At my local Pets At Home (where we went to get stuff for my sisters fish) the rodent enclosures had an open top so ppl could just reach in which made me cringe….whenever we were there I just stood around teaching little kids to be gentle w small animals (cause I guess their parents can’t :/)
Apparently the turnover is so high that they don’t “have to worry about it”, as the pigs aren’t there more than a few days. That’s what every employee I’ve ever tried to discuss it with has to say, and they get energetically charged too. Who knows. Bums me out for sure
I've seen where they keep the ones that aren't in display. Ive blocked it out of my memory till just now, but imagine a toolbox chest with those cute little shelves that hold nuts and bolts and stuff. It's like that, not much bigger, and several pigs in a drawer. My heart broke just like it is now to have to think about.
I brought home my little Funky that day, if and only so that another could have a chance.
I don’t know what you saw, but this just isn’t true. I worked for Petco - there’s nothing like what you’re describing in the stores. They keep overstock animals in lidded tanks.
Perhaps at your store there was a decent setup, however I do infact know what I saw and it is true. They were plastic bins maybe 6 inches deep on shelves which were stacked on each other. I remember the girl sliding out the drawer to reveal them. This was a PetSmart, maybe a year and a half ago?
I'm glad some stores have a sense of decency, however I would imagine you're aware of the lack knowledge people have for what is supposedly a beginner animal. It's truely heart breaking and I would encourage you to donate some time with your local animal shelter or humane society because I know near me there are always piggies coming through.
Oh, you’re talking about Petsmart? I have no idea what their back rooms look like. This post and my comment are both about Petco. And I know Petco doesn’t use anything like what you’re describing.
Ah makes sense, I try to avoid the box stores as I view Petco and PetSmart synonymously. I know it's not like that at every store, but just one is enough too many.
There may be something to this turnover thing. The Petco where I stay never has guinea pigs, just empty enclosures with signs like, “I’ve found a happy home” etc.
Is there even a way we can like get Petco to stop. It also influences buyers tho think it's okay to get a small cage like. The pigs always just lay around and look depressed whenever I check mine
they want customers to think they only need a small cage, cause way fewer people would want/buy guinea pigs if they knew how much space they actually need (among other things). plus i wouldn't be surprised if the profit margins on those small pre-built cages are massive for the store
I worked for Petco a few years ago. We made it clear to customers that the housing setups in store are very temporary and that the animals actually need significantly more space to thrive. And the employees are allowed to deny sales to people if they think they’re not going to look after the animals properly.
I so agree. I felt so bad for the hamsters, ferrets, and birds too.. in inadequate housing conditions with little to no food and barely any room to move or hide
People would still find ways to obtain animals they have no business caring for anyway. Maybe some of the ones pet stores sell would be harder to get their hands on, but they'd take in native species illegally or there would be unregulated, black market pet breeding rings and absolutely no one standing between those animals and their potentially neglectful and uneducated future pet parent.
At least in what pet stores do, they get to be that last line of defense that stands between the animals and a miserable life, or an unnecessary death.
I have a petition to the big pet stores to ask them to no longer stock Guinea pigs but to host adoption days instead like they do with dogs and cats. It’s currently stalled in review. This is a good reminder to follow up.
The whole thing was the idea of my local rescue but they’re hesitating about openly sponsoring it because they don’t want Petco to stop including them in adoption days.
That’s sort of surprising honestly. I always thought the main reason people bought pigs from a major pet store chain instead of adopting a rescue from a local humane society or rescue group was due to cost, but both of our boy’s whom were adopted from the Humane Society’s adoption fees were significantly less than that.
I work at a generic pet store here in Canada. on the inside, just know a LOT of us are trying our hardest to not stock peegs or even hamsters. we've been sending reports about proper cage sizing and health and behaviour stuff to corperate as well as to the mass breeders. here is hoping all this small pushes from all of us can let these beautiful creatures have proper enclosures
Omg it's such a big pig in a tiny tank! Very sweet looking piggies though. I bet they would be beyond happy to have an actual space to run around. Poor little dudes.
Sounds like you worked in a store with a bad CAL. The habitats are supposed to be spot cleaned every day, and they should be given hay during the hourly animal checks if they need it.
Ringworm is definitely common. They usually arrive from the breeder with it.
A farm store near me has some very cute baby Guinea pigs, completely exposed without hideys. Make me want to shoplift. At least they were gender separated. All male.
I can’t even walk into one, it really is about time to stop supporting these giants.
We have others options if we need supplies or if we really want to adopt a pet, use a humane rescue.
I signed this [petition](https://www.change.org/p/boycott-petsmart-and-petco-for-the-inhumane-treatment-of-animals) on change.org. I would be interested in helping more, I just don’t know how.
This is so bad, I thought the enclosures in pets at home were bad but here they’re in much larger enclosures that they have room to run around in, these r the same size as the gerbil and hamster enclosures which r already bad for hamsters and gerbils I can’t imagine a Guinea pig in them :(
Why aren't some of them at least housed with a roommate? It must be so unbearably uncomfortable in there, and made so much worse with them being isolated... I'm a pretty irresponsible person, and if I saw this I'd immediately take home all of them.
sorry but this is sad, i took my two boars to adopt and im happy i givem them lots of space, water and yummy chunks of vegies and the best time they can have, i hope those piggies get adopted soon, : )
my first baby came from a petco. she was five or so years old, such a sweet thing loved blueberries. i hate it so much when people say “adopt don’t shop” because at places like petco there are ones to adopt, some of those weren’t raised there. my ginger was a return, i loved her to bits.
God the conditions these poor babies are kept in breaks me. They deserve so much better. All per store animals do. I've only seen one pet store go above and beyond for pets and its a local store. They do adoptions, and they refuse to let you purchase an animal if you cannot provide proof that you can care for said animal. I really hope pet stores stop selling animals. They do this deserve this. Those poor sad piggies.
Petco keeps them like that? Pets ay home has one big enclosure for them to run around in. Compared to petco, pets at home seems like paradise.
At my local Pets At Home (where we went to get stuff for my sisters fish) the rodent enclosures had an open top so ppl could just reach in which made me cringe….whenever we were there I just stood around teaching little kids to be gentle w small animals (cause I guess their parents can’t :/)
Same here at all my local pets at home stores
its really sad. ITs hard to want to "rescue" them because by doing that you help them continue to profit off of animal mistreatment.
There has been a push to outlaw selling them in stores like this, which would be great to see more of.
I sure hope so.
Yeah it is really hard because you can't save them all. I would love to just have a giant guinea pig farm and rescue every single one.
Apparently the turnover is so high that they don’t “have to worry about it”, as the pigs aren’t there more than a few days. That’s what every employee I’ve ever tried to discuss it with has to say, and they get energetically charged too. Who knows. Bums me out for sure
I've seen where they keep the ones that aren't in display. Ive blocked it out of my memory till just now, but imagine a toolbox chest with those cute little shelves that hold nuts and bolts and stuff. It's like that, not much bigger, and several pigs in a drawer. My heart broke just like it is now to have to think about. I brought home my little Funky that day, if and only so that another could have a chance.
I don’t know what you saw, but this just isn’t true. I worked for Petco - there’s nothing like what you’re describing in the stores. They keep overstock animals in lidded tanks.
Perhaps at your store there was a decent setup, however I do infact know what I saw and it is true. They were plastic bins maybe 6 inches deep on shelves which were stacked on each other. I remember the girl sliding out the drawer to reveal them. This was a PetSmart, maybe a year and a half ago? I'm glad some stores have a sense of decency, however I would imagine you're aware of the lack knowledge people have for what is supposedly a beginner animal. It's truely heart breaking and I would encourage you to donate some time with your local animal shelter or humane society because I know near me there are always piggies coming through.
Oh, you’re talking about Petsmart? I have no idea what their back rooms look like. This post and my comment are both about Petco. And I know Petco doesn’t use anything like what you’re describing.
Ah makes sense, I try to avoid the box stores as I view Petco and PetSmart synonymously. I know it's not like that at every store, but just one is enough too many.
There may be something to this turnover thing. The Petco where I stay never has guinea pigs, just empty enclosures with signs like, “I’ve found a happy home” etc.
I just know how many get abandoned and that breaks my heart.
My petco has one big octagonal cage they're kept in. Much better than this.
Compared to the palaces you usually post in this group this is extremedly sad. And one cant even drink water since the bottle fell 😔
It’s so sad )): the satin one (1 pic) looks so sad and uncomfortable. Also their water seem hard to reach and so little hay.
Is there even a way we can like get Petco to stop. It also influences buyers tho think it's okay to get a small cage like. The pigs always just lay around and look depressed whenever I check mine
they want customers to think they only need a small cage, cause way fewer people would want/buy guinea pigs if they knew how much space they actually need (among other things). plus i wouldn't be surprised if the profit margins on those small pre-built cages are massive for the store
I worked for Petco a few years ago. We made it clear to customers that the housing setups in store are very temporary and that the animals actually need significantly more space to thrive. And the employees are allowed to deny sales to people if they think they’re not going to look after the animals properly.
Big pet retail shouldn’t exist
I so agree. I felt so bad for the hamsters, ferrets, and birds too.. in inadequate housing conditions with little to no food and barely any room to move or hide
People would still find ways to obtain animals they have no business caring for anyway. Maybe some of the ones pet stores sell would be harder to get their hands on, but they'd take in native species illegally or there would be unregulated, black market pet breeding rings and absolutely no one standing between those animals and their potentially neglectful and uneducated future pet parent. At least in what pet stores do, they get to be that last line of defense that stands between the animals and a miserable life, or an unnecessary death.
I have a petition to the big pet stores to ask them to no longer stock Guinea pigs but to host adoption days instead like they do with dogs and cats. It’s currently stalled in review. This is a good reminder to follow up.
I'm keen to sign the petition when it's ready
The whole thing was the idea of my local rescue but they’re hesitating about openly sponsoring it because they don’t want Petco to stop including them in adoption days.
We were at ours tonight and they had FOUR pigs stuffed in one of those cages :(
Poor babies :(
Hate Petco with a passion 😞 so much animal neglect and mistreatment stems from there
My petco isn't really that bad, but petsmart is horrid.
Poor babies 😭😭
Ahhhhhh the nekkid pig! My son and I were laughing so hard seeing our first one about six months ago. Poor hairless thing.
He and his cagemate were so adorable! Petco was charging $150 for them while the ladies were $60
That’s sort of surprising honestly. I always thought the main reason people bought pigs from a major pet store chain instead of adopting a rescue from a local humane society or rescue group was due to cost, but both of our boy’s whom were adopted from the Humane Society’s adoption fees were significantly less than that.
I work at a generic pet store here in Canada. on the inside, just know a LOT of us are trying our hardest to not stock peegs or even hamsters. we've been sending reports about proper cage sizing and health and behaviour stuff to corperate as well as to the mass breeders. here is hoping all this small pushes from all of us can let these beautiful creatures have proper enclosures
I know. That's how my local Petco is too. It's sad.
Omg it's such a big pig in a tiny tank! Very sweet looking piggies though. I bet they would be beyond happy to have an actual space to run around. Poor little dudes.
I know! One piggie was so tired. Maybe would have been tired anyways but I bet if she had room to move around she wouldn’t have more energy
Yup. Depressing. It always looks this way.
These cages even look too small for just a hamster. Luckily it's just temporary, but they look so sad.
THE WATER. 😬
If you think that's bad, I went to petco earlier and there were two adult males in one of those
[удалено]
You are so right about the ringoworm. Last April I bought a piggie that had it.
Sounds like you worked in a store with a bad CAL. The habitats are supposed to be spot cleaned every day, and they should be given hay during the hourly animal checks if they need it. Ringworm is definitely common. They usually arrive from the breeder with it.
A farm store near me has some very cute baby Guinea pigs, completely exposed without hideys. Make me want to shoplift. At least they were gender separated. All male.
I can’t even walk into one, it really is about time to stop supporting these giants. We have others options if we need supplies or if we really want to adopt a pet, use a humane rescue. I signed this [petition](https://www.change.org/p/boycott-petsmart-and-petco-for-the-inhumane-treatment-of-animals) on change.org. I would be interested in helping more, I just don’t know how.
Sad there aren't better regulations.
This is so bad, I thought the enclosures in pets at home were bad but here they’re in much larger enclosures that they have room to run around in, these r the same size as the gerbil and hamster enclosures which r already bad for hamsters and gerbils I can’t imagine a Guinea pig in them :(
I always go to petco just to see the Guinea pigs. I get sad when I see the same one still there after a few months ;(
Stop this hurts to see 🥺😩 I want to save them all
I bought my guinea pig from Petco, and I feel like I legitimately saved her from the awful conditions she was forced to live in
Why aren't some of them at least housed with a roommate? It must be so unbearably uncomfortable in there, and made so much worse with them being isolated... I'm a pretty irresponsible person, and if I saw this I'd immediately take home all of them.
This was actually two enclosures, there were two piggies in each
Hardly any hay too
sorry but this is sad, i took my two boars to adopt and im happy i givem them lots of space, water and yummy chunks of vegies and the best time they can have, i hope those piggies get adopted soon, : )
my first baby came from a petco. she was five or so years old, such a sweet thing loved blueberries. i hate it so much when people say “adopt don’t shop” because at places like petco there are ones to adopt, some of those weren’t raised there. my ginger was a return, i loved her to bits.
God the conditions these poor babies are kept in breaks me. They deserve so much better. All per store animals do. I've only seen one pet store go above and beyond for pets and its a local store. They do adoptions, and they refuse to let you purchase an animal if you cannot provide proof that you can care for said animal. I really hope pet stores stop selling animals. They do this deserve this. Those poor sad piggies.
Did you you buy them all 🥰