I'm gonna throw in my defense of PetSmart here :shock:.
From August until November I was a Pet Care Manager at PetSmart, I did not quit because of pet issues, I quit because of hours.
Anyway, I like PetSmart's policy on animal care. AS LONG AS THE MANAGERS ARE FOLLOWING COMPANY POLICY I feel that PetSmart does care about the animals it sells. Now if you have a store that is ignoring the policy, then that is another matter.
All animals are checked by the Manager on duty at store opening, 1pm, 5pm and at close - this is verified by a sign off sheet.
All animals are entitled to vet care. Animals may only be put down by a vet. I once took a hamster to an overnight vet clinic because it became sick as the store closed - the hamster died, but the Store Manager did not care about my overtime, or the vet bill, the welbeing of the animal came first. We also sent two cockatiels to the vet because I thought they looked sick, spent over $500 on each bird and saved them from pnemonia - all because I had a hunch they may be ill.
If anyone was caught hurting or being lax in the care, they were fired. I got two of my employees fired because they were 1) not feeding properly and 2) one threw an animal.
We were allowed to refuse sale if the animal was going to be a feeder, or possibly hurt in any way by the customer.
The animals were provided with fresh fruits/veggies every day - it was mandatory! Even the fish were given fruit and veggies by species.
They no longer sell rabbits or large parrots because the company felt that people should not buy these animals on a whim (I read the official policy).
Stores a separated by sex, the 3 months I was manager we never had an accidental litter.
Permantly injured animals were not killed (unless vet said to) or sold. They were adopted out to employees or friends of employees. Many of our animals that were hurt or required medical attention for the rest of their lives were adopted by the employee who cared for the animal in the store when it was sick. We had a poor guinea pig who was thrown (see earlier part of post) and had a broken hip. Hip was reparied by vet and one of my girls took him home - he hobbles, but he is living the life! She adores him.
Thats all I can think about now. I feel very comfortable buying from PetSmart after working there. There will always be employees who donot know their pets, but an I feel I should never be relying on a teenage pet store employee to give me vital information on an animal I want. Before purchasing an animal I do at least 3 months of research on the animal to 1) make sure I want the animal and it is not just a phase at the moment and 2) to ensure I have the best facts possible.
Sorry I wrote a book there. When I see a bad pet store, I never shop there again. Petco makes me made most of the time.
