Pet Shops

[Nekoness]

Each of you was in a pet shop atleast once in life. Dogs and cats in small cages looking on you, usually puppies and kittens. Of course snakes, lizards, parrots of many kinds and white mouses are included in the list. Some pet shops sell more exotic animals like monkeys, owls, African spiders and such.

Many of them dieng as they wait to be bought. Not once when I visited a petshop I discovered eyes inflamattion at one or more of the furry "products" that are for sale. That shows in what kind of conditions they are held. Not to talking about the dirty(in most cases) cages.

The last time I was in petshop in the local mall I saw a kitten. A small, mix breeded, grey kitten. It run non stop near the lattice and meowed like crazy. I stood there for 5 min or so and the kitten kept to do it, like it despratly wanted out, begging to be bought finally. It broked my heart. Curious, I asked the clerk for it's price. Of course all the injections were done and included in the price. The prhase she said just killed me. It was something like "We selling them for money cause there more chances they wont be thrown to streets if they were not for free". It was totally owning and sadly true.

Do we have a right to sell animals, domestic as wild as once as we selling furniture or food?
Does the fact that the pet costed the owner money will prevent the human from throwing it away after a while?
Should those animals to be held in better contditions in every petshop? What you'll call better conditions?

[Kinney]

I think it is pretty sad. One day I was in a petshop and I was watching this little chihuahua, so cute, and me and my family wanted to buy it. Then I turned my eyes to a cage where a medium size dog was sitting, he looked at me and I looked at him and in his eyes I saw something that almost makes me cry. His eyes had something that Im pretty sure that were like tears, and he looked really sad, he just looked at me and then I wanted to kill the manager for having him there. I wanted to buy it but it was very expensive, I still think about that puppy, it was the saddest thing ever. Then again there is this new thing called "Bonsai cats" or something like that, look on google, and that really breaks my heart.

I <3 animals more than anything and I dont agree that they use them for experiments or anything like that

[Jin]

Well, from a profit perspective, sad looking animals is a good thing. They make you want to buy them as both of you have mentioned. I don't think that every pet shop is like that though. There are a lot of humane petshops that take in stray animals off the street and take care of them until someone purchases them to take home. They then use the money to help more animals. These are more like animal shelters than pet shops mind you. Should there be a standard in care for petshops? Of course there should be. No animals should be mistreated.

[relm]

It IS sad seeing those googly puppy eyes staring at you
from behind the glass... it IS sad to see the cats reach
their tiny paws toward you between the bars of their cage
and meow.
However, they seemed to be treated right and cleaned. I go
to Petsmart & PetCo, and they seem to be cleaning their
cages, grooming them, and giving them the shots they need.
Doesn't look like they're abused.

The only animals I see dying are the fish.. lol... which are
sometimes plagued with diseases/parasites.

[Crazy Chocobo]

Aww I feel all sad when I see puppies and kittens in the pet shop sometimes. They look so sad and you just want to go take them home with you! The pet shop I go to appear to treat the animals with care which is always a good thing. I believe animals should be treated with care in pet shops. It's really sad to see them all unwell or thin because they have been starved. I haven't been to a pet shop where I have seen that though. The thing I don't like about pet stores is that most of them are over-priced. It's a lot of money to buy a nice little dog.

I feel even more sad when you see a dog in a cage by itself and it's barking and howling because it wants company. I saw a dog, a fluffy little white dog in a cage by itself and it was sitting there barking because his company was gone, people had bought them and he/she was the only one left.

I love animals too and I believe they should be treated well! I can't stand seeing them being mistreated, it's really sad.

[Aerif]

It is sad to look at, especially on hot days. Thankfully it's illeagal in Britain (I think) but not in other countries. I saw it happening in Spain last year, it was 40 degrees Celsius and there was a puppy in the window of a closed shop which had no air-conditioning, what's more the water and food bowl were empty, it made me cry and made me try to convince my parents to take it back on the 4 hour(-ish) plane journey back to Glasgow Airport.

(In an other unrelated side note, this is my 200th post!)

[Chez Daja]

Originally Posted by Kinney

Then again there is this new thing called "Bonsai cats" or something like that, look on google, and that really breaks my heart.

Bonsai Kitten's were fake in the end, it was used as a ploy to look on a website and donate money, or sign a "petition" which would be used to closed down some other place, something or other. O_o; .

I have to agree with relm, though. I've seen a lot of animals in pet stores, and they seem to be okay... I can't really comment though since I haven't been in a great deal of petshops.

When I was very young, my half sister would take me to this petshop where this guy and his duck lived like, next door, and he was the owner... he had a massive tarantula in a box as well. I used to get so frightened. The other pets there seemed well taken care of though.

He went camping and his duck got killed by a fox.

=\ sad day.

I don't think keeping pets is wrong. I think we are generally providing the animals with a much safer environment then that in the wild. Though i do acknowledge that there is a degree of cruelty to keeping animals locked in cages, I tend to let my pets out of their cages as much as possible and let them roam free until at night time where they can sleep in their cage. Neglecting pets is also a worry, people who take on a pet should be prepared for the commitment.

[Tiffany]

I have some strong opinons about this. Don't mind me!

First of all, I don't think there's anything wrong with selling an animal. For the sake of my opinion, we'll use dogs as the animal. HOWEVER: You must be responsible. If you're not breeding the dog to better the breed and try to eliminate negative traits in your animal, well... then you shouldn't be breeding.

I know it's hard to not feel sorry for those poor souls inside those glass boxes. Keep in mind that 99.5% of pet stores get their animals from puppy mills. It's a lose-lose situation for those poor animals. Anytime you buy a puppy from a pet store, you're feeding (and supporting) the puppy mills. If you don't buy the puppy, it goes back to the puppy mill to be bred continuously until you're no longer fit to.

It makes me sick. These people prey on the average person's heartstrings, and want you to feel bad for the animal. Then they get their money and keep on breeding. It's a disgusting vicious cycle. If you're ever thinking of buying a dog from a pet store, I highly urge you to read this. Hopefully even if one person is persuaded to buy from a reputable breeder than it's all worth while to me.

[relm]

Originally Posted by Tiffany

I have some strong opinons about this. Don't mind me!

First of all, I don't think there's anything wrong with selling an animal. For the sake of my opinion, we'll use dogs as the animal. HOWEVER: You must be responsible. If you're not breeding the dog to better the breed and try to eliminate negative traits in your animal, well... then you shouldn't be breeding.

I know it's hard to not feel sorry for those poor souls inside those glass boxes. Keep in mind that 99.5% of pet stores get their animals from puppy mills. It's a lose-lose situation for those poor animals. Anytime you buy a puppy from a pet store, you're feeding (and supporting) the puppy mills. If you don't buy the puppy, it goes back to the puppy mill to be bred continuously until you're no longer fit to.

It makes me sick. These people prey on the average person's heartstrings, and want you to feel bad for the animal. Then they get their money and keep on breeding. It's a disgusting vicious cycle. If you're ever thinking of buying a dog from a pet store, I highly urge you to read this. Hopefully even if one person is persuaded to buy from a reputable breeder than it's all worth while to me.

Puppy Mills?! Wow... I never knew about that...
That's really sad! Do they have bunny mills and kitty mills too?

My family has had two dogs - a Golden Retriever,
and a Basset Hound. Thankfully, my parents purchased
both from breeders we found in the local newspaper...
Jeez, I really hate to support something like one of those
pet mills!

Lesson: Looks can be deceiving.

[Tiffany]

To be very honest, I didn't know alot about it either as well. Not until I started researching when I was trying to find my dog. It's sad, isn't it?

I was also a big fan of the poodle crosses that are big right now. I thought all the catch phrases were adorable, and thought the price tags were a little high, but whatever. After researching some more, I started to understand that why pay over $1000 for a "golden doodle" (Golden Retreiver/Poodle cross) when you can have the same animal for around a fraction of the price at either petfinder.com or your local shelter?

I could go on for days ranting about this. It's the animals who suffer for humans ignorance. To be honest, I'm not sure about "bunny" mills and whatnot, but if you're ever unsure, ask the person where the animal came from, if they have a website, or could you go and see the place.

Seeing is definitly believing.

[hellbred]

I definitely have a soft spot for animals. Mainly because of my Mother. She's always participated in animal adoptions for stray animals until she can find them a home, so I've been around animals most of my life... sadly I don't own any, but that's a good thing.

I know I can't afford to have a pet right now, so I'm not going to willingly purchase an animal just so I can struggle to feed it, or give it proper medication if it needs it. Sadly not everyone does this, nor do pet shops.

I do plan on adopting when I get a dog eventually, just cause I've seen the horrible things that happens to animals who are stray. Some are the nicest animals ever, but some are so badly mistreated they will never find a home or owner they can fully trust.

[Tiffany]

Alot of pet stores will try and say that they don't get their puppies from a puppy mill... which is half true. They get them from a broker, who in turn gets them from a puppy mill.

It's horiffic.

There are so many animals in the shelters that need homes and are euthanized because of overpopulation. All because of careless breeders/owners.

[Chez Daja]

Originally Posted by relm

Puppy Mills?! Wow... I never knew about that...
That's really sad! Do they have bunny mills and kitty mills too?

My family has had two dogs - a Golden Retriever,
and a Basset Hound. Thankfully, my parents purchased
both from breeders we found in the local newspaper...
Jeez, I really hate to support something like one of those
pet mills!

Lesson: Looks can be deceiving.

Yeah, tell me about it. O_O

Wow, that's pretty bad...

Originally Posted by Hellbread

I definitely have a soft spot for animals. Mainly because of my Mother.

When I read that, I laughed. Then I read the rest and it didn't seem so funny anymore. =\