TOO much for them. The story is never over crowded though, so maybe it's balanced?

So, would you guys consider this, at least, a better pet shop? I'd love to be able to support them I'd they are and buy supplies here. I've even considered adopting a guinea pig from them if they get in a rescue that needs a new furever home!
 
Hello, I have just replied on your cage thread.

I think it is great you are thinking of getting piggies and brilliant you are doing so much research. I wish I'd known about forums when we got our first girls... It would have helped with the learning curve :))

While the forum is pro rescue, we understand that not all people can get to a rescue and in the UK we are lucky that we have many reputable ones often within travelling distance, we understand this is not always the case for those around the world. It is great you seem to have a rescue near to yourself that you can get piggies from.

As to the pet shop debate and getting supplies it comes from personal preference. We get all our piggy stuff either online or from a local pet supply store that doesn't sell piggies. However if I can't find what I want need I will use other stores such as pets at home, my local one is very good compared to ones I have read negative things about.

You get good and bad pet shops. While I do not agree with livestock being sold in stores, if that store practised good welfare with their animals I would if need buy equipment and food from them.

From what you say the pet store near you seems reputable :)
 
Not every pet store is a bad one when it comes to pets. I would have been happy to buy piggies from my local family-run one at one point as they were very carefully sourced and were definitely NOT breeder mill pigs, but due to new changes in licensing they do not keep any livestock any more. They housed theirs properly too, and they provided detailed information on where the pigs came from. The other animals they sold were gerbils, which were well kept and bred from their home, and we used to chat about the mothers, and how she'll retire this one as she's now had two litters etc. i.e. they cared.

The thing about pet shops in general are that a great many will get their livestock from mills or from breeders who do not have very high welfare standards, so plenty of people are now getting clued up and deciding not to support this kind of trade. Every so often you will get a pet shop who's owners also avoid the mills and dodgy breeders.
Yours sounds like an ethical place. At the end of the day, if they are genuine rehomes or rescues then I don't see the problem. It would be worth asking questions about support etc, and about their medical records and checks before being put up for sale. Rescues can vary very much in their ethics and standards, and range from fantastic to awful. Whilst your pet shop is not technically a rescue as such I think you still really need to know where they are on the scale of things :)

At the end of the day we also need to buy our supplies from somewhere, whether it's from an eBay store, internet based pet warehouse, direct from the producer/manufacturer or an actual pet store. Most pet stores do not even sell livestock, so you really do have a wide choice in regards whether or not to support a store that sells animals. Personally I buy from many different places. I get my meadow hay and some of the food from my local family-run store for example, and most other things on-line from various places.

:)
 
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