Grr to pet stores

edited November 2008 in General
We went to the mall today and of course we had to stop at the pet store. There's a 6 month old black and tan shiba in there that's on clearance for $800. Original price is $1500. He's probably been living in that small cubicle for the past 3-4 months and he just looked so sad. I wonder how cheap they'll bring the price down and what happens if he doesn't get sold. I'm just so freakin pissed. For $1500 I could get a shiba from a quality breeder, afford to take time off work (if I worked) and take a cross country road trip to pick him up and still probably have money left over for puppy goods. I wish I could bring him home without promoting puppy mills :(
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Comments

  • edited November -1
    I am glad my parents never would let us buy animals from pet stores. THey always told me they were sickly and ill cared for. (I think they may have broken down and bought fish once though) - not sure if that really counts cause I am not into fish enough to know where else you get them (Wal-Mart not included). I am not even sure they have a pet store where i live. What does happen to animals they don't sell?
  • edited November -1
    On a side note - I wonder if anyone ever wrote to Mattel about the Pet Store Barbie and Ken dolls and promoting bad practices (I was just down that aisle Christmas shopping for the niece).
  • edited November -1
    I unno, never thought about the toys Amber. I loved my Littlest Pet Shop toys when I was little though.
  • edited November -1
    loved littlest pet shop toys... i had the cat ones because i was never allowed to have a cat. ;P

    however... i read a letter to the editor of our local paper recently from a woman who was tired of seeing our local petstore get puppy after puppy, sales, clearance, and never confessing where they were bred or any other pertinent info when asked. She wrote a beautiful letter to the petstore asking the manager to think ethically and declare his philosophy for the store and type of business he ran. She asked him to consider the consequences of the conditions of dogs sold and the amount that inevitably turn up in shelters. She asked him to address the public, his customer base really, on why he continued to do practice with mills when more and more people are becoming aware of the plague they have on society.
    He never responded, but asked that the petstore's name be removed from the publication for copyright purposes.

    I think the letter, while passive, is a great way to get the public to READ about the real issue, to get them to do more research, and maybe *just* maybe the next time they just can't pass up the cute little puppy in the petstore window, they'll really think about exactly what they are doing. Because really, its a vicious cycle... its hard to walk past that window and not feel SOME sort of emotion and sympathy for the puppies and kittens.
    But education is key, and having a voice and using it will help educate others.
  • edited November -1
    I just saw a little red shiba in our local puppy-selling chain pet shop (Just to clarify, I was not buying anything from this establishment. They had smaller crates set up and I was trying to dicide on what size I'll need.) It look as sad as could be and all I could think of was Chloe - the fate of her babies. Of course, the shop had a sign on the cage saying "This puppy was house-raise by the ______ family" and on the other side of those bars there was a little face that looked like it had never been hugged, or kissed, or petted.
    I went home and held my Tosca close. Her original people got her from a pet shop and that was her about five years ago.
  • edited November -1
    Awful. Luckily none of the pet shops in my area carry dogs or cats, however they still do carry every other type of animal. [ snakes, lizards, birds, etc. ] 'Sometimes it's rather painful to turn a blind eye. :( ~
  • edited November -1
    I can't stop thinking about Chloe everytime I think about petstores and puppy mills. What happened to her puppies? Are they stuck in the same situation she was in? When my mom was given Buddy 11 years ago, her nasty little Pom from Scamps in Portland, he was 6 months old, "on clearance" for $300 like an old car. They outright told us he would be put down if he wasn't sold, therefore, the parents took him home.
    I don't think there should even be petstores, but things being what they are, what are the laws concerning the pups that don't sell? Are they to be returned to the miller or BYB to perpetuate the cycle their mothers were forced into? They may be sold in classified adds if lucky or surrendered to breed specific rescues. If unfortunate, they are dumped outside and left to fend, or sent to a shelter. A sinister fact is that the US still uses dogs in scientific research and buys them/breeds them for this purpose. Some veterinary schools still use shelter dogs/surrenders for terminal experiments. I am shocked that all of this is still legal.
  • edited November -1
    A lot of times they are sold to medical research companies at a remarkable discount. I will let your imagination do the walking. I am forbidden by all my rescue friends to go into stores that sell dogs, because they know I can't keep my mouth shut.
  • edited November -1
    They'll keep him till he's about 8 or 9 months and mark him down for $199. I'm sorry you guys but if he's still there at that price and age I will end up being the new owner of a pet store pup.

    I called the pet store up last night to ask about him and he's going to need a lot of work. He's very fearful of the outside world. He's extremely smart and very loving but if I bring him home it will take months for him to come out of his shell if not more.
  • edited November -1
    I always wondered what happens to them if they don't get sold. But it makes me sad. I don't go near pet stores anymore.
  • edited November -1
    I guess with more than one person wondering I could put it up.

    Depending on the pet shop they either get sent back to the puppy mill, get sold to an animal testing facility, put to sleep or given to the owner/employees. If sent back to the puppy mill most of the time the mill will either surrender to a shelter or put them to sleep.
  • edited November -1
    I cried a little just then...sad reality though...I wish I knew this long ago...
  • RyuRyu
    edited November -1
    what a vicious cycle. Looking at Chloe smiling at me with her cute little tongue hanging out - I can't imagine what has happened to her. I'll never understand how pet shops can promote puppy mills knowing what they put their dogs through...
  • edited November 2008
    You know...I've never bought a dog from a pet store myself...but I was talking to my friend about puppy mills and how pet stores buy from puppy mills. He bought a jack russell from a pet store and told me that the pet store gave all the information of the breeder and said it was fine to contact them if he had any questions. They also gave him a 1 year health guarantee.

    My understanding was that pet stores did not give out information of the puppy mill and did not offer health guarantee's. Another friend of mine told me she found a pet shop that offers a 3 year health guarantee so she thought buying from them would be ok - I still spoke against it and I think she stopped looking for a dog...but I'm interested to know if this is true and the full details of this health guarantee and what type of sale or contract is involved.
  • edited November -1
    Dahmer was technically bought from a pet store but it was family owned and someone dropped off a litter of kittens in front of their store so they were rehoming them for $25 each. He was a complete impulse buy but I will never regret it. He was apparently so flea infested that his first bath turned the entire sink red with blood.

    Besides that my parentals have bought me 2 hamsters from pet shops, the rest of my animals came from shelters, friends, strays we found and such.
  • edited November -1
    They give the "breeder" information because most people will not check and those who do, don't really know what to look for. If they are told that the animals AKC registered and the facility is FDA approved that everything is okay. Unfortunately people are being misled and don't realize you almost have to TRY to get turned down for FDA approval. The guidelines are livestock guidelines for meat, not pets.

    Also health guarantees are another ploy. Try actually making a claim on one of them.

    Here is an interesting site that answers a lot of questions

    http://www.stoppuppymills.org/
  • edited November -1
    Just the notion of a three year health warranty would make me laugh my butt of if this wasn't such a sad issue.
    How in the world will someone believe a 3 year warranty for health issues? There's so much stuff that can go wrong, even with perfectly healthy ancestry...
  • edited November -1
    I think it's funny (and sad, well, mostly sad) when people get sold on the health guarantee and the dog having 'papers'. Remy is definately a puppy mill dog...I was told he was brought up from NY through a 'breeder who doesn't actually do the breeding themselves' (aka puppy broker). Sure he has papers, but they are from the ACA, "American Canine Association", which you can apparently register ANY dog with, purebred or mixed, for about $30!!!
  • edited November -1
    haha that is kinda funny, but seriously pet stores are bad about all creatures, not just dogs. For example, betta fish are sold in small vases with plants or small premade homes or the stores sell these tiny 1-2 gallon "betta homes" (petco, petsmart, walmart etc). But in reality a betta needs a good 7-10 gallon tank with a lot of water surface and water heater to thrive well. And the popular notion that bettas feed off the plant is completely wrong. (they like meat) And bettas go up to the surface to get air so a small vase with a narrow head ( and a water plant hanging out )provides little water surface, so when people buy these stupid betta plant vase homes, they are starving their bettas both of food and air. Ignorance runs ramped around all creatures and pet stores, don't seem to care, they just want to make money.
  • edited November -1
    Oh man I hate the pet store premade cages. The rabbit cages are only big enough for a rat, the rat cages are only big enough for a gerbil and I have no idea how a gerbil fits in their cages. Errik built our rabbit cage and when we had rats they basically had a ferret cage. No way they would've fit in anything smaller.

    I don't mind rehoming fees when it's reasonable. But when you found the dog on the street, haven't spent a dime on it besides the cheapest dog food at the grocery store, it's still intact, etc I think it's freaking ridiculous to charge $300-500 for it. The new owners will have to take it to the vet for a full check up, get them speutered, who knows what else and then some. Especially when they say "Need to find new home by Monday or it's going to the pound." Well then I'll wait till it's at the pound. At least there I'll be paying the same amount for a dog that's UTD on shots, speutered, and has been evaluated for at least some issues. It's wrong to try to profit off a stray dog.
  • edited November -1
    When we have people charge re-homing fees, the dog is vetted (including spay/neuter) and the money is immediately given to a rescue organization.
  • edited November -1
    In that case I wouldn't mind paying at all. But majority of the people don't do that.
  • edited November -1
    you would be surprised. that is often how we keep families from dumping dogs in shelters. it is pretty standard protocol in the shelter community to have people who are fostering/ or re-homing their own dogs to do precisely that.

    Doesn't make up for all the shit heads trying to dump their family members, but most re-homing fees are people trying to do the right thing.

    All this while I am helping place a nine month old pit puppy. The owners decided he was too hyper. So they got a boxer puppy. Someone shoot me please...
  • edited November -1
    OMG! Because clearly Boxer puppies are far less hyperactive than pit puppies! *sarcasm* People need to RESEARCH on the breed that best suits them, not just grab at the first cute pup they see. :\

    Ugh. People should have to pass a test to become a dog owner :( ...& to become a breeder. Seriously.~
  • edited November -1
    I wonder...
    Had they said the pit pup was too big, would they have gone for a Great Dane?
  • edited November -1
    Yeah, boxers are definately calm and mellow as pups ;)
  • edited November -1
    find me a mellow puppy. that isn't ill.
  • edited November -1
    Jack is fairly mellow. :( But he's definitely a black sheep (or should that be white? XD) as far as Boxers go.
  • edited November -1
    you totally just jinxed yourself
  • edited November -1
    pet stores in england are not allowed to sell cats and dogs it was banned years ago. you are only allowed from repitable breeders and rescue centres and we don't put any animal down unless they are ill or of severe bad temprament
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