What do you think of petco and petsmart?

Question

We buy some of our products and either petco or petsmart, because every Saturday, Petsmart lets the Humane Society bring in their animals that are up for adoption. Petco also does it. I HATE Petland, and we NEVER support them because of them selling puppies and the puppy mills. We will support petco and petsmart because of the dog and cat adoption they have, but what about THEIR animals? Where do the hamsters and birds and things come from? Do petco and petsmart take better care of their animals than Petland (no matter what, I still hate Petland) I just want to know where their animals come from, because the only things I've ever bought there were products and hermit crabs. (And yes, i only rescue my animals from shelters, but I havent heard of a hermit crab rescue, or else i would have adopted hermit crabs) Do any of you agree with Petco and Petsmart too? And who also hates Petland?

Answer 1

I've never been to a Petland or Petco, but I've heard A LOT of bad stories about Petco, mostly stories about animal abuse from Petco employees. Other than that, I can't really comment on Petco or Petland. As for Petsmart, I buy a lot of pet supplies there, but I've never bought any pets (other than a few fish, which all died in a short period) from them. I'm just not happy with the living conditions of the animals. And I really don't like when I hear Petsmart employees giving out bad information to potential customers. Not that I know all there is to know, but there's simple questions I've heard people asking and the employees either don't know or give bad information. If they can't answer a few simple questions, then how can they be taking good care of the animals in their possession? I feel bad for the animals in those types of pet shops and would love to take them all home with me, but at the same time I don't want to take any of them on because I'm afraid they're not the healthiest and I don't want any of my current pets to get something from one of them. I really believe there needs to be strict laws on pet shops and the conditions the pets are kept in. Did you know, if they have an animal in need of veterinary care, a pet shop is not required by law to have that animal taken care. They can just ignore it and let it go and when/if it dies, just dispose of it. That NEEDS to be changed!

My dog was a rescue, all my cats were once strays, one of my ferrets I adopted from a girl that no longer had time for him, but my chinchillas and the rest of my ferrets all came from a pet shop (when I got them, I really had no clue that there were so many rescue chins and ferrets out there). But, they came from a local 'Mom & Pop' pet shop that I know takes good care of the animals in their possession.

Answer 2

Petco and Petsmart buy their animals from mass breeders. Just because they don't sell puppies and kittens, doesn't mean they're not supporting the puppy mills etc. All of the bunnies and ferrets found at these stores, for instance, come from the same huge company that supplies the majority of puppies to pet stores. Also, these stores have "back rooms" where the sick animals are kept. I have seen these rooms. They are awful. Both stores claim to have vets on staff, which is true, but what they don't mention is that these vets are only employed to treat the more expensive animals. They don't care about, say, a rat with a tumor.
Also, with just a few exceptions, I have found that the staff knows nothing about the fish they are selling, and have no problem selling a fish that will grow to be over a foot long to someone with a 10 gal. aquarium.
Petland is horrible, but they operate under the same guidelines as any big box pet store: to make as large a profit as possible, regardless of the pets wellbeing.
Your best bet is to find a store that only sells pet supplies, and continue to adopt from rescue organizations.
BTW, it's worth checking out petfinder. I have seen hermit crabs and many other "odd-ball" pets on that site.

Answer 3

Well, my experience with Petco has been very bad.. and sorry, I haven't heard of Petland. The dog i have right now came from Petco which came from a puppy mill and she had very bad distemper and almost died and we didn't know she was that sick when we adopted her.. Next thing would be their grooming.. I watched the lady cut my dog's hair while TALKING on the PHONE, and even left the room with my dog tied to the table, needless to say I reported that to the manager. So we took her to another Petco for her next grooming in a different location.. and she picked up a Staph Infection. After that, I will never take her to Petco again..

Answer 4

Petco gets their ferrets from a mass breeder, Marshall Farms
or any other mass farm where they do not ever see a vet. I do not know anything about PetSmart or Petland. The guy at our local Petco knows nothing about ferrets. When I go into the store the ferrets are in a small cage-type thing with the water bottles either empty or overturned and no food in their bowls. Their litter is filthy. Of course when they see me, they run and start cleaning up everything. They know that I am a ferret shelter volunteer. They know nothing about ferrets.

We have a few local mom-and-pop pet stores that sell ferrets and cats and dogs. I wouldn't buy from any of them. The one that sells ferrets gets them from a backyard breeder who has inbred ferrets. I know the vet that takes care of them. The other ones just get their fancy animals from people who just churn them out. No way, I'll just take my chances with a regular dog or cat.

The only reason that Petco and the other stores sponsor the adoptions is for you to buy their products. They also get goodwill and tax deductions. They are not dumb. They get people into their stores that way. The best way to order the food and products is to order online. As for adoptions go to your local animal shelter or to a rescue group. They are usually happy to help you adopt an animal. Of course, some of them may require home visits, references, name of your vet, etc. But wouldn't you want to know that the placement would be in the best interest of the animal.

Answer 5

I've never looked into it, or heard of it. HOWEVER, I do NOT call all PetSmart and PetCo foods crap. PetSmart carries Blue Buffalo, a very good quality dog food, and one I use to feed before switching to raw. And they carry Eukanuba's new wild line, I forget what it is called. Very expensive, but from the ingredients listed it is also a premium quality dog food, one that I would consider feeding IF I few dry kibble. Purina One? HA... that is thrown down their junk aisle along with Iams and Beneful. And PetCo sells Diamond, another really good dog food. I would be interested to see what brands this "unleashed" store carries before judging. They mention organic, hollistic, and raw foods. Prepackaged raw diets specifically designed for dogs are CRAP. They are OVERPRICED, usually full of supplements, and just plain crap. I'll go to the store and buy a whole chicken, thank you very much.

Answer 6

Well i for one work for PetCo currently, and I have to say that I agree that I also hate Petland and other stores that sell puppies from mills. But I will be honest when I tell you, that at least at the location I work at, all of our animals are taken care of to the best of our abilities. All of the sick animals in the store are taken to a vet and given meds when needed. Yes, even the mice and rats. I will say that i dont agree with the amount of animals that we sell at one time, and there will always be people that work at these stores that aren't fully educated about the animals they care for, so it isn't totally the store as a whole who should be criticised. The "back room" of our store is kept clean, and the animals there are taken very good care of to make sure that they get well. There are always instances where very sick animals don't make it, as with anyone who's ever had a sick animal. I would say that for a company who's primary goal is to make money and be the best pet store out there, they do take pretty good care of the animals that are housed there.
Oh, and as far as the video from PETA goes. I pretty much disagree on a lot of the things that PETA stands for. Not that I dont love animals, and not that I think that animals should be mistreated. But you have to understand that PETA is an extremist group who basically wants all animals to live free in the wild and not be used for pets, meat, fur, or anything. They tend to take things WAY out of context and will look for any excuse to start drama with anyone who does anything with animals besides have them as companions. I'm not saying dont believe anything they say, but be sure to investigate PETA carefully and form your own decisions about them. Just don't take everything they say seriously

Answer 7

I'm so happy you asked about petsmart. I don't know about their adoption process but don't ever take your animal to the vet or grooming places their. We used to take our dogs to get their hair cut their. One day we got a call saying that petsmart had an "accident" w/ one of our dogs and they were taking him next door to their vet. We got their and his tounge had gotten cut!! We ended up rushing him to our vet! he had to get a quarter of his tounge amputated. and while a quarter may not sound like alot he's a dog and uses his tounge for everything!! We couldn't even get him to drink or eat for 2 weeks! To top this off it looked as though they had cut his tounge and then tried to cut his hair. It was a mess and there was no explination for why the thing was near his tounge in the first place, his hair wasn't even cut there. I also hate petland. I like that petco and petsmart have adoption programs but I am still all for going to the humane society or the pound for my animals. lol please pass the message on about their grooming and veternary staff.

Answer 8

PetSmart offers grooming at extremely high rates. I too hate puppy mill supporters.

Answer 9

never by animals from petsmart, because well just check out this website:
http://www.peta.com/feat-petsmart.asp

Answer 10

i hate puppy mills and petland too..............