Pet stores that shouldn't have pets

Shortly after getting my first two chinchillas my boyfriend and I found ourselves in one of our city's hipper pet stores. They were known to be specialists in exotics, and we hoped to find higher quality and more selection there for our little guys - instead we found a third little guy!

Gandolf was in a cage on the floor (chinchillas should always be at waist height if possible - they fear shadows passing over them), filled with cedar shavings (cedar can cause respiratory problems), in a room full of screeching birds (nothing against bird, but chins are nocturnal and the birds are noisy all day, and since birds of prey are a main predator birds tend to freak them out!) and he was being fed hamster food (too high in fat) and huge portions of greens (not that that's good for any rodents but chins in particular are desert creatures - it gives them the runs)!

We thought about it for maybe a day, and just decided that we couldn't leave him there. He was already about six months old and had been in the store for four of them. It took a month for his stool to normalize after we got him home. To this day he's frightened of the other chins (even though he's always been bigger). He still has problems with his nerves that we may never overcome, but he is the sweetest chinnie! He rubs noses and loves to play.

We have spoken to the owner and manager of the pet store in question, but they dismiss any suggestion that they were mistreating Gandolf. We've even tried showing them books with notes on proper care. No response.

Obviously we don't buy from them, but does anyone know any more effective (hopefully legal) ways of convincing them to treat the animals they carry properly?

Shouldn't pet stores have to meet standards specific to each type of animal that they carry? Does this kind of cost-cutting cram 'em in the same space and feed 'em all the same thing cross over into other animals (Can budgies and finches eat the same food?)?

Perhaps if animals were really only going to be in pet stores for a couple of days before they were taken home by someone it wouldn't be such a big deal, but animals can spend much of the formative period of their lives in a pet store! They have to have their needs met, no matter how specialized or they just shouldn't be carried by pet stores and people can get them from shelters and breeders.

Thank you for listening to my rant. Hope the pet stores near you take better care of their critters.

Joanne and the acrobats - Fred, Gene and Gandolf

Please report this to your local humane society, most areas have laws against this kind of abuse. Ignorance is no excuse, this place should be shut down for failing to provide the necessities of life!! Their callous attitude to your suggestions is appaling, and should be reported to the proper authorities. I realize this is difficult to do, but for the sake of the animals, please be brave and report them.