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depressing pet store rant...
Sep. 22nd, 2005 01:55 pmcrossposted to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
parrot_lovers.
Ok, so I went to downtown Santa Rosa (CA) today to get my new truck smogged (more on that later, but suffice to say that it is a Toyota 4runner, holds 3 people and their bikes and backpacks, five dogs, the dogsled, the scooter and the boat, though probably not simultaniously, and is better on gas than my VW bus such that I don't have TOO much eco-guilt...). While I was waiting, Pryde and I visited the 'Super Pets' chain (?) petstore next door.
I was dismayed.
I was pretty surprised to see them selling purebred puppies of unknown origin from tiny kennels; I haven't seen pups *sold* at pet stores in CA since I was a kid, and I was under the impression that doing so had been made illegal here. Gotta go look at the relevant statutes, I guess. They were selling at prices significantly higher than one could find a comperable pup in the papers from a local breeder if one spent some time doing it, but that is no guarantee against either impulse buying or vouchsafeing that they did not come from some awful puppy mill somewhere. Which they most likely did.
Equally upsetting if not moreso were the 'budgie kits' they were selling, which consisted of the bird, a cage, some food and a toy. The cage was literally 1 foot square and barely more than that tall, far too small even for a tiny bird and smaller than the 'budgie cage' I use as a carrier for my cockatiel and senegal (and would never house a budgie in). They had two of these 'kits' set up, each containing a small, cheap toy and a rather quiet-looking, hunched-over budgeriar. With a cup of seed, of course; do any pet stores besides the one![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
illucian works at actually feed the birds appropriately? No suggesting that anyone was going to educate potential bird owners about the needs of these little guys, which includes not being housed in that cage. :P
It was hard even to get Pryde some doggie treats at the place. I doubt that there's anything I could do about the situation, but denizens of CA, don't shop at Super Pets.
parrot_lovers. Ok, so I went to downtown Santa Rosa (CA) today to get my new truck smogged (more on that later, but suffice to say that it is a Toyota 4runner, holds 3 people and their bikes and backpacks, five dogs, the dogsled, the scooter and the boat, though probably not simultaniously, and is better on gas than my VW bus such that I don't have TOO much eco-guilt...). While I was waiting, Pryde and I visited the 'Super Pets' chain (?) petstore next door.
I was dismayed.
I was pretty surprised to see them selling purebred puppies of unknown origin from tiny kennels; I haven't seen pups *sold* at pet stores in CA since I was a kid, and I was under the impression that doing so had been made illegal here. Gotta go look at the relevant statutes, I guess. They were selling at prices significantly higher than one could find a comperable pup in the papers from a local breeder if one spent some time doing it, but that is no guarantee against either impulse buying or vouchsafeing that they did not come from some awful puppy mill somewhere. Which they most likely did.
Equally upsetting if not moreso were the 'budgie kits' they were selling, which consisted of the bird, a cage, some food and a toy. The cage was literally 1 foot square and barely more than that tall, far too small even for a tiny bird and smaller than the 'budgie cage' I use as a carrier for my cockatiel and senegal (and would never house a budgie in). They had two of these 'kits' set up, each containing a small, cheap toy and a rather quiet-looking, hunched-over budgeriar. With a cup of seed, of course; do any pet stores besides the one
illucian works at actually feed the birds appropriately? No suggesting that anyone was going to educate potential bird owners about the needs of these little guys, which includes not being housed in that cage. :PIt was hard even to get Pryde some doggie treats at the place. I doubt that there's anything I could do about the situation, but denizens of CA, don't shop at Super Pets.
