*Sigh* ... pet stores

[TexDot33]

Ya know, there is this one pet shop that is pretty close to me, they have the best pricing on Ham's pellets and they are a small petshop (not a big corporation), and for the most part I like this place ... until today and really, it's just a little thing...

I go into the bird room to see what they had today ...2 CAGs, Fem. Ekkie, Military Mac, Hanh's, RF Amazon, a senigal ... but the "jewel" of this place is the Scarlet that they have ... he's a really good bird, and everytime I go in there he's on his Java tree, not usually in a cage ... so I am playing with the Scarlet Mac and then I see this one toy on his tree ... it's got little buttons and little beads. I think to myself, "wow, that's really small, that wouldn't last 2 minutes if he got his beak around it." I mean, this toy I'm not sure I would give to Ham to play with, he had like 4 OTHER toys that were size appropriate.

Well, the Mac goes right for the small toy, so I try to distract him with another toy that is the right size for him. It worked, for like two seconds. The Mac went back to the small toy and started to chew on it and broke one of the beads in half in like two bites, and I thought he swallowed one of the halves, but he hadn't ... I couldn't find ANYONE to voice my concern to, and I ALMOST took the toy off the tree myself, but I lack the courage the Peta has ...

It's really is funny that one little thing like this just sticks out at you and then makes you wonder about other procedures in a place like this. I like this place, like I said, it has the best prices and it's the closest to me ... the other place that I really like to give my money to is about an hour and a half away. I really hope that this one episode doesn't keep me from shopping there again ...

 

[Peta]

It's really is funny that one little thing like this just sticks out at you and then makes you wonder about other procedures in a place like this. I like this place, like I said, it has the best prices and it's the closest to me ... the other place that I really like to give my money to is about an hour and a half away. I really hope that this one episode doesn't keep me from shopping there again ...

That is a real shame, but yeah things like this really do stick in your mind, and then you start wondering all about the other things that could be going on. Next time you are in there, have a word with them, even if its only to put your mind at rest.

There are far too many Large stores out there that have a real bad reputation, its so refreshing to hear about the good little stores, and they do seem to be the best ones to go to.

I ALMOST took the toy off the tree myself, but I lack the courage the Peta has ...

:18::18: Not sure its courage, more like the mouth running off with out first putting brain into action. :18:

 

[Tracy842]

The only 2 pet stores where I live happen to be big franchise stores. The Petsmart here had its bird license taken away and now have it back so they now take great care of their birds. My only complaint would be that they don't seem to be socialized with people. Not that this is even too bad of a thing because people now can't mistreat the birds, being able to try and handle them all they want.

The next is store happens to be Petland, which I had worked at for a bit. I have nothing but complaints about this place. The birds recieve fresh fruits and veggies once a month. Are not allowed to be misted (they think its bad for them ) Many of their birds have vitamin deficincies (my Senegal was one of them) The vet comes in there once a week and never looks at the birds unless there is a major concern (and it has to be major) Once Popsicle had a blood feather and they put her in the back and said she will pull it out when she is ready. She had trouble reaching it and wouldn't be able to pull it out, they would not bring her to the vet. I bought a birdie first aid kit from the store and had to do it myself.

But my latest pet peeve is they now have unweaned baby birds in the store. They are having trouble getting these birds to eat and never getting their feedings on time. One of these parrots happens to be a little baby Dusky Conure (I love this little bird to pieces and have named her DC, still not allowed to get her though) Ok well back to the point, she happens to have a leg band which has rubbed a lot of the skin off her leg, which you cannot see very well. I've informed the management their that her leg looks sore and they should have the band taken off. They told me the vet cannot do anything to remove it. Well I know the difference of that.

Well there you go that is my rant and roar of pet stores for one day.

 

[birdcrazy]

the petland around her also has unweaned babies they keep their birds in really small cages as well. The staff seems pretty knowledgeable and friendly. My one complaint is the prices are OUTRAGIOUS!!!! I mean a toy was half as much at petco as at petland I can understand the birds costing more but the supplies are unreal only very wealthy people could actually buy everything they need there it really is crazy.

 

[Peta]

Oh guys don't even get me started on large "pet stores" I hate them with a vengence. Now I did get an unweaned baby, but not from a pet store, nor would I ever get one from a pet store, Kito came from a breeder, and only after I helped her feed her babies for quite a long time, (not that I'm moaning about that) and she also knew that I had experience in hand feeding.

Unweaned babies in Pet Stores should as far as I'm concerned be banned. I'm quite lucky as my Avian Vet feels the very same way as I do, so when I see something that is not good, I'm on the phone to him. Then I'm off on my next crusade. I just wish we could get it through to people that buying from these conveyer belt places (trading as Pet Superstores) may be convenient and in some case cheaper, but in the long run its far more expensive, both monetary wise and compassion wise.

*Steam starts coming out of Peta's ears at this point*

Getting off soap box now and planning to calm down by having a quick play with my lot.

Tex next time you are nearby this pet store have a word, it would be a shame if this one incident won't leave your mind when it could be explained to you and your mind put at rest. It is always so nice to hear about the nice and good pet stores, there are far too many bad ones around. Let us know how you get on.

 

[meghanxx4]

oh gosh hate petcetera with a pasion! well not really with pasion because i go in there every once in while just to look at there birds and sometimes little bunnies and stuff like that. I sometimes buy millet there only if its on sale but otehr wise there stuff is incredibly expensive. Maybe with an exception of a few things. My last budgie who only lasted about 6 months i got from there. My sister used to work at petcetera to so she knows how they treat those animals and it aint good. They dont make any effort to get brid own if flies up to the ceiling or something they just let them stay up tehre until it dies and rots. So for those who live in canada go into petcetera and look up at the ceiling and i bet you will see some nasty stuff. My sister even said they once made her get broom and sweep the ceiling to get the bird bodies don.. of course after that she quite cuz she was extremely grossed out and disgusted.

 

[NicoleN]

I went to a pet store yesterday and I noticed they had an Amazon for sale. He/she was out on the big branch, but the branch had no toys, and the poor guy had a bent feather sticking out. I felt so bad. On top of that, they labeled him/her as a Double Yellow Headed Amazon, and this bird most definitely wasn't. It was a Yellow Crowned Amazon. Ugh! AND they were trying to sell it for $1300!! They probably just labeled it a DYH so they could get more money

 

[jgee]

I have an Animart near me and it is a very sad place. The store carries a very large inventory of food and supplies of good quality (but at high prices). They have many kinds of items for parrots.

The birds generally are in horribly small and crowded conditions. Particularly, a B&G Mac is in a cage where he can barely open his wings. The puppies, cats, and ferrets are frightfully expensive and yet in poor shape. Of course, most purchases are on impulse or because someone feels so bad about leaving the animal there.

The animals, I guess, are primarily a draw to get people to come in the store to buy supplies. But, it certainly turns me off and makes me not want to shop there.

I know this is a controversial topic (as I found out on another forum). I am not castigating all pet stores--however, most chain stores I have been to that sell animals are horrible.

 

[Peta]

I know this is a controversial topic (as I found out on another forum). I am not castigating all pet stores--however, most chain stores I have been to that sell animals are horrible.

Controversial yes, but here we all respect everyones views, so never be afraid to voice your views. I do :04: and believe me my views on most pet stores selling fids is not great.

I do think that if pet stores must sell animals then they should at least employ people who at least know a little bit about the animal they are looking after, and selling to people.

*Peta leaves now, as she can feel the steam rising again*

 

[Deanna]

I know how little things can stay in one's mind. I found a little shop in Denver (name omitted), a ma and pa avian shop. Tons of toys, cages, stands, pellets (all available brands), bulk goodies, medication type stuff, various asundries. The middle part of the shop is an open aviary for a SMALL (not at all crowded) number of parrots who either live there or they are being sold for "adoption" price (which their "adoption" price is equivalent to a breeder price, imo). Then in the back of the shop is a boarding area for those needing to board their birdies. Throughout the shop are the wash-less hand rinses (alcohol based).

I took my mom there (she is not enamored with birds as am I), but I thought I could pique her interest in going there with me because they have a Palm Too and a Toucan (house birds, not for adoption). I was displeased when I asked the woman to introduce my mother to their in-house birds and their set-up when the woman DID stop at the aviary entrance and washed her hands, then entered the aviary. But, they had a large cage of Finches to the left and there was a distressed Finch sitting unmoving at the bottom of the cage ... she blurted, "oh, looks like you are sick" stuck her hand (still wet with alcohol) in the cage and shoved him to get him to move. He moved an inch or so. She continued on to show my mother first the boarding facilities, to which she walked straight up to one of their clients Toos (did not wash hands after touching/shoving the Finch) and picked the Too up and handled it. Left the Too and went to the in-house aviary and handled the Palm. I was nervously aghast at what I was seeing, still stuck on the fact that she just gave a "little" shove to the poor, ill Finch (without washing her hands, nonetheless). I kept bringing her attention back to the ailing Finch, to which she paid no mind to.

My efforts were for not. I just got our stuff, mentioned the ailing Finch again and left.

Now, still, I do like the store, it is (normally) very clean and very well cared for. But, the "little" things stick in our memories. I will still shop there when I go to Denver ... as compared to the other bird store I went to it was a Taj Mahal (sp??). Otherwise, I have PetsMart and Petco here (I never shop at Petco after a warning from a local breeder), or I shop very seldom on-line.

 

[Deanna]

Gee, after writing then reading my post, I'm ashamed I didn't do more. Crap. Well, I don't know now iffen I will shop there anymore ... I've got that little Finch seared on my brain. (It didn't look like he was going to make it ...).

 

[indigo]

oh gosh hate petcetera with a pasion! well not really with pasion because i go in there every once in while just to look at there birds and sometimes little bunnies and stuff like that. I sometimes buy millet there only if its on sale but otehr wise there stuff is incredibly expensive. Maybe with an exception of a few things. My last budgie who only lasted about 6 months i got from there. My sister used to work at petcetera to so she knows how they treat those animals and it aint good. They dont make any effort to get bird own if flies up to the ceiling or something they just let them stay up tehre until it dies and rots. So for those who live in canada go into petcetera and look up at the ceiling and i bet you will see some nasty stuff. My sister even said they once made her get broom and sweep the ceiling to get the bird bodies don.. of course after that she quite cuz she was extremely grossed out and disgusted.

If i got my way there would be very intense investigation into Petcetera. I was one of their livestock managers, and I only stayed about one month. It disgusted me at their corporate policies and their lack of action on very very very basic things ... when I walked into 'my' store there was about 12 budgies in one cage in the "sick room" - every one of them had mites - very very bad cases of mites. Seeing as the store manager was such an incompetent boob I called up one of the people at another local store who breeds lovebirds and budgies and I think 'teils. Asked him if he knew anything about this, as in if anyone had mentioned this to him and he had no idea. Some of these babies' beaks were completely deformed, I am surprised that some could even eat. I nearly threw up when I saw them (the cage, by the way, had a towel over it so they'd have peace and quiet - the room was kept dark unless someone was in there). I called my avian vet up, she knows about these stores and is very very hesitant to even give advise (she feels this only encourages the treatment of these animals). After a bit me and one of the girls working there had arranged to get the birds some medication (for free may I add - this avian vet is an angel!). My personal working conditions were horrendous, and getting worse literally every day (among other things I was working minimum of 60 hours a week but only being paid for the equivalent of about 40 hours at most - apparently management doesn't get PAID over time because they are on a meager salary, but are 'expected' to work over time).

The birds (in particular) at Petcetera are not treated properly, they are often sick, the sick room is all too often with sick birds and those that are not perfectly healthy but not sick obviously (and we all know birds hide symptoms) they are kept on the sales floor. More than once I wanted to 'accidently' leave the cell doors open and 'accidently' free all the birds. Even though this is not good for them, it is better than dying from very treatable ailments. Oh and head office, they don't believe in spending money to maintain their stores. Every store of theirs has at least one infestation (flies, maggots, mice ...) and they do not keep a close eye on expiry dates on their food. One woman returned a can of cat food (I won't mention the brand, as if I even remember anymore) which was LITERALLY filled to max with maggots - she opened it and freaked out ... I opened another of the cans she was returning and it was a) slightly warm to the touch - EW!, and b) had maggots. I was appalled and gave her her money back and immediately sent someone to the shelf to pull the rest of that kind. I wrote them off (not my department but I pretty much did all the management there). Then I had one of the guys go through every can in the place. I cannot tell you how many packages (dry as well I will add) that I wrote off that week. I got reamed for doing that too. Anything written off was past its due date (sometimes by nearly 6 months!). :smile011:

I could tell you guys allot more, but will not. I'd hate for you all to literally vomit in your mouths. I avoid that chain like the f***ing plague. I will say though that on my first day at 'my' store one of 'my' aisles was so potent that you felt queasy when you had to be there - they had the small animal food and bedding there.

Ok, I'm posting this now. I don't want to get re-mad at that situation.

:smile011: :smile011: :smile011: :smile011: :smile011: :smile011::smile011:

 

[birdcrazy]

WOW - we don't have any of those here that I know of those of u that don't have acess to a good store can try windy city parrot online - just google it. They have a really good free shipping policy great prices and tons of stuff to make your own toys for you creative genuises

 

[meghanxx4]

they only free shipping in the USA... which i find rather on fair since canada is real close to the us

 

[indigo]

Canadians get the shaft all too often though. Especially when it comes to buying stuff - on or off line.

 

[Flyte]

Heres a happy story!
I find it very upsetting to go into most pet stores and people usually don't want to go with me because I guess they get embarrassed when I create a 'fuss' Well. I don't consider helping/saving an animal.. whether it be a $1500 parrot or a 50 cent chicken a waste of time, I think it's necessary. So they can just wait in the darn car. lol.
To all of you who have seen problems and not said anything, I understand. In most cases, they don't listen anyway. If you are embarrassed to say something yourself you might try notify some sort of humane society instead.. you can probably even do it anonymously.
Even spreading the word among friends may discourage them from shopping there and eventually they will have to either stop selling the animals, or rethink the care they give.
Anyways, here's my story:
I don't know if you guys have any 'tractor supply' stores by you but we have one here and in the early spring they get baby chicks and ducklings.
I have a real passion for chickens and I always make time to stop in to see them.
If any of you have ever raised chicks you know that, just like our birds, they can get poop caked onto their little butts. This tends to happen more often when they get dehydrated/have no water source. If this hardens and they are unable to pass feces, they WILL die.
When I went in one day, I saw many of the chicks were listless and the water was clogged with shavings. I asked someone if they noticed the chicks declining health and they said they just got a 'bad batch'.
I explained they were probably dehydrated and needed to have their butts cleaned out.
He looked at me like I was crazy and said there was no way he was cleaning a chickens butt and how could that possibly help anyways! They lose lots of chicks every year and thats just the way it is.. they aren't worth much money anyways. I held my tongue after THAT comment.. thinking to myself well your only worth about two dollars yourself, buddy.
I asked him if he minded my tending to them and he looked surprised.. I guess I didn't look like a farmer with my acrylic nails, high heels, tiny shorts and short shirt, lol but said uhh ok I guess as long as you don't let them loose.
So I cleaned out the water dishes in the restroom, got an extra cup of water and some paper towels.
Most of them ran immediately for the fresh water dish. I then removed clumped poop from nearly every single one of their poor little chicky butts. (We are talking about probably 50 chicks here) Cleaned the area gently with water and then wiped it dry.
By this time I had several employees and customers standing nearby watching my chicken butt cleaning services. The manager came over, started helping me and asked me several times if she was doing it right.
I explained that this probably wouldn't happen if they raised the water dish a bit higher so that the shavings stayed out, put marbles in it to prevent the chicks from drowning, and made sure to check it and change it every hour or so.
I asked them to please check little chicken and duckling butts every few hours.. its very easy to tell with just a quick glance since they are fluffy and the poop is nasty and hard. I also suggested having an area in the back with extra warmth for when they had chicks who were doing poorly. I told them to add a stuffed animal in there if it was only one chick. (they do much better in groups)
The next time I went in to pick up some antibiotics for my own chickens, the
manager came up to me and thanked me. She said this was the first time they had hardly lost any chicks and they all seemed so much healthier. She asked me if I was interested in a job but since it was so far away and I was still in college I turned her down.
So, finally someone listened! I taught them the proper way of handling the chicks and they didn't just let it go in one ear and out the other, they retained it and are using it.
Just a happy story to add.. I never have success like this with pet stores.

 

[Deanna]

Sarah!!! I am moved to tears with your success story! You had gumption (gall) and followed your gut feeling and intuitive heart. We do have a "tractor" store (a few) here ... and they do have lovely, fluffy little chicks ... ducks, geese, pheasants, to name a few. I don't venture in those store oft, but I will always think of you when I see the little babies come spring time. Iffen they are not well cared for, I hope I have the "gall" to jump right in there and do the right thing!

They really missed out on having you work there, that's for sure! (((hugs)))!!!

 

[indigo]

Good Job!! I tend to tell them when they are messing up. Ive actually been asked to leave a couple stores (usually the worst offenders too). keep it up! For every one person who says mething there are 10 others who say nothing but want to. Congratulations!!

 

[Peta]

Sarah, thats great well done to you. Its wonderful when someone takes some notice of what we are saying and does something about it, so well done to the manager who wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty (no pun intended) Its great to hear of a success story.

Yep I'm a sayer, in a big way, it makes me so angry when places have animals and they don't know anything about them. Pet stores especially.

Well done you.

 

[birdcrazy]

GO SARAH!!!
We have tractor supplys here but I've only seen bunnies at them never chicks the bunnies always seem pretty healthy and clean thank goodness.