I just want everyone to know that I stand in defense of what I said about PETCO. As I said, maybe all the stores aren't like that, but from what I've heard, the majority are. I have seen things there that are too grisly to even post on this website; it would literally make people sick to their stomachs. Just think of what the poison put down would do to the insides of a pregnant hamster. You may think and say what you wish, but you didn't have to watch the poor mother give birth to what should have been babies as she hemmorhaged and shook for a good 20 minutes because at that point, nothing could be done for her. You see something like that and than try to defend PETCO. Tell me all the good they've done for animals. Just to let the girl know who is "thinking" about becoming a vet tech; I am currently in school to become a vet tech. I do not "bitch" about conditions, but do strive to make a difference. I currently volunteer at a local animal shelter, foster abandoned kittens (some as young as 10 hours old), and have had many animals, including orphaned squirrels, raccoons, birds, etc. in and out of my house until they were old enough and well enough to live in the wild. Besides all of this, I own 2 dogs and 5 cats. I also want you, and everyone else who had a problem with my post to keep in mind, when I worked in PETCO it was 3 years ago. I worked there before there were changes implemented due to the inundation of complaints and reports about the negative conditions the animals were kept in. PETA started the wheel of change by telling everyone what a horrible place PETCO was for the animals they sell. Furthermore, celebrities such as Pink wrote letters personally to PETCO telling them she and her famous friends would ban the chain if things didn't improve. When PETCO realized that their bottom line was in serious trouble, they started implementing new standards of care for the animals. Before this, however, the big-wigs at PETCO didn't give a crap,<mailto:s*@!t> nor pretend to care about the animals. I am not saying that they care now, or that things have changed really, because they haven't. If you doubt me, take a look at PETA's website or make a donation and receive their monthly newsletter. Instead of using PETCO's slogan, "PETCO, where the pets go", they use the slogan "PET NO, where the pets die." (I would like to say although I don't always agree with PETA, I feel very strongly about their plight against PETCO) I also wanted to tell you that if I could've done anything more, I would've. I, like you, thought that I could truly make a difference. I was, unfortunately, wrong. I tried my best; I put in overtime and would stay after my shift ended so I could care for the animals. I took pictures of the horrendous conditions and sent them to PETA. I made complaint after complaint to the higher-ups voicing my concern. On top of that, our district and regional managers did come in and do walk-throughs. Their main concerns were that the end-caps and promotional displays were being used to optimize selling potential, not that the animals were suffering. If things changed now at all, which I seriously doubt they did, it was because their bottom line was put in jeopardy due to their irresponsibility and inaction. It had nothing to do with the animals. I firmly stand behind what I've said. If you truly cared about the animals, you wouldn't berate me for voicing my opinions. It seems to me like you care more about defending PETCO's name than doing something to try to make them live up to your claims about them. If your store, or any other PETCO store, truly does care about the animals, than I think that's wonderful! However, 1 or 2 stores in a chain of 2000 doesn't make that big of a dent. It is a start, but it's not enough. If you do care about the animals, wouldn't you want people to know about what's going on in the other 1998 stores? Wouldn't you want to join them in a fight against this giant and speak for those poor creatures that have no voice? I apologize to anyone I offended with the graphic nature of the 4th and 5th sentences of my post; I get very passionate and angry when I think of what was done either intentionally or unintentionally to animals that were supposed to be safe in our care. [Posted in FML issue 4814]