Pet shop argument

[snakehandler]

I have been into stores with staff who have a variety of animals and they try to sell me product that I dont need, that does not benefit the animal and is overpriced......A pet store like any other business has to make money to survive, if any breeder actually believes that they are only doing it for self interest then instead of selling the animals, give them away

 

[BJC-787]

Also, dog and cats are year round breeders mate, they don't have a breeding season so that's a bit more misinformation right there.

maybe in the hotter parts of the country, but not down this way, in summer we can get offered upto 3 litters of kittens a day but in winter and uptil November-December we are lucky to get offered a litter a month.

The definition of impulse buying is not 'going into to the store to buy the puppy for $300' it's people going into the store for a different reason or to look around and seeing the puppy and going OH LET'S GET IT LOOK HOW CUTE IT IS!

so in that case i impulse buy as i went to the frog and reptile expo just to look and left with 2 snakes, and there have been numerous threads on here of went somewhere and left with a snake or lizard.

I have been into stores with staff who have a variety of animals and they try to sell me product that I dont need, that does not benefit the animal and is overpriced

when someone comes into the store and asks for some thing i always give them at least 2 choices, example, ask me about heating for a snake i tell them about lights, mats, cords, rocks, and explain the differences and advantages and disadvantages of each and let them choose.
also you hear of people saying that the store told me i don't need a thermostat, so that is the complete opposite situation.

 

[PhilK]

so in that case i impulse buy as i went to the frog and reptile expo just to look and left with 2 snakes, and there have been numerous threads on here of went somewhere and left with a snake or lizard.

Precisely.

 

[BJC-787]

my point made by that comment is that we don't need petshops to impulse buy, and just because it is a spare of the moment thing doesn't mean they don't have the things they need to look after it

 

[PhilK]

my point made by that comment is that we don't need petshops to impulse buy, and just because it is a spare of the moment thing doesn't mean they don't have the things they need to look after it

I disagree wholeheartedly. People generally do not impulse buy reptiles from a petshop as they need a licence.. impulse buying reptiles is therefore done by people who have licences and generally have read up... any bogan off the street can walk in and buy a puppy for his kid's birthday, and then when it is a bit older and not so cute anymore they can get rid of it.
Animal purchases on the spur of the moment are not good, no matter what you say - one should always research and consider a pet before impulse buying one.

 

[hypochondroac]

Agreeing with PhilK here.

When it comes to puppies from pet stores the majority of them are crossbreds, do you know how many people have walked into my grooming parlour only to tell me that the pet store or 'breeder' they bought the pup from said the 'breed' only needs grooming once or twice a year.

These people can't be prepared for what they are going to get in a crossbred dog and half the time they are lied to anyway.. so when mister 'spoodle' who ends up being the size of a standard poodle gets too big and jumps on the kids - he gets sent to the pound, or when the owners find out that their labradoodle/spoodle thing matts up twice as easily as a purebred poodle without very regular grooming they wonder whether they want to spend the money.

 

[BJC-787]

isn't it just as easy to open the paper and see a puppy or kitten for free and decide to get it or driving along a street and see a sign for a puppy or kitten and decide to get it, people are more likely to impulse and get one for free out of the paper or backyard than pay $300+ for one in a pet shop

 

[Serpentess]

The people who work at the petshop that I frequent keep their animals in large, clean enclosures...

BUT

1. They feed their snakes live food. Not good. I've seen an adult mouse running around in an adult Spotted's enclosure before... I've also seen 3-4 pinkie mice squirming on the floor of the enclosure which had a few hatchling spotteds. I was really not happy about that.

2. The people there don't know the difference between frozen rats and frozen mice (apart from the adult rats, of course). Really, it is quite ridiculous.

P.S. I'm sorry if my grammar is off, or if I am off-topic. Had quite a few beers.

 

[hypochondroac]

People are usually going to the pet store to get goods for their other dog/s or just wandering a main street when they come across a pet store.. if they've got the money and they have a 'special bond' with a pup they will buy it, to get a puppy out of the trading post or somewhere similar they have to be physically looking for one in the right section and even if they see one they like the look of.. it's a picture, not a real live precious puppy. Much easier to resist.

 

[Tegstep]

Who here hasnt walked into most metro pet shops and just thought "I smell Parvo..."?
Ive worked in a pet shop, and the staff there did their best, but they were not properly educated, frequently gave bad advice (not out of negligence, but out of ignorance and thinking they were correct), and we knew the stock we got in was pure crap. Being part of a chain you can't do anything about that.
There's some really great privately owned pet stores, but thats a supreme minority.

Pet shops should be for supplies, registered breeders should provide the livestock (all species).
Personally I'm for licenses to own dogs, cats, birds, etc as well as reptiles. (and while we're at it, how about for having kids

 

[butters]

I work in the pet industry and have for over 20 years in one form or another. At present I manage a store.

We don't sell dogs or cats and never will. Why?

Because there are plenty of perfectly good animals available at the RSPCA or Animal Welfare.

I cop heaps from customers when I explain to them why we don't sell them and can understand why some stores give in and stock them. At the end of the day a business should provide what its customer wants and if it can do it in the right manner I see no reason why they shouldn't.

I always get a laugh out of these threads and the generalizations that are made about sectors of the industry.

I could stock normal light bulbs in the store and no one would buy them. Why? Because it doesn't have a pretty picture of a reptile on it. I agree Snakehandler in that many instances a normal bulb would do just as well and that is exactly what I use myself but to be honest I only use one in my Hosmers enclosure as they really need a basking spot. Everything else is heat mats or heat cord. I use fluoros for a light source and the UV component. Do they have to have UV? Probably not to stay alive but it definitely makes a difference in behaviour and colouration for many reptiles and amphibians.

Some people need to have a picture to make them feel they are doing the right thing. Same goes for all of those so called needless products. If you don't feel they are necessary then don't use them. I don't use many of them myself but have numerous customers who swear by them. If it does no harm to the animal, possibly a little good, then what is wrong with that? I can't fault people for trying to give their animals the best (in their eyes) even if I think it is unnecessary.

As for mark up most people have an inflated idea of how much pet shops make out of selling products. I can tell you that in my store (which is pretty much average) we have nothing that we make over 40% gross profit. Overheads still have to come out of that. I have never worked in a store that has the 300-500% markup that I often see posted on here. You would never sell anything with a markup like that. There is a thing called competition and someone is always cheaper than you. Any store that prices themselves out of the market won't be around for long.

All of our animal enclosures (what little we have) are cleaned daily. Same goes for the other stores I have been in. How many of you clean every enclosure daily?Hell the fish even get a daily automatic water change!

Whilst I agree there are stores out there that should be shut down and some that leave a lot to be desired there are still plenty out there who care about animals and do whatever it takes to keep their animals healthy and happy as well as provide as much information to prospective owners as possible. Hell I have people ring me or email me at midnight for information. I still get emails from customers of a previous shop I worked at for advice.

Not all pet shops are bad and not everything about pet shops is bad but if the one near you is.....then don't (insert choice word) use it!!

As for staff. If you can find me staff with an encyclopedial knowledge of everything needed for every species possible, that will work for slightly above shop assistants wage (remember if I have to pay them big bucks the price on products goes up)...let me know.


Lots of things would be nice but then I wake up and realise I am in the real world.


Cheers Andrew

 

[Serpentess]

Personally I'm for licenses to own dogs, cats, birds, etc as well as reptiles. (and while we're at it, how about for having kids

+1

 

[butters]

I whole heartedly agree that cats should be licensed. Dogs, reptiles and some birds already are.

Personally I don't think we should be allowed to keep cats in Australia but the horse has already bolted there.
At the very least they should be licensed and not allowed to leave the house or an enclosure.

 

[Serpentess]

I whole heartedly agree that cats should be licensed. Dogs, reptiles and some birds already are.

Personally I don't think we should be allowed to keep cats in Australia but the horse has already bolted there.
At the very least they should be licensed and not allowed to leave the house or an enclosure.

Dogs aren't licenced.
They're registered. But not licenced.
If you want a dog you don't buy a licence, you buy the dog then go and register it. But half the people I know don't even do that.

 

[butters]

Very true but there is still some sort of regulation in place.
Many reptile keepers don't bother either.
You can let your cat do pretty much whatever you (or they) want and there are few repercussions. The same rules don't apply for dogs.

 

[PhilK]

isn't it just as easy to open the paper and see a puppy or kitten for free and decide to get it or driving along a street and see a sign for a puppy or kitten and decide to get it, people are more likely to impulse and get one for free out of the paper or backyard than pay $300+ for one in a pet shop

It is just as easy for people to do that, you're right... but in order to go to the page of the paper where the puppies are for sale they would need to be thinking "I wonder what pets are for sale" - not so impulsive.

But I see what you're trying to see - it is easy for people to, say, drive past a house with a KITTENS 4 SALE sign on it.. but it is much easier to enforce the prohibition of selling puppies and kittens from pet stores than it is from backyards.

EDIT: just realised hypochondroac said what I am saying already.

Not all pet shops are bad and not everything about pet shops is bad but if the one near you is.....then don't (insert choice word) use it!!

I don't think anybody here said all pet shops are bad? In fact it has been stated numerous times in this thread that there are lots of GOOD pet shops around.. the thread was started with the question of why we DON'T buy from pet shops, so naturally we are focusing on the bad.

 

[Kristy_07]

Totally agree with everything butters said - having worked in pet shops in the same city, these are my conclusions exactly, also. Particularly about the number of people who clean, not spot-clean but CLEAN, all their enclosures everyday

Phil, I think butters's point is that a lot of people make generalisations about pet shops and the way the work, and then use them to condemn the whole industry. I've seen plenty of posts of people emphatically stating they won't buy from pet shops because of reasons a, b, and c, without stopping to consider whether those reasons are true of all shops.

I also agree with BJC-787 - I think it's just as easy, if not easier, to impulse buy CHEAPER puppies and kittens from the paper or online local sale sites, than it is to justify a puppy that is, usually, at least $400 from a pet shop. I sold a lot of puppies and kittens (and rats and birds and fish), but almost none went to people that had simply walked past the shop, with no intention whatsoever of buying an animal in the near future. There were plenty that were thinking of getting pets, saw that particular animal, fell in love, and went home with them. But not many that had no intention at all. Just as easy to make an impulse decision from seeing a sign on the road, or an ad in the paper, IMO.

 

[PhilK]

Phil, I think butters's point is that a lot of people make generalisations about pet shops and the way the work, and then use them to condemn the whole industry. I've seen plenty of posts of people emphatically stating they won't buy from pet shops because of reasons a, b, and c, without stopping to consider whether those reasons are true of all shops.

Hey Kristy,
Yes you're right of course and I'm not denying that it is true a lot of people generalise all shops.. but this is true of our world.

"All tradies are lazy and useless" is one I have heard a lot and isn't true.

"All piggeries are horrid disgusting places" is an especially good one I feel. During our studies we have been in plenty of different piggeries and the great majority are beautifully clean and well managed systems with happy pigs, but you ask Joe Public what he thinks of piggeries and he will wax lyrical about how terrible and cruel they are based on some selective shots of one he saw on a PETA campaign.

Even stuff like "all Asian people are good at maths" and "all old people are bad drivers" ... generalisations are a very real part of every day life, so this is why people think so of pet shops.

I also agree with BJC-787 - I think it's just as easy, if not easier, to impulse buy CHEAPER puppies and kittens from the paper or online local sale sites, than it is to justify a puppy that is, usually, at least $400 from a pet shop. I sold a lot of puppies and kittens (and rats and birds and fish), but almost none went to people that had simply walked past the shop, with no intention whatsoever of buying an animal in the near future. There were plenty that were thinking of getting pets, saw that particular animal, fell in love, and went home with them. But not many that had no intention at all. Just as easy to make an impulse decision from seeing a sign on the road, or an ad in the paper, IMO.

That's fair enough but I still don't really think of it as impulse buying if you turn the paper to that page, or search a website selling puppies... I know pet shops make people impulse buy because I have certainly impulse bought from my local! I bought 2 crayfish from there, at exorbitant prices and I can thank that same store for my little parrot companion who I am in love with after he escaped from his display and crawled up my leg - I bought him the next day.

If I (a seemingly rational individual haha) can make such impulse buys why can other people not? I have certainly seen it happen with the $90 kittens at that shop.

 

[Rainbow-Serpent]

I made the HUGE mistake of buying a puppy of the mutt title "Moodle" from an irresponsible backyard breeder - who bred their dogs while the dogs were really young. Only six months later did I get educated, so now when people ask what breed he is I just say 'Poodle mix' or 'Mutt' Damn breeders charged me $1000 for him too...but he's a good dog none the less, just not from a very good background. Next time I'm using the shelter - puppies are cuter but I prefer getting adult dogs, puppies pee everywhere, chew everything and always run off.

 

[snakeluvver]

I got mine from a pet store but they were kept in great condition, the lady really looked after them well, she was really helpful.