What do you want in a Pet Store?

Question

Here's your chance. What is something that made you not like a certain aspect of a pet store you've visited, shopped at, or bought a pet from? Were the employees too busy? Were the animals uncared for? Were the products hard to find? Was the store not interesting enough to hold your attention? Did it make you want to become a better animal owner? I'm curious to find out what other people think of pet stores such as Petsmart and Petsco, the bigger retail pet stores.

Answer 1

fish!!!!!! yeah dont buy a dog or bunny at the pet store. go to a breeder.

Answer 2

So, I'm mostly a rodent person so a lot of this is biased.

The store should sell absolutely no animals.  Many people think that because a store doesn't sell cats or dogs then it is okay.  Guinea pigs and other rodents face the same challenges as dogs and cats in terms of animal mills and BYB

Should only sell quality food.  This means getting rid of the junk seed diets for rodents and stocking only plain, quality foods like Oxbow.  Toss out the unhealthy treats (like yogurt drops) and unsafe toys (like exercise balls for guinea pigs).  Also, get rid of all the ridiculous multivitamin supplements that can actually be dangerous.

Shouldn't sell tiny cages.  So, C&C for most animals but also large cages made by reputable companies.  Basically, they should only sell cages that a reputable rescue would be comfortable with.

Staff that know what they are talking about.  They can carry on intelligent conversations about different animals, and should be able to offer advice on housing.  They should *never* give medical advise but rather always advocate going to the vet.

Answer 3

I don't like pet stores that sell puppies and kittens. Puppies and kittens are a lot of work and making sure one is compatible with the family that wants it is often beyond the scope of what a pet store employee is able to do. I say leave puppies and kittens to shelters and responsible breeders. Maybe showcase for them, but, let them handle the actual screening..

I don't mind seeing reptiles and other small animals, but, I hate when I see the animal housed in smaller then the recommended housing. I mean, sure, it is temporary, but, it sets a poor example and people often think that's how they can house the animal at home. I also hate when they sell products known to be dangerous like heat rocks and cedar shavings.. I'd rather see less variety but nothing but safe products for my pets..

We only have one pet store near us that meets that criteria. I really like shopping their as they won't sell someone a pet that they aren't equipped to care for. For some species they even require that you track the housing temperature for a week before you can pick it up..

They also only buy captive breds from local breeders instead of buying from the import dealers..

Answer 4

1. too expensive

2.hard to locate things

3. the animals are more aggresive

4.their fish don't live very long ( or at least all teh ones I've ever had...)

5. It takes forever to choose a hamster, since the cages aren;t open touch, so you have to get the employee to pick it up, adn they throw it in a box, and take you to the register, so you don't know if your hamster is mean and bite you anytime you come near it ( this happened to me, and I got bit like 5 times, and it bit my grandmotehr, that was it, I had to find him a new home. He is very happy with his new home as I am my new hamster!

6. I just don't like the fact they're there for profit more than the animals well-being.

So, yeah, that's why I refuse to shop at them. I go to local small petstores

Answer 5

I don't shop at pet stores that sell animals.

High quality feeds and a big small animal product selection, and decent prices.

Answer 6

the dogs and cats were locked up in tiny little cages i mean like hardly any space to walk!!!

Answer 7

well mostly over priced for things you can get at wal mart, they try to get by on just the name i mean some things you may need but for the most part thumbs down.

Answer 8

I find that I get better prices on food for my birds at the supermarket than either petco or petsmart.  I only go there maybe once out of ten times if I need something special like something for their cage.  So 10 percent of the time they get my business.

Answer 9

eh, my major turn off twords them is that i find them very overpriced... and the bettas (fish) are in containers that are very small- and yes i know thats all that they need, but i think they should have a bit more breathing room.. bigger than a conainer the size of a night crawler container!!!!!!

Answer 10

I wish they wouldnt sell animals in any petshops. its not very lucrative for the company either, and some of the rodents will end up as snake food (i think of that as abuse, the animal has nowhere to run in an enclosure, its not natural! anyways..). all of the places ive been, the animals were decently taken care of. but the fact that they came from public breeders makes the animals genetics and behavior unpredictable... if everyone got their pets from private breeders we wouldnt see so much abuse and neglect of these animals!

Answer 11

I want to see animals in bigger cages without them having to sit/eat/sleep in their own f***s. I can't stand going into a pet shop and the animals look miserable with people tapping on the glass gawking at them and they have to lie in their own waste. It's so awful. :-(

Answer 12

Yes I haven't found one good pet store yet which is why I want and plan to own one in a few years.

I don't like seeing bad products that can harm animals in pet stores, I don't care if it costs 50c more to buy a better bag of food to put on the shelfs.

They don't socialize their animals right.

They mis-treat them and neglect them, most feeder rats I bring home for my snake have lice and everything in them its so sad, I mean I know its a feeder rat but while its alive it should be cared for correctly(and no my snake won't eat pre-killed my one snake is on pre-killed), I've had feeder rats come home with tumors and they were only about 3 months old(you could tell approximately it was around the age because of the size).

I don't like chain stores especially Petsmart.

When I own a pet store I'll be hiring proper employees and they'll train for 2-3 months before they actually get a job in my store, I'm not letting any normal 16 year old walk through that door and let them get one.

I think I'm one of the best animal owners I can be and a lot of pet shops are WAY over priced with very low quality items so I definitely don't like that.

My pet store will be a lot different or I won't run one if I can't do it properly, simple as that, animals come first not the cash registers.

I think I'll just get a USDA license though and breed in my home then bring them to the pet shop, at least most of my animals that way I know they are healthy and know which ones are sellable as pets.

Answer 13

The second I walk in a pet store, I can basically tell what I like about it, or what I don't like about it.

I Look For: Clean Room

Large

Correct Care

Correct Products

and

Friendly and Knowledgeable Staff

Petco:

I have not had any problem with Petco. All of the employees were experts, and had been working with the specific animal for all there life. They knew everyting, and were very nice!

They were truthful, but not harsh. They led me in the right direction!!!

They were all pretty well cared for, and they had quite enough variety!!

Answer 14

I was at Walmart once and I was looking at the fish (*note, I don't buy anything there, I was just going with my Grandma). I was HORRIFIED! In each tank that wasn't big enough for one fish there were fifteen! At least five in the tank were DEAD!  One was sucked to the filter, another had no eyeballs, others were DECAPITATED! OH THE MADNESS! The fish were swimming in their own waste. I actually asked a question if I could report them for animal cruelty!

Bottom line: Never buy fish from Walmart.

Answer 15

Things in Petsmart are very pricy.   There groomers aren't vey good & they are rough with the dogs.  I'd rather have a 5 yr. old groom my dog than them.

I don't know about Petco, never been there.

Answer 16

Where I like, not all the Petco locations sell pets. Some just sell the pet supplies like food, litter, etc. The one Petco that I did go to that sells pets, was really clean and illuminated. I liked the cleanliness of the store, the friendliness of the employees, and the variety of pet products they had.

Petsmart hasn't made such a good impression to me. I have purchased two parakeets from them over the span of a year, and they had both been sickly. Whenever I go in there to browse, the parakeets almost always look sickly and aren't in the cleanest of enclosures, either. That is the only negative I have experienced and observed.

When I have gone to specialty pet stores (as the ones that sell just tropical fish, for example) I am usually well-impressed. They carry wider varieties of the specialty fish items than other stores do. Most often, they have the most delightful, ornate and unique looking aquarium set-ups. Stores like Petsmart don't take as much time with their fish or with the smaller pets that they sell, it seems.