Name and Shame

[SnailTrail]

If we see a certain pet store is treating it's snails badly I think we should post their name on here and we should all email/mail them that we will refuse to buy anything from them and tell everyone we can how cruel they are.

The worst sight I ever saw in a petshop was in a branch of PetSmart in Ontario, Canada....a tank full of dead and decaying water lizards.

I think the main problem is that these stores employ people as "salespersons" who quite often know very little about their "merchandise", just caring about their wages.

[Della]

In the USA, this is the what they offer to contact them on stores:

PETsMART Stores
For questions regarding PETsMART Stores:
Email storehelp@petsmart.com
Call us at (800) 738-1385 ext. 2518
Or write to:
PETsMART, Inc.
Attention: Customer Service
19601 North 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027

I'll bet if they received enough complaints about specific cities/stores, corporate would send the word down to the managers and manager to employees. Don't you think?

[SnailTrail]

Good one.

Now we need some contact info to complain in the UK but to be honest i've only found apple snails in one aquarium shop so far in London.....and I only found them by asking the guy in the shop, who informed me that he keeps them above the shop.....but not in the shop.

[lillianone]

I've heard that if you don't threaten and say stuff that we would say (b/c we are really Pissed off at them and we can't help it) like the important reason about such and such and then after say something like we will never shop there again. It helps b/c we are the people that keep them open. If we all were to do that than it would really make a difference but if theres only a few of us out there that does it. petsmart is not going to care one way or another. But if they got alot of us from everywhere to do that they will think better than to mess with us.
We had to do that at a car dealership. Talk about that guy (saleman) was stupid. Called my cousin poor and that she didn't have enough money to buy one of their GM used cars. Well my dad likes to collect cars!!! lol we
buy like 3 cars from them in the past 2 years and all or most of our cars is from GM b/c my dad works there. Well my dad was on vacation so when he came back I had him take us up there to talk to the manager about the salesman. That did it really well. Course my dad knows the manager b/c of all the buys my dad did with him. He the manager likes to keep my dad happy B/C my dad has bought lots of cars from them and will be most likely to buy more. I think that guy got fired...have not seen him since.

Sorry got off track...good idea...lol

Lillianone

[Dark]

when i want to the pet shop yesterday to by my snails
there where 1 or 2 that where upsidedown in the middle of the tank growing slighetly

not sure how long they had been there but that store is usual really good with aqutic life in genral as the manager/owner of the store works there most days and is really into fish, but shes gone on holiday so i dont know how well the fish and stuff r being looked after

[firefly]

All the PETsMARTs are supposed to be the same, and are supposed to have excellent animal care. Unfortunately that is not always the case. It depends a lot on the managers who work there and the people they hire. If management cares a lot about the animals, so will the other staff etc. The sad reality of it is that we do lose a lot of animals. (as a percentage, it's not so large, but because we deal with such a large number of animals, it is a large ammount). Many animals do not take well to being shipped, get sick and die. Some just die for no real reason. At our store, none die because of lack of care. My manager really cares about the animals (and for that reason is thinking of getting out of the business because of the toll losing animals takes on her, and because she hates having to sell animals to people who are likely not going to take great care of them). I and the other department lead also take great care of the animals. And, because of our training and example of/to the other staff, they do as well. We lose more fish than anything, but are always quick to get them pulled out so that customers dont' see them (looks bad) and so it doesn't pollute the water. We check on our animals once every hour (just a visual inspection--are water bottles full/not leaking, is there enough food, is everyone o.k.?) and resolve any problems. If an animal is sick, we take it to isolation and treat it. Occasionally (if we are terribly busy or something) a deceased animal will take longer than it should to be found. This happens very rarely at our store. At other stores, it happens more often, or people don't really care how it looks.

One day, I would like to have my own pet store. I would sell only animals I bred, so they would not be subjected to the stresses of travel. (even local travel is hard on many animals). THis way, the only travel would be to thier new home. And, because I would be independant, I could refuse to sell to anyone I chose. Also, I plan to specialize in exotics. I would sell many supplies for exotic animals that are hard to find. And, I would attend exotic animal shows as well. I know people who come into our store and want supplies for exotics. We have some, but not a whole lot. These people would definitely shop at my store. I bet I could make it work, but this is not for a while yet. I'll probably become licensed for breeding/selling exotics by the USDA in a year or so and breed hedgehogs (I'll have to move to another apartment and have more money saved). If I can at least make the hedgies pay for themselves, I'm doing well. I may then branch into chinchillas or else where (not sure if I can do chins since PETsMART sells them and I'm not supposed to compete with them...) I may try sugar gliders. I wasn't going to do them, but someone keeps coming into our store with one and looking for food/etc. for them, and they really are cool! I"d like to do day geckos too. Eventually, when I'm breeding enough animals and at least having them pay for themselves, I may look into getting a store front. Who knows. At anyrate, that is my long term goal. But, I can always just breed on the side too. Um, o.k. Now i've gotten totally off topic. But the main point is, most people who love animals eventually leave the pet-store industry because it is hard on the animals. Even if it is a great store, the animals get stressed or go to less than desireable homes. Once everyone who cares leaves, it gets even worse for the animals. Its better in the local stores, but not always. Some of the independent stores around here are awful! One store had tons of dead snails and bad stuff in their tank. They had feather plucking birds and all sorts of unhealthy, under cared for animals. There was a pet store in WA state that sold american alligators and nile crocodiles. (really truely--didn't matter to him that it wasn't legal....). So, it really depends. Please support the good stores! And, complain about the bad ones. IF it's a chain, complain to corporate if its a bad store, and use it if its a good store. All the various PETsMARTs do compete with each other, so if one store is bad, it will not do well if it isn't used. Corporate won't lose money on it and then make it up with gains elsewhere. Corporate will figure out why it is losing money and correct the situation. Even in the chain stores where all is supposed to be the same, it is not!!

Emily

[wyofish]

I've had several customers come in and commend me on "handling the fish so much better than the Petsmart people", apparently the Petsmart in this area has at least one employee who is very bad about dropping fish on the floor....then bagging them up and giving them to the customer.

[tmqp]

Be VERY careful about "naming names"...For those that are not aware there was a huge lawsuit in the US http://www.petsforum.com/psw/Complaint.htm

It has been dragging on for YEARS and has cost a few hobbiests TONS of dough to defend a few comments made on a board like this.

[SnailTrail]

Can I just say I posted the original post wayyyyyy back in September 2004 when I was a new member...probably a little snail.

What I meant by name and shame back then was for people to contact the head office of stores they were having problems with ....... not to name and shame on this site.

I don't want Stijn getting sued.

[SnailTrail]

Be VERY careful about "naming names"...For those that are not aware there was a huge lawsuit in the US http://www.petsforum.com/psw/Complaint.htm

It has been dragging on for YEARS and has cost a few hobbiests TONS of dough to defend a few comments made on a board like this.

I agree.....I think the complaining and naming lfs's on here isn't going to do a thing.

If you have an issue with a certain lfs please contact them directly so they know what their problems are.