humans are the most uncivilized of all animals
A little background. I've lived in the "suburbs" all my life. Within our area we have over a dozen pet stores, but they all are immaculate. We have outlawed the sale of puppies and kittens in stores in our since I was 5. The last time I remember seeing puppies in a store was when I was little and I remember the store being clean and well kept. I've never seen a pet store I'd call bad. Even the petco with its tiny cages and occasional sick animals is still a nice store and the cages are clean.
Now, I go to school in Sheboygan, a bigger city. Today I went to a pet store and it was the worst thing I've ever seen. The first thing you are hit with when you open the door is the smell of ammonia. Then you see shelves of old supplies covered in dust. All the foods and fish meds are expired. Onto the small mammals. The cages are not filled with bedding, no, they have 5 inches of dried poop for substrate. A poor mother rat and her litter of tiny babies are sleeping in a nest of crap. The only water is brown. No food. Some rodents are dead or sick.
The reptiles next. No food, rust colored water if any at all. Some cages I can't even see inside they are so dirty and covered in stuff. Some reptiles are dead as well.
Birds. The cages must never be cleaned. They are all up high so its hard to see if anybody is dead on bottom. By the looks of the cobwebs, they aren't taken down and cleaned often. The birds go nuts at the first sight of human life. They obviously aren't used to any contact.
Fish, 50 tanks. 10 have live fish. A few have dead fish that obviously have been dead for weeks. The rest are covered in dried limestone and calcium from years of no cleaning. One saltwater tank has a panther grouper, almost a foot long, almost touching both ends of the tank at once. Another has a red tailed shark, 8 inches, in a 12 inch tank. The bettas are in cups 2 inches in diameter. the fish have to bend to fit. Most have less than 1/4 cup of yellow water. 90% dead and rotting.
Now the puppies. There were 3. Very dirty. Cages aren't cleaned. Barely any ventilation. Gerbil-type water bottles half full.
I now have first hand experience with stores I've only heard people on these forums complain about. I almost cried on the way home I was so angry and sad at the same time. Thankfull walmart allows people to post signs in the pet section. I know some groups are working to get this place shut down. I'm definately going to complain to the better business bureau as well. I've just got one thing to say, the heck with sociology, the heck with helping poor people in big cities, when I finish college I'm moving back to the suburbs among the civilized people.
