"Boycotting" stores that sell live animals

Love your rabbit
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Myia09

Myia09

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Messages
2,210
Reaction score
1
Location
Tempe, Arizona, USA
*Mods you can move this..I am not sure if this belongs here or let your hare down*

So, I have come to the personal decision to ban petsmart and petco, along with most stores that sell live animals. I am making an exception totwo stores, Cage World, a local bird store that takes good care of thier animals, and Arizona Reptile Center who takes good care of thier reptiles.

I am also banning my local mom and pop shop Pets Inc, because although the reptiles and fish are taken excellent care of; they do not feed any of thier small animals hay, I have seen a couple gerbils/hamsters with health issues, and they sell baby rabbits.

There are a couple problems.

Small animal bedding. I have been using the Kaytee Soft Sobernt (unscented) type bedding and the mice (Although not my hamster)really like it.

My local rabbit rescue does sell carefresh, so I might just have to stick with it.

My toys for the rabbits and litter is coverd by my rabbit rescue (even though the variety is limited), although the feed is not. I do have to order my hay and food from a feed store.

Does anyone know of *cheap* hay I can order? I have been having major hay quality issues anyways, but most shipping seems to run $50 in itself.

So, I need obviouly websites that sell products I need for all my animals (parakeets, mice, hamster, geckos, rabbits, chins)

The rabbit and chinchillas re not the problem..it is the parakeets and mice/hammies.

I have so far I know of Dr. Fosters and Smith that I can order from. Does anyone else know of any?

And does anyone want to join me? It would be nice to have a group :)


 
I believe you mean Boycotting the stores not banning them. Boycotting is your choice not to buy form them for a specific reason (them selling animals).

The only pet store that I buy form that sells animals is Petsmart, but that is only for a very few items. There is really only 1 other store in the city that I have found that has the item, but I don't go there very often. The good thing is I don't need that item anymore. The stores where I get my pet food and other supplies are locally owned and usually have just 1 location (although a few have a couple locations).

As for hay, I buy it from local farmers. It is usually about $4 a bale around here. The last bale I got was more (about $10), but very nice. You can try to see if there are local farmers or other hay suppliers in your area.
 
All the feed stores sell bales that are over $20, and there are no local farmers (Darn living in the desert)

Yes, ban, boycott..it really is all the same, lol. I can ban them from my life :p
 
You can order hay online from Oxbow, Sweet Meadow Farms, Kleenmama's Hayloft, and others. They are not cheap, though, due to shipping.
 
When I first read it I was like, she is very optimistic that she can ban all these places :biggrin: I get what you mean now though, go for it!
 
Claire thanks! The Sweet Medow Hay has a 8-9lb box with Chamomile and Rose Hips for $20 plus $15 shipping, which is doable. At least I think so...8-9lb box sounds like a fair amount, right?

I also found a store called petstore.com that has aweeesssommme prices on toys and supplies, but still need suggestions! THanks!
 
I was gonna suggest petstore.com. Do most of my buying online, always looking for the best deal. We used to have a Petco here that took really good care of their charges, but, I think it was an exceptional store, not the general run for them.
 
irishbunny wrote:
When I first read it I was like, she is very optimistic that she can ban all these places :biggrin: I get what you mean now though, go for it!
Click to expand...
Hehe I was, as stated, thinking "Boycott" :p
 
Nancy McClelland wrote:
I was gonna suggest petstore.com. Do most of my buying online, always looking for the best deal. We used to have a Petco here that took really good care of their charges, but, I think it was an exceptional store, not the general run for them.
Click to expand...

No, and most of it is the company regulations. Like geckos beign housed on sand, ect ect. Those are all company rules. And honestly, I am just tired of seeing so much abuse. The prompt from this was a call from a Vet Dr. Phung who is the Petco's vet in AZ. I did rehabilitation for reptiles for him (Like fostering).

I told him I had to take a break from fostering about a year and half ago due to finances, and he called to tell me he was overwhelmed and they were putting down animals. I just had it. I told him I no longer could support Petco's abuse. I feel awful, but it is the truth. They seriously need to change thier policies, and educate thier workers who often don't know ANYTHING bout the animals they are selling.


 
I buy my parrot supplies from birdsafestore.com - they have very good prices on premium foods, and decent prices on toys (though I prefer DIY). I don't know much about where to get cheap hay from though; I don't suppose you have a Blue Seal near you? Ours does not carry live animals and has big horse bales of feed hay + smaller bales of oxbow hays.

I used to very strictly boycott all stores selling live animals, but I admit for the sake of convenience I've slacked lately since my schedule has been so nuts. After the move I intend to go back to it though, as it WON'T be convenient any more; we'll be out in the boonies. One thing that helps is most of the stuff I use ISN'T sold in local stores; I need to get my bird food, rodent food, fish food, etc. online because no one locally carries what I want. And, making one's own toys rather than purchasing them definitely helps you advoid stores that sell animals as well.

My word of advice if you start shopping more online be to always be stocked up a few weeks in advance of what you need, just in case your typical vendor is sold out or shipping gets goofed up. It also helps to shop around and google coupon codes for whatever site you use; you can almost always get $5 off of a Drs Foster & Smith order if you search a bit, for example (though do note: Drs Foster & Smith DOES sell live aquatic life). Placing larger orders all at once often saves you on shipping (some sites even have free shipping over x dollars).
 
I did order some mice toys on petstore.com and got a coupon code :)

Dr Fosters sells fish? Ugh. That really doesn't work for me then...I can't order from them either. I def do not support online sales of fish, or most fish sales in general since they are usually in poor conditons.

I did call a local feed store that only sells dog/cat food as well as supplies (No animals), although not hay. They sell Mana Pro however so I might have to make the switch.

I usually order toy parts in bulk Ren from qualitymutationchinchillas.com for my birds and chins, but they have become extremley expensive and shipping is $10.

I also order TOP from the bird store here that is good with thier pets, I make my mice/hamster food myself from a local organic store, so really ordering food besides for the rabbits/chins is no problem.

Thanks a lot! :)
 
Have you ever considered using craft pieces from dollar stores and craft stores? It is SO much cheaper than ordering species bird/rodent toy parts, which are EXACTLY the same materials in most cases (unless you're specifically buying say, apple wood or something. I say find some maples locally and bake 'em.). Unfinished wood in craft stores is the same as unfinished wood in bird/rodent toy making kits - it just costs about a fraction of the price! I even use the dollar store; sometimes they have wicker/willow balls, wicker baskets, popsicle sticks, coin rolls, etc.
 
I can't find any! At the dollar store I found coin rollers.

Other than that, I went to Hobby Lobby (Which I am now banning since they sell live, real, rabbit pelts) and Joanns and found some for $1.00 a piece (They were wood circles)

Or maybe I am so unimagintive I can't see anything, lol.

And I can't find any wood locally, besides Cholla. But at $60 shipped for only a small box, it is getting too taxing to buy. Right now I am buying bundles of 10 long apple wood sticks for $4 and giving them as a once a week treat.

They do get untreated pine toys all the time however.
 
I think its great that you are going to do this!

One day I would really like to ban petsmart and petco. Unfortunately things like hay / food are simply less expensive at petco them all of the "mom and pop" stores around here.

And to be honest most of the locally owed stores sell more animals then petco! I was really upset when I walked into this cute little pest store and saw an aquarium with baby rabbits and piggies in it.

They also had tortoises that were not housed as badly as I'd seen at petco...but it was not good. Russian tortoises are woefully mistreated there. There is NO temperture gradient in their tanks, the aquariums are glass, they are less then half the size they need to be AND they arn't fed greens.

I think even the mammals are in better shape then the reptiles.

I feel like boycotting all stores that sell live animals is the last kind thing I need to do. I'm already a vegetarian, which makes me feel slightly less guilty.

Good for you!
 
Well thankfully I have a reptile shop here who is super with thier animals..I mean excellent. So I don't have to worry about crickets..and the bird store is a mom and pop and the perch I bought was actually $3 more than at petco/petsmart..lol. But it is worth it. Not only am I supporting a GOOD shop, but I am not supporting petco/petsmart. And even if I boycotted them all, I have online resources. Most of them are extremley well priced, even with shipping.

I agree though, reptiles are so commonly mistreated so badly.

I am not vegitarian, and I actually support meat idustry..or let me so rephrase. There is no way everyone is going to become vegan/vegitarian. Just like not everyone is a republican. So I think that instead of going against the meat market, which accomplishes NOTHING, I need to support in making changes to better the lives of animals that are used for food. But that is just IMO. I would like to become vegitarian for health reasons.
 
Not to create a debate, but I find it odd that you support boycotting petco/petsmart when they aren't going out of business any time soon, but see boycotting meat as a futile cause. ;) The point is abstaining from being an active participant in animal cruelty because it violates one's moral values; I don't think any vegan/vegetarian with a solid head on their shoulders is deluded enough to think that their personal boycott will end the meat industry, which is why most are strong participants in advocacy efforts as well.

But, I don't want to get your post off topic! Do you not have a Micheals or AC Moore near you? I do have a Hobby Lobby near me and they sell very large bags of mixed size and shape wooden craft pieces, but perhaps they stock different from place to place. They also sell willow balls in my area. Even big chain stores like Target (I won't say Walmart since they sell fish) tend to have at least some craft stuff that can be used for birds/rodents.

Ooh, I just thought of one thing: Oriental Trading (online) does sell massive numbers of finger traps for cheap. They're good shredding toys.

You're making me nervous that I might not have as much luck finding craft pieces for pet toys when I move! I take for granted how easy it is to find stuff in my area, haha.
 
Ren, I agree. I am only boycotting not to put them out of bussiness, but for my own personal reasons.
What I mean by vegitarians is often more than not, activists and group organizations concentrate on telling people not to eat meat, showing how meat is bad and the bad things about the meat industry, without trying to provide ways to improve the meat inudstry. I think most vegitarian focused groups (peta for instance) have the lookout completely wrong and should focus more on helping than trying to boycott it. I didn't say anything about personal vegitarians, or thier reasons :)

Plus, the whole free range idea of meat just isn't possible..we don't have enough land. So we need to come up with better options for people that is affordable.

I wish I lived near vegitarians that could have a decent conversation about WHAT to do PRATICALLY about the industry..not the whole "Meat is wrong" or "Let the animals live thier lives and free range!"

And thanks erika! :)
 
Myia09 wrote:
Plus, the whole free range idea of meat just isn't possible..we don't have enough land. So we need to come up with better options for people that is affordable.

I wish I lived near vegitarians that could have a decent conversation about WHAT to do PRATICALLY about the industry..not the whole "Meat is wrong" or "Let the animals live thier lives and free range!"
Click to expand...
That's definitely a bandwagon I can jump on. I'm an animal science student and so often people (who aren't also animal science students) assume that means I don't eat meat when in fact it's completely the opposite - I love meat and I love milk and I love eggs (don't care for the taste of seafood though). I just feel that I'm better prepared to make more educated choices about my animal products. I know what sort of practices are actually bad for the animals and what sort of practices people just think are bad because they humanize them too much. I absolutely believe in the concept of "animal welfare" but not in the concept of "animal rights." I've surprised many friends who are vegetarian or vegan by sharing facts with them - facts like what "rBST" means and why I'm in support of it's use, but dairy farmers are so pressured by what companies think their consumers want that they are producing milk without the help of rBST and I can't find it to buy; not to mention interesting discussions like why shouldn't we add antibiotics to cattle feed that will reduce their methane output - and why is it okay for the vegetarians to go hog wild on those "magical fruits" that result in increased methane production in humans- but we need to strictly monitor the methane output of cattle.

Sorry about getting sidetracked - I definitely recognize the importance of choosing where you shop. I never buy anything from a store that sells kittens and puppies, for example. I'll go in the mall petstore and look at them - because I think they're cute- but I won't buy anything at all from them because I know they support puppy mills.

We buy most of our rabbit stuff (food, hay, bird toys we repurpose because our two love their jingly bells) at our local feed store. They do sell chicks - not Easter chicks, year round chicks to people who want chickens, but they don't sell pet animals.

I do go to petco, but I like the petco near me. They don't sell rabbits; they support local rescues; their animals appear to be healthy to me. That said, when I buy fish I try not to go to Petco because I know I'll pay more at my local fish store, but I'll be getting a healthier fish.
 
Myia09 wrote:
What I mean by vegitarians is often more than not, activists and group organizations concentrate on telling people not to eat meat, showing how meat is bad and the bad things about the meat industry, without trying to provide ways to improve the meat inudstry. I think most vegitarian focused groups (peta for instance) have the lookout completely wrong and should focus more on helping than trying to boycott it. I didn't say anything about personal vegitarians, or thier reasons :)
Click to expand...
No offense meant, but aren't you doing the same thing by boycotting rather than trying to work with them to improve things? :?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top