Petland abuse to puppies, small furries, and people Dunwoody Georgia
I worked at petland for only a few monthes and what I saw will continually haunt me. This is not focused on all petlands because that is like saying that all blond haired, blue eyed girls have more fun. Simplistic, but hardly the case.
There was severe abuse to the puppies behind the scenes, and general neglect to all the small animals in the store.
For example, when giving a 6 week old pug his de worming medicine, he bit one of the employees and was thrown against the wall in the back room for it, before dropping him back into his little two by two cell. When I went to check on the poor thing, it was visably shaking and stared at me absolutely terrified of what I would do to him. All of this was done in front of the current manager on duty.
There were also gerbils that werent properly introduced to the enviroment and in the end it caused their death. Let me explain, when a unfimiliar gerbil comes into the general vicinity of the 'clan' they will basically tear it apart. I saw several of the rodents set aside and out of the way to die after their entrails were spread across the floor of the holding cell.
Birds that had no right to even be housed together were and some were severely injured and even killed by their roomates. The Mocaw was left out for children to tug on his tail and taunt him to no end.
The final draw for me was when we sold a rabbit born and bred to be in a loving home to become a feeder for a particularly large python. I understand the snake had to eat, we all do, but this bunny was so the owner could 'save money' and not buy the feeder rats born for the purpose.
Maybe Im just too much of an animal rights person and this is 'normal' for most petstores. Although I work now at petsmart and am very happy with the treatment and quality of those animals. I just wanted the world to know what goes on behind those closed doors
PS. and those puppies that come from 'local' breeders, are only local if you live in Michigan, Ohio, Mississippi etc. Which are all very well known for their abundance in puppy mills. To think those puppies are packed up in Semi Trucks and driven across the country and still love you just as much for all thats been done to them. Let the world know.
Abigail
Marietta, Georgia
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Dave
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
You go AKA!
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, September 08, 2006
Thank you AKA for speaking your mind, and letting everyone know the truth. The girl is obviously a disgruntled employee, especially if she was fired.
Aka
Atlanta,Georgia,
U.S.A.
To begin with Abigail, you repeatedly gave customers wrong information while working there and now that you continue to do so I feel that you need correcting.
#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, April 02, 2006
As for you stating that a 6-week old pug was abused, we never received a puppy under the age of 8-weeks unless it was from an in-state breeder (ie. dachshunds who are 7-weeks old at time of arrival). Being on the topic of breeders, Pet Counselors are told during training that dogs are from both local and out-of-state breeders. One cannot receive several breeds from just one state therefore having to acquire dogs from several states is the only way to have a diverse selection. Also, the dogs are only on an eight hour car ride and not in semi-trucks; climate controlled vans are used for transportation. They arrive via a two-party crew; one to drive and the other to supervise the puppies at all times. Anyone that was there at time of arrival would be aware of these items or any employee that was curious was always more than welcome to ask and be present at arrivals.
The gerbils "fighting" is a common dominace trait in which the small animals determine order in their clan. Yes, when one was attacked they were separated but they could not be rehabiliated either.
The birds were separated if you remember correctly but as you may know they also jumped into each others cages since birds typically fly (they do have wings!) One bird in particular was housed with several other birds of its species and was repeatedly picked on by same species birds but that also relates to the dominace as mentioned above. The bird in question was later housed separately (but you had already been fired by then!) Per the birds being available to be handle that is part of the experience that was provided at the store. Birds require near constant stimuli and this interaction enables us to provide that much-needed socalizations. Anyone that had harassed birds or otherwise bothered them were asked to stop and shown and/or taught appropriate techniques. Any continued harrassement of the birds (or any animal for that fact) were asked to leave.
As for the rabbit comment, when owning a large python, rats no longer become a viable source of food. Rabbits have more body fat than rats providing more nutrients. Also, a burmese python would have to eat a dozen large rats to sustain itself rather than one large rabbit. Finally, the store always received feeder rabbits for those individuals who needed them.
From a former worker who still frequents the store and recommends others there, I hope that you realize that what you are saying is completely incorrect and that you're bashing comes across as hostility from a disgruntled emploee.