by Jeannine Miles

Created on: April 10, 2009

Buying an animal from a pet store has been a heated debate for several years. Many people will argue that pet store employees are ignorant, lazy and simply don't care about the animals welfare once they leave their store. While there are a few exceptions, such as chain pet stores who have the funding and knowledge to provide for the animals, the majority of them have no business selling animals whatsoever.

There's a privately owned pet store in my city with a pretty good reputation. I go there frequently as they sell exotic animals and being an extreme animal lover, i like to check out all the new little creatures in the store. The past couple of times, I've had some pretty sad and overall horrible experiences with the quality of their cages/tanks. This particular store has a Moluccan Cockatoo (which is twenty inches in length, keep in mind) in the back of the store who, at first, seems very unfriendly and untamed. Being a bird lover, i approached her and saw the horrible conditions in which she was living in. Both bowls of water in her cage were green and the bottom of her cage had numerous clumps of wet, molded food. Her cage was barren; containing only a few perches, her food and her water bowls. This particular kind of bird requires at least FOUR hours of daily, human interaction to remain tame and healthy; this bird was obviously stuffed in the back of the store, completely away from the employees and customers. I quickly realized that she loved to have her neck scratched and give kisses to your hand; she is such a beautiful and sweet bird. Her conditions are COMPLETELY unnecessary and this particular bird has absolutely NO business being in a pet store with such little knowledge regarding her health and personal requirements.

The problem with most pet stores is that their in the business for profit and don't take the necessary time to read about the animals they are currently housing and selling. Managers are not making their employees aware of what needs to be done while they are away and therefore, many animals end up being ignored and forgotten about for long periods of time. Also, most privately owned pet stores lack the required funding to keep their animals healthy and will end up using the cheapest feed available to them and will avoid purchasing things such as birds toys, chew treats and play wheels - products that seem optional but are absolutely NECESSARY to stimulate the animals and keep them happy while in the store. Pet stores puts unbelievable

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>