Petsmart employees

[adawinters]

I'm sure she would have cared more if it was an animal she could sell for $200 instead of $2. To be honest, I have largely lost my ability to be outraged when petstores mistreat animals. I am, instead, overwhelmingly stunned and surprised when they don't.

[JeffX]

I'm sure she would have cared more if it was an animal she could sell for $200 instead of $2. To be honest, I have largely lost my ability to be outraged when petstores mistreat animals. I am, instead, overwhelmingly stunned and surprised when they don't.

I know how you feel about that one.

Its not just the employees but some of the customers as well. I had many customers come in and I'd refuse to sell them an animal due to them not having the proper setup. They wouldn't even care and even some would actually say it's only 5 dollars. I don't really care.

[adawinters]

I know! I've got a friend who really wants to get a goldfish in a 1 gallon bowl. I explained to her that this was not nearly big enough, and might only be able to house a betta. She doesn't like bettas. I tried to convince her that, if she really wants a small tank with orange fish, it might be better to get a 5 gallon with a pair of plattys. I explained the whole "organs keep growing," and "high urate output," thing, but she just wants her goldfish in a bowl. You know, "cuz it looks so pretty on TV." ARGH! The weird thing is, she spoiled her dog. She read everything she could, and she really did everything right for that dog. But the fish just doesn't matter. I'll admit that there are some species I can become more attached to than others, but I wouldn't knowingly make an animal suffer like that... well, except maybe a feeder. I'm sure my crickets aren't too happy with their cramped quarters. (But even they are well fed and their cage gets cleaned. And I don't claim that they're "pets.")

[into]

I blame a lot of it on miseducation and ut-ummm mismarketing. Frogs are marketed as a child's pet and some literature even states that frogs are easy to care for and maintain, but I don't know if this is entirely true given my experience so far. They are certianly not as easy as say a hampster is or even a ferret. Years ago I kept pet birds that cost hundreds of dollars and they required more emotional attention but very little maintenance and environmental care. Temperature, humidity, chemicals... none of this was really a concern, unless one got outside in the winter or snuck under the sink and chewed through a bottle of bleach.

I got into frogs when my son received a planet frog habitat ( http://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Milton-I.../dp/B000062VU0) for Christmas and this thing is now in the trash as I can't imagine putting any frog into this little tiny plastic container. I did initially because I didn't know any better.

I feel that pet store employees need to go through training programs before working out on the floor.

[Ebony]

Me too, I got into Frogs when my Son got Tadpoles for Christmas 5 years ago. There's no way he would have been able to take proper care of the tank let alone the food. It takes alot of time and effort running around catching bugs.

As for pet stores, I cant even go there. I went to one last spring that had about 20 Adult Male/Female Bell frogs in one tank and they were all mating and eggs were every where (on the Land) They only had a NZ ice cream container of water. I went in a week later and the person said that alot died .Frogs in Nz are a bit of a novelty and you don't see them very offen.
Peaple just don't care. Oh! and you dont want me to tell you about The spraying in our local Reserve that I frequent that had loads of Whistling Tree frogs and Skinks as I always heard them. Now I here nothing...Heart breaking.
GEE SORRY... But very therapeutic though.

[Kurt]

I feel that pet store employees need to go through training programs before working out on the floor.

That would be nice. Unfortunately, the ones that actually do this, still don't educate enough.

[John]

The majority of pet store jobs are low wage and the majority of pet store owners aren't graced with the conscience to override their desire to maximise profits.

[into]

yeah and low wage means little to no real training/education. I remember those days right after high school... I worked in a sporting goods store and kept getting calls from people asking about hunting equiptment. Many callers were frustrated that I couldn't help them, so I asked my manager for reference/training materials and he just gave me a funny look and kept walking. (this was before the internet boom)

[Deku]

I know how you feel about that one.

Its not just the employees but some of the customers as well. I had many customers come in and I'd refuse to sell them an animal due to them not having the proper setup. They wouldn't even care and even some would actually say it's only 5 dollars. I don't really care.

Agreed not all petstore employees are bad. There are rare ones out there that are genuinly good. Both my friends are good employees. One of them is extremely smart reguarding animals, the other one not so much. BUT STILL cares alot about them to learn and to tell the customer to look them up. I used to work in a petstore I had alot of frikkin ignorant people come in.


I had this old lady come in about a 4 year old red eared slider that was stunted and was put in a 2.5 gallon tank. I actually flared at her and told her "why dont you atleast get them a rubbermaid? Its less expensive than a tank". Then she told me she didnt had room that it was her sons who went off to college. I mean my mom is ignorant about animals but even she isnt that retarded. It makes me so angry when I hear about these people. I had this guy report me to my boss because I gave him 5 crickets extra. He was all mad that I didnt give him enough I actually took one cricket by cricket. The guy appeared like a cheap jackass infront of his family. Just because he wanted to save some money. I understand that in this economy its bad. But thats just it. If you cant take care of them dont frikking buy the animal. It makes me so mad when people do that. I actually had this guy trying to give me his painted turtle half a year ago. He bought it on a reptile expo in pa. Which means he must have gotten either a western or a southern. Because easterns are illegal in pa. The guy wanted me to take it off his hands. So me liking painted turtles I agreed. When he came back he told me that his wife released it into the lake. A CAPTIVE BRED ANiMAL! you know how furious I was? Because his kid was bored of the animal. Because the kid actually said "I want to switch of reptiles to some fire bellied toads". I had to held my tongue. But had it been offf work I would have told him:
So what will happen when you get bored with the toads? You're going to release it? You probably think you love animals and all. But if you did you wouldnt be a little jerk and release a captive bred animal. An animal who may or may not thrive in outdoor conditions. An animal who will carry parasites and bacteria unfamiliar to those in our local ecosystem. Because you just want these animals because you think they're cool."

Its one of the reasons I had to leave my job. Day after day more and more ignorant people would come in. Asking me really stupid **** like if a certain animal can go in a smaller enclosure. I mean what kind of question is that? Its why I flare at people when they go around asking stupid questions and dont follow them. Its not just the employees. I mean I dont like most store employees but for the most part its the customer. In every forum people complain non stop about employees. But have you ever worked there to see whats going on? I know ALOT of employees are ignorant about animals. But guess what? Any of that wont change. WHy dont you sit around in the fish department or small animal department and listen in to customers. You will be shocked. Some of these people who dont even care; dont care because customers themselves fail to listen. Id rather see an animal die than the animal living under bad conditions throughout its life span. Would YOU like to live in a prison? No right? Would you rather die than live your life in prison? Assuming yes same for these people. But I totally agree alot of employees dont care about their animals. But its not just the employees its also the buyers. Because Iam pretty sure if they hired people like me and you to a petstore they would not make any business. Chances are I would flare at them. But for the most part I tried guiding them to other things. Mothers who have kids bugging them to buy them a goldfish. The moms are stupid enough to comply and end up buying those tiny extremly expensive kits. Had they bought something like a 10gallon with the supplies it would match up to that of a kit. But no they have to buy each kid a 4inch goldfish to put in a bowl or in some stupid dora the explorer kit. Those are death traps for fish. Only the labyrinth fish COULD survive in there. But wont be happy.


Again. Each and one of you SHOULD visit alot of petstores including those "bad" petstores you talk about and stay there for the whole day. Listen at what the customers talk about. Then you will also understand. I personally had to keep my mouth shut or I would have been fired. In the end I had to leave. Most of these people end up leaving too.