I am sorry to hear about the horrible conditions you went through,
however, I know for a fact that aside from one store in my area, every
Petco around me, including the one I work at, takes care of their
animals.
No hamsters or gerbils or anything of the sort are ever fed to snakes or
anything else for that matter. My store personally won't even feed live
mice to the reptiles unless they haven't eaten in a while because of a
lack of frozen. All sick animals are placed into a wellness area, off
the floor for observations, unless it's obvious that the animal needs
immediate veterinary care, in which case it's rushed to the vet. No
animal that is born in the store is sold, each is found a home through
adoption. Even if "feeder" mice/rats are born, they are given for
adoption. As pets only (as far as we can tell - we obviously can't go
into the person's house and obvserve if they're keeping it as a pet or
not). We also often refuse to sell animals to people when we think
they're going to mistreat them. This includes "feeders." OK, yes, they
will be fed to another animal, however, people could do worse with them.
We had a customer in my store who wanted to by about 50 "feeder" goldfish
to put in a small bowl as a centerpiece for her dinner party and threw a
fit because we wouldn't sell them to her. Well, how would YOU like to
be put into a small house with 49 other people so you could be watched?
Anyway... I'm the Small Animal Specialist at my store, so I'm in charge
of rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, and... of course...
ferrets. The ferrets (my personal favourites - but don't tell the other
animals) are definitely well taken care of. Poop is scooped every eight
hours - when I first come in, at the end of my shift, and then at night.
If these guys so much as sneeze, I'm flipping out, telling the managers
to take them to the vet and this and that. If the ferrets come in to
young, they are separated and carefully watched over. And, of course,
they are definitely not sold.
In my opinion, the main problem with PETCO is that the management doesn't
care, and therefore employees that come in don't care. Why should they?
And then the people who shop there - or don't because of the conditions -
don't want to work there because of the way they treat the animals. Why
don't you get a job there and try to HELP the animals?! Become employed,
then complain to the manager or corporate about the way the animals are
being treated. Trust me, go to corporate. There are standards for the
way the animals should be treated, and if you cam get the Animal
Coordinator to do a surprise visit, either the store will be told to
clean it's act up or the GM will lose his/her job. You've never heard
the saying, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" I believe
that will all of my heart. The best way to fight someone is to know
everything about them.
If anyone lives on Long Island, visit the Riverhead store and take a look
at the animals. Sure, there may be some poop on the glass, but animals
poop. That's what they do. If the tanks were going to be 100% all the
time, we'd have to hire one person for each section of the store, plus a
cashier and people to help on the sales floor. The more important thing
is that these animals are fed, have water, and are healthy. I swear on
my life that the animals in my store are healthy, and those that aren't
are being cared for. We have a leopard gecko without eyes (he came in
that way, so don't say that an employee poked his eyes out or anything)
that we have to hand feed daily. If that's not cared for, I don't know
what is.
OK, I think I'm done with my rant. I'm just sick and tired of how
everyone complains about PETCO, and no one does a damn thing about it.
That's why I got the job there, so I could better the lives of those
animals, and since working at Petco, I've learned more than I ever
though I would, and also have thought of becoming a vet tech to help
animals even further. So stop your bitching and take some action.
<3
Danielle
[Posted in FML issue 4813]
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