Pet store advice

Hi PTer's .. I need a little advice .. or something to know I'm not completely insane .. and you guys are the only people I know who would probably feel the same way as I do ..

I started a pt job at Petcetera the other day and today is only my second day and I want out. I was hired to clean small animal cages and deal with customers. I just can't seem to work there and just think of it as just a job and not be bothered by everything around me ... I have much too big of a heart for animals to not get upset over certain things. The people working there don't give a rats ass about the animals .. its all about the product. And the poor animals get zero attention. Only the bit from me in the morning when I cleaned their cages. And the room where you clean their cages is just filthy .. I don't know if all pet stores are like that but it was gross back there ... Then to make matters worse I found 1 dead betta this morning, and while cleaning the birds cubicles I found a dead budgie laying in the water and feces at the bottom that looks like it had been dead for weeks :( ... not to mention the birds were very distraught as compared to most birds in petstores .. they were frightened to death when I opened their door.

I honestly thought I would accept that occasional death would be a part of the job and that this job would be perfect for me .. and maybe I could if I were working at a different store .. I just don't like the way this store operates. It feels wrong .. anyway I don't want to go back tomorrow .. I don't think I can handle it ..

Has anyone else been in this situation..? Or have any comments or advice?

Thanks for listening .. :(

I have a petcetera in my community yesterday i went there i usually don't to get pixies gift for christmas. I was looking around and went to look at the available adoptions. There was a female pitty there and she had dried and wet blood all over her cage. I don't know where she was bleeding from or maybe if she was in heat, but I thought it was terrible. There was blood everywhere. I went and found someone and told them and they said oh well I'll go look I was kinda Pi$$ed about it. Even if she was in heat I understand, but maybe she should be wearing something so she doesn't have to lay in it. They didn't even have water or food in their cages... I was gonna phone the humane society where the get the animals, but I chickened out cuz maybe it was a mishap. I don't shop there often enough to know.

Wow, that's horrible. Jynnelle (Tikeyas_mom) also works in livestock at Petcetera, and although she doesn't enjoy her job immensly, I haven't heard of anything bad like this. They keep their sick animals in a sick room until they are well, and the animals do get some attention (although most of the animals are terrified of people with the exception of the cats, puppies, and the occasional rabbit).

I'll hopefully be working in livestock at Petcetera soon and I hope that I don't run into any of what you witnessed. :eek:

:eek: wow that is just so mean!!
there are only petsmarts near us and none of them are like that...the animals at petsmart get attention all the time before the store opens because i have seen them giving all the small animals fruits and veggies when they first open too.

Sounds horrible , but you do what you want to do, but maybe the animals will be better since your there and you'll take proper care of them. And also giving them the attention they need.

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Originally posted by Amber
Sounds horrible , but you do what you want to do, but maybe the animals will be better since your there and you'll take proper care of them. And also giving them the attention they need.

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you are soo right, the animals will end up being better with you there

What an awful story ... thats just wrong ... :( :mad:

The animals at this store are kept in glass aquairiums and they are never handled outside of the morning cleaning, don't get any treats, and certainly don't get fresh food! The manager told me to not give certain animals too much food cause the food costs too much ... stuff like that makes me so upset!

I seem to be the only one who wants to pay attention to the livestock, but everytime I tried to go replenish their water bowls or pet them, or even clean out the raunchy backroom, the manager would come get me to fix the products in the isles instead.

Edited - I had thought about that too .. that I could help out in that way .. but in this store its not possible. The manager is always there telling me what to do. They want me to get the cleaning time down to an hour or less .. thats it for ALL the animals they have there. Then the rest of the time is to be spent tidying the isles and serving customers. I just don't know.

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Originally posted by ScantyNebula
What an awful story ... thats just wrong ... :( :mad:

The animals at this store are kept in glass aquairiums and they are never handled outside of the morning cleaning, don't get any treats, and certainly don't get fresh food! The manager told me to not give certain animals too much food cause the food costs too much ... stuff like that makes me so upset!

I seem to be the only one who wants to pay attention to the livestock, but everytime I tried to go replenish their water bowls or pet them, or even clean out the raunchy backroom, the manager would come get me to fix the products in the isles instead.

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small animal arent supose to be in glass aquairiums. they will egt over heated maybe you should report the store!! small animals need oranges for vitamin c because they cant produce their own. if they dont get any they can die

Its not a glass aqauirium per se, its just what it looks like. There are vents at the top of each compartment, glass on the front and a little door at the back

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Originally posted by star of light
small animal arent supose to be in glass aquairiums. they will egt over heated maybe you should report the store!! small animals need oranges for vitamin c because they cant produce their own. if they dont get any they can die

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As far as I know, all Petceteras use aquariums rather than wire cages, and I don't believe there is any danger of overheating, but rather poor circulation. The only small animal that needs vitamin C are guinea pigs -- all other small animals can produce their own. The Petcetera here uses guinea pig pellets which are already formulated with Vitamin C, so the guinea pigs do not need any oranges or supplements.

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Originally posted by ScantyNebula
Its not a glass aqauirium per se, its just what it looks like. There are vents at the top of each compartment, glass on the front and a little door at the back

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ohh well all the pet stores have that i think it's okay if it has vents well it may depend on if it's glass or plastic

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Originally posted by star of light
ohh well all the pet stores have that i think it's okay if it has vents well it may depend on if it's glass or plastic

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The Petcetera here uses hard plastic, I believe. :)

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Originally posted by wolfsoul
As far as I know, all Petceteras use aquariums rather than wire cages, and I don't believe there is any danger of overheating, but rather poor circulation. The only small animal that needs vitamin C are guinea pigs -- all other small animals can produce their own. The Petcetera here uses guinea pig pellets which are already formulated with Vitamin C, so the guinea pigs do not need any oranges or supplements.

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you are right but i think it's mean not to give any treats and to leave dead animals laying around:mad:
the store should have inspections that they have to pass i think so why would any think be nasty and have dead animals lying around?

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Originally posted by star of light
you are right but i think it's mean not to give any treats and to leave dead animals laying around:mad:
the store should have inspections that they have to pass i think so why would any think be nasty and have dead animals lying around?

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well what do you think you are going to do?

I dunno :( I can't bear the thought of going in there again tomorrow morning .. I will think it over some more.

wow the petcetera here is wonderful, yes they do have glass aquariums, in the front, but the back is wire. they all have food and water and are clean etc.. cost is the only bad thing about the petcetera here.

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Originally posted by cali
wow the petcetera here is wonderful, yes they do have glass aquariums, in the front, but the back is wire. they all have food and water and are clean etc.. cost is the only bad thing about the petcetera here.

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what do you mean by cost is the only bad thing?

I'm not going to stay. If I knew I had a chance to give these little animals the attention they need, then I would stay. But I know that's not my JOB and never would be. Seems rather ridiculous that a store like this would have plently of livestock yet not hire someone to make sure they are well tamed, treated, and cared for. Wouldn't the animals sell even better if they were properly cared for? Anyway ... I can't work for a place that values products and sales more than caring for their animals.

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what do you mean by cost is the only bad thing?

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I mean it is the most expensive petstore in the city, everything is WAAAYY overpriced, something that costs $5 at one store costs $15 at petcetera, so we only shop there if we need something that ONLY petcetera carries. I had to stop buying my Rabbits favorite litters because a small 4-5lbs bag cost $12.

I think you have made the right decision. If there is no chance for you to even give them some attention, then find another job. I am with you. They need to be reported too..they shouldn't have a license to sell if they are not going to treat those babies properly..

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Originally posted by GraciesMommy
I think you have made the right decision. If there is no chance for you to even give them some attention, then find another job. I am with you. They need to be reported too..they shouldn't have a license to sell if they are not going to treat those babies properly..

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I agree ... maybe they need to broaden what treating them "properly" should mean ... If its giving them enough just for survival, then they're doing at least that ... and I doubt that works well all the time .. according to that poor dead budgie. That sight still haunts me.. :mad: :(

IMO they should be properly taken care of by being socialized with people, regularly monitored for food/water checks, given treats to keep them happy, etc. Its only fair to the animals, and to the people who will be buying them as well! Instead, they seem to discourage these things and focus on sales instead! Yes, its a business, but if you are going to have livestock, be responsible about it.

AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I've been meaning to let that one out all day!

That's why I quit Petco. The store I'm at now....we have one person whose entire job is taking care of the "fuzzy room" (rabbits, g-pigs, hamsters, rats, mice, chinchillas), one person who takes care of the bird room, and four people total split up and spend one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening taking care of large birds, small birds, fuzzies, and creepy-crawlies.

Does it cost the store a ton of money? Heck yes! Does the owner mind? Not a chance! She told me once about how much money we lose every year on bedding/food/toys/dishes for the animals in the store...

It's not worth it to stay at a horrid place. find somewhere you can enjoy!

Wow, what store do you work at? That's fantastic! They should all operate that way ... If I got an interview at another Pet store I think I'd have to ask them first how they care for their small animals! I'm not getting in another situation like I was just in ..