For folks who adopt at Petsmart...

[smokey the elder]

...I have a question.

What is the policy about housing cats in the Luv-a-Pet center? My local Petsmart wants to have the door to the Center locked. The cats are already in locked cages. The one manager we talked to said that it was to protect Petsmart from liability. But each and every cat in the Center has proof of rabies vaccinations. And people should maybe use their heads and not stick their fingers in the cage of a scared or angry cat.

To complicate things, the room has very poor ventilation, so the cats might suffocate if the door is left closed for an extended period of time. The guy said that he wouldn't enforce the "policy" until the ventilation was repaired. Since it has been faulty for five years, I'm not holding my breath.

The REAL question is, if folks can't get in to visit the "inmates", howinthehe!! are they going to get adopted??

[Craftlady]

Our PetSmart used to keep the door closed (never locked) when they had portable air filters that the rescue provided. Now they keep the doors open. Only time they are closed is when the cats are allowed out to exercise and play.

If this particular location inforces this rule of locked door then someone is going to be awfully busy locking and unlocking the door to let people in to see the adoptees. I think it's this stores policies and not nationwide.
Our store doesnt lock the door but on rare occassions.

[AbbyMom]

Our store does not lock the adoption center. We do, however, routinely find the store shut, which I do not understand as we do not have an air filter. But people still come and go.

As for protecting themselves against liability, I believe it's PETsMART corporate policy that no one under 18 is allowed in the adoption center without a parent. Anyone over 18 should know not to provoke a cat in a cage.

[lizbud]

The PetsMart I go to only locks that door when there is no one
(cat volunteers) is working with the cats. The lady volunteers are there
in force on weekends & people have to talk to them about adopting.
People can't just be filing in and out of the area.

[jenluckenbach]

Both of the petsmart stores I have volunteered with, the adoption center LOCKS the door! The cages are not actually locked, so cats could be allowed out if people went into the center. Potential adopters see the cats through the glass and need to make arrangements to meet the cats with a volunteer. I even lock the door when I am there cleaning as people would just walk in weather or not a cat is walking around the floor (allowing it to escape into the store).

I would NEVER want the general public to have contact with the cats when there was no volunteer present. People are just too STUPID!!!!!

[smokey the elder]

The CAGES are locked. In order to handle a cat, a volunteer must be there. People are free to pet the cats if they are at the front of the cages *at their own risk*.

It sounds like it's a local issue, and the arrangement of the Luv-a-Pet center is also variable. Ours is not really set up for cats to roam loose.

[jenluckenbach]

I really like the centers where the cats have free roam, but it is not ALWAYS the best set up for ALL cats. Some are too shy, and hide out of sight, and some can't live peaceably with other cats. The perfect situation would be a combo.

[Lizzie]

It sounds like a local issue as smokey said. The one I go to is always open except when they are cleaning the cages. It is nearly always unstaffed and anyone, children included, can walk in any time and stick their hands in cage after cage. I've sternly requested anyone I've seen move from one cage to another to please use the hand cleanser first, and they've always complied - the British accent can make me sound imperious when I want