Do you shop at PETCO?

[pupper-lover]

Recently, i've been hearing a lot about PETCO and it's horrible treatment of animals. Has anyone else heard about this?

This link has links to several "anti-petco" articles : http://www.peta.org/feat/petco2/

[popcornbird]

Yes I do shop at Petco and I absolutely love it. All of the animals are very well taken cared of there, and they have a very nice staff. I've noticed some of the birds in Petsmart looking puffed up, and not so well, but at Petco, all the animals are bright, alert, and very healthy. I think they take wonderful care at our Petco, even better than our Petsmart. I shop for my pets at Petco 90% of the time and from my experience, I'd say its a great store. I don't know about other Petco's in the country, but the one we go to seems great. Those are some very sad stories though.

[Karen]

I have heard bad things about some Petcos, but it appears to vary from store to store. We do not have a Petsmart near us, and the Petcos we shop at seem to always have healthy critters and clean cages.

[Uabassoon]

Keep in mind the source. WHile both my roommate and I do support PETA we also realize that they are VERY extreme. So when we read these articles we know that they are just a few examples and not every place is like that. I worked at Petco and we took great care of our animals. WHen rodents where sick we had a special infermary for them where we would nurse them back to health. Once someone returned a Hamster who had lost his eye because of their cage, we happily took him back and kept him in the infirmary and took great care of him and gave him lots of love until we found a family that wanted to take him home. So not every Petco store is bad. i still shop there.

[moosmom]

I shop at Pet Supplies Plus. Their stuff is so much cheaper than Petco. But I have to say when I was doing animal rescue in CT and held Adoption Days, their stores are very clean and the employees are nice and polite.

[wolf_Q]

I work at Petco. This is at the grooming salon, but I often wander about the rest of the store. All of the employees are very nice, and the animals have always appeared very well cared for to me. I always see the girl who works with the birds cleaning out the cages, as she has to come to grooming to get the supplies. One large macaw (sp?) bird has taken more then one trip to grooming to visit with us, hehe. He's a real cutie. And I love to look at the ferrets, and they always seem happy to me. I don't think you can judge every store because of incidents in some. I don't think I've ever even looked at the small animals at our Petsmart. I don't even know if they have them, lol. I always look at the kitties though. Of couse, the cats they have are from shelters, etc. up for adoption.

[wolf_Q]

I'm reading those articles about Petco. I'm going to take a closer look at the animals there, but I really haven't seen any problems. If there is a "freezer" where they kill the animals, I surely haven't seen it! And about the rodents who are left forever to die because of mites....I remember we had some gerbils with mites, and they were washing them with something to get rid of it. Sometimes I think PETA is a little ridiculous.

[Desert Arabian]

I would have to agree with you about PETA being a little ridiculous

[pupper-lover]

We just got a Petco here, so I am not familiar with the store (which is why I was asking for your opinions). Although I do appreciate some of what PETA stands for, I know they tend to go overboard on things, which is why I wanted to hear a response from you all. There were also non-peta produced articles in the links, but I know the links were chosen by Peta.

I am very glad to know that those of you that posted have had good experiences both working and shopping at Petco. I know that things will vary from store to store, and I guess that when you have the nations largest pet store chain, you will have more reported problems, just due to the sheer number of employees and locations. The percentage of incidence may be exactly the same as it's competition (maybe lower ?).

I'm soooo glad to hear your positive responses to Petco. I got this e-mail right around the same time that our Petco opened up. I've been wanting to go in, but didn't want to support the company, if it had this awful reputation. I guess, I can go check it out now and see for myself. Thanks for all your responses

[lv4dogs]

Yes I do shop at petco quite often & this past friday my fiance just purchased a Marshall farm ferret from there! He is healthy, friendly & happy! The pet-co stores in my area do have well kept cages & clean, healthy animals. Even though petco is a chain store it does not mean that ALL are the same way! Just like anything bad you hear more bad than the good. Do you ever see articles about good, happy, healthy situations? Hardley ever!
Peta is good in a way but they can get goofy sometimes!

[Twisterdog]

I agree that PETA is VERY extreme. And scary.

I have been to a couple of PETCO's, and they looked like very nice, clean stores. The animals seemed happy, had lots of room and toys. None of them looked ill, and the employees seemed caring and knowledgeable.

However .... I don't shop there. I have a rule that I will not spend any money at any store that sells live animals. Why? Because of the source of those animals. Even if the store itself takes good care of the animals, the animals - by default - have come from a mill. Pet stores get their animals from breeding mills, because a reputable, private breeder won't sell to a pet store. If any of you have even had the misfortune to visit a puppy mill or a bird mill, you know how horrible the conditions are there. The babies are the "lucky" ones - they at least get out, go to a pet store, and have a chance of being sold to a loving home. The "breeding stock" that is stuck in the mill will spend their entire lives in a tiny cage, churning out babies for sale, until they die of exhaustion, then they will be replaced by the next breeder. It is the saddest fate.

So ... getting off my soapbox now .....

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by Twisterdog
I agree that PETA is VERY extreme. And scary.

I have been to a couple of PETCO's, and they looked like very nice, clean stores. The animals seemed happy, had lots of room and toys. None of them looked ill, and the employees seemed caring and knowledgeable.

However .... I don't shop there. I have a rule that I will not spend any money at any store that sells live animals. Why? Because of the source of those animals. Even if the store itself takes good care of the animals, the animals - by default - have come from a mill. Pet stores get their animals from breeding mills, because a reputable, private breeder won't sell to a pet store. If any of you have even had the misfortune to visit a puppy mill or a bird mill, you know how horrible the conditions are there. The babies are the "lucky" ones - they at least get out, go to a pet store, and have a chance of being sold to a loving home. The "breeding stock" that is stuck in the mill will spend their entire lives in a tiny cage, churning out babies for sale, until they die of exhaustion, then they will be replaced by the next breeder. It is the saddest fate.

So ... getting off my soapbox now .....

But how do you know Petco's source is a Puppy mill? At our Petco, there have never been puppies anyway, and they sometimes have kittens up for adoption. Most of the animals they have a birds, fish, hamsters, rats, geckos, and snakes. I personally have never heard of a bird mill. I thought Petco and Petsmart get their birds from quality bird breeders, where they have their own birds, breed them, hatch the eggs, raise them with love, and then sell them either to people or certain pet stores. I have met many bird breeders and been on their websites, and I don't think anyone could care for birds better. My friend recently got a conure from a breeder, and she chose her baby right after it hatched, and then went to see how it was at the breeder every week for 2 months. She said the breeder would lovingly handfeed each baby, cuddle them, and was most gentle with them. She said that they were kept in wonderful conditions and every bird was well cared for. My friend said that those kind of breeders supply Petco and Petsmart, but I don't know how true it is. I personally believe Petco gets their birds from a good breeder because each bird has its hatch date written at the bottom of its large cage, and most of the birds are no more than 1-2 months old. If they were living in bad conditions before, they are still only babies when at Petco and I think we would be able to tell they were kept in bad conditions before from their health and alertness. The birds at Petco were very healthy and it seemed that they had the best care and company. I don't know for sure where Petco gets their animals but at least for the birds, I think they are from a good breeder. As for Peta, I think they are VERY EXTREME. I mean, some of their articles are so extreme that they're ridiculous. I go crazy when I read their articles, I mean, my brain goes crazy. It makes me feel like they're criticizing the way everyone raises their birds and pets and that everyone does things wrong. Another thing that offends me is that make make fun of Petco's logo of (Where the pets go) by saying (Where the pets die). Personally I have had great experiences with Petco, and not even once have I spotted a sick or dirty condition animal, let alone a dead one. I did see one parakeet at Petsmart sitting puffed up, and I pointed that out to one of the workers, who immediately got upset and took the bird out to take to its vet. He was only puffed up and sleeping, and he may have been taking a nap, but I pointed it out because he was the only one looking lazy in the cage. I'm glad she took him to get him checked. That really shows how much they care about the well-being of their animals.

[Felicia's Mom]

I go into the Petco near me only to buy cat food and I have never looked at the birds and small animals. What part I have seen is clean and the people are nice.

[Twisterdog]

The Petco's I have been to do not sell puppies or kittens, either. When I spoke of puppy mills, I wasn't meaning Petco in particular, just any pet store that sells puppies or kitties.

I, personally, have seen several bird mills. I am on the board of directors of our local humane society, and we had to go into a bird mill and take all the birds after animal control busted it. There were over 200 cages in a single room. The bird cages were stacked on top of each other, from floor to ceiling. There were budgies, finches, canaries, sun conures, cockateils and diamond doves. And that was only one room .... The basement was full ... and I do mean FULL ... of birds. We wore masks, the air was so bad in there. This woman sold her birds to pet stores. The hatch dates were on the cards. Some of the birds looked healthy, but most looked stressed. One blue and gold macaw had plucked out ALL its feathers. It was completely naked except for its head. A lot of the birds were sick. Mites, respiratory infections, bumble foot, etc. Some of the birds were dead, lying in the bottom of cages with live birds. But, I'm sure when she loaded up a cage full of babies and took them to the pet store, all looked fine. I have been to a couple of pet stores that bought her birds, and they looked fine. Like I said ... the tragedy is not the ones that are sold, it is the ones that remain behind to breed. The same ... and worse ... is true of puppy mills.

I also have many friends who are reputable breeders, both of dogs and birds. They have a small number of animals, they are healthy, happy members of the family - not breeding stock stuck in a cage. These people hand-pick the owners of their babies, do extensive screening, and will take back one of their babies anytime, if the home doesn't work out. They also do extensive health and genetic screening, and breed to improve the lines. That is the difference is being a reputable breeder and a mill .... both quantity and quality, in the short and long term.

I'm not bashing Petco per se ... I just don't approve of mass, wholesale breeding of animals with no regard to where those animals end up. Mills are a major contributor to pet overpopulation, something I have to deal with every heartbreaking day.

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by Twisterdog
The Petco's I have been to do not sell puppies or kittens, either. When I spoke of puppy mills, I wasn't meaning Petco in particular, just any pet store that sells puppies or kitties.

I, personally, have seen several bird mills. I am on the board of directors of our local humane society, and we had to go into a bird mill and take all the birds after animal control busted it. There were over 200 cages in a single room. The bird cages were stacked on top of each other, from floor to ceiling. There were budgies, finches, canaries, sun conures, cockateils and diamond doves. And that was only one room .... The basement was full ... and I do mean FULL ... of birds. We wore masks, the air was so bad in there. This woman sold her birds to pet stores. The hatch dates were on the cards. Some of the birds looked healthy, but most looked stressed. One blue and gold macaw had plucked out ALL its feathers. It was completely naked except for its head. A lot of the birds were sick. Mites, respiratory infections, bumble foot, etc. Some of the birds were dead, lying in the bottom of cages with live birds. But, I'm sure when she loaded up a cage full of babies and took them to the pet store, all looked fine. I have been to a couple of pet stores that bought her birds, and they looked fine. Like I said ... the tragedy is not the ones that are sold, it is the ones that remain behind to breed. The same ... and worse ... is true of puppy mills.

I also have many friends who are reputable breeders, both of dogs and birds. They have a small number of animals, they are healthy, happy members of the family - not breeding stock stuck in a cage. These people hand-pick the owners of their babies, do extensive screening, and will take back one of their babies anytime, if the home doesn't work out. They also do extensive health and genetic screening, and breed to improve the lines. That is the difference is being a reputable breeder and a mill .... both quantity and quality, in the short and long term.

I'm not bashing Petco per se ... I just don't approve of mass, wholesale breeding of animals with no regard to where those animals end up. Mills are a major contributor to pet overpopulation, something I have to deal with every heartbreaking day.

The breeder that my friend bought her bird from only breeds a few birds at a time, and they take very good care of their birds. The breeders I have visited were also good ones. Is a bird mill different from a bird breeder? The conditions you described sound awful. I would die seeing something like that. Poor birdies. People should reallize they need to care for animals properly and in good conditions if they want to breed them. I don't know if Petco buys their birds from those horrible places, but I hope they don't. At least they take good care of the birds they take in. I have no where else to buy my bird's food from except Petco and Petsmart, so I have no choice but to go there. I don't know where they get the animals from but I really hope all those poor animals stuck in mills get good homes and families and people choosing to breed birds breed them in better conditions and in smaller amounts.