When it comes to pet stores, many people have many misconceptions, as I once did. They sell pet products and animals which need homes. Nothing wrong with that...but they fail to see that these animals are produced poorly and for profit only. Speaking as a past employee of a pet store, I have found many disapointing factors which have caused me to disagree with selling cats and dogs in pet stores.
CAGES
The poor kittens and puppies are in their cages 24 hours, 7 days a week. Not only is it hot, stinky, unhealthy and crowded but they are also not receiving the important socialization which absolutely needed. Puppies and kittens need a lot of attention which is impossible to do in a pet store. These crowded cages do not allow room for proper muscle and bone growth. Sometimes there are five puppies to a cage fit for two. Although cages with grids are good for sanitation, they are uncomfortable and cause puppies to get their paws or mouths stuck in them. Some little puppies break their legs this way.
One pet store which I have seen dispenses water through a water bottle...a water bottle?! Sometimes a water bottle smaller than the one I have for a rabbit! Puppies play a lot and need a lot of water. One drop of water will not be sufficient for one puppy. Not only do they have to fight amongst the other puppies for water but they also have to figure out how to use it, being so unnatural. I have passed by many cages and seen most puppies biting at the nozzle not knowing to lick it. Water bottles are used for pocket pets because their mouths are small. Unless they make water bottles the size of a puppies' mouth, I disagree with it. A drop to a pocket pet is a mouthful whereas a drop to a pup...is well a drop.
MENTAL STIMULATION
Cages provide little mental stimulation. They sit in there all day and night...weekdays, weekends and holidays. I once asked if I could take a pup for a walk on one of my 15 minute breaks. I was told "no because someone might want to purchase them in that 15 minutes". Some of these puppies grow to be a few months old in these little cages. I've seen pups that are almost full grown. No walks until they get bought....what about the ones which are there for more than five months? No exercise? These animals have to put up with knocking on the glass and banging babies which wake them up every time they try to sleep. Puppies and kittens need to sleep for the majority of the day!
It is not recommended to put a pup or a kitten in a crate for more than 6 hrs for their psychological well being and for their bladders. A cage at a pet store is a little bigger than a crate and sometimes smaller than ones which are made for large dogs. The minute you purchase a dog from a pet store they stress the fact that you need to purchase the correct sized crate for your puppy, while they have no problems leaving large unwanted puppies in their small cages. They will tell you to buy books, toys, crates, nail clippers, anything to maximize profit, (not that these are unnecessary) but the workers themselves probably know little of the breed or even how to simply cut a nail.
QUALITY OF THE PETS
The main concern of the animals should be quality but it is actually the least at a pet store. I have noticed over the years that many more mix animals are for sale than the past. This is a good indicator of breeding only for profit. If pet stores cared for the animals they sold, they would sell good quality pure breeds. Not to say that mix breeds are not good pets, but for maintaining the breed of the purebred, mixed breed animals are not good. When animals are bred by reputable breeders, they make sure there are no health defects and breed as closely to the breed standard as possible to improve the breed. With mixed breed dogs or cats it is usually an accident. Not many people plan to buy mixed breeds because their temperament or size is usually unknown. With pet stores selling mixed breed dogs, it emphasizes that they have no care for improving a breed. Instead they sell what people want. If its cute and people want it, they will sell it, giving no concern into what went on in the breeding or upbringing (health, condition of the parents, temperament, etc.). If you are willing to take in a mixed breed dog then please look into shelters that have many great dogs to choose from.
Pet stores usually get their puppies from puppy mills or from backyard breeders which cannot sell them. Puppy mills are the worst place to get a puppy and should be shut down. Breeders which cannot find owners for their puppies are irresponsible breeders or backyard breeders. Reputable breeders usually have deposits for their puppies ahead of time. What happens to pet store animals which don't get sold? They either return them to where they got them or place them in shelters, adding more to the population of unwanted pets.
PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Do not buy your animal from a pet store....go to a shelter and save a life or take some time and go to a reputable breeder.
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