I've read a lot of really bad press about PETCO, and I want to post
some thoughts and experiences of my own:
I've brought home two pet store hamsters, both from PETCO.
Buzz
chose me while I was shopping for food and I couldn't resist, and
Kiwi
came home just after two other hamsters passed away. Kiwi got sick
after just a few days from a change in diet and the stress of a new
home , and PETCO stood behind her as much as I could have asked. I
have to offer her story into the mix. Her story:
Kiwi was a pet store baby. I got her just after
Bonk
and
Dini
went to the Bridge. The first week I had her, she got sick and had
wet-tail (from the stress of a new home and a richer diet). I got very
concerned, so I called the petstore (PETCO in Needham, MA) where I got
her and discussed my options. They were:
- bring her in and their vet would look at her the next time he
visited the store (which wouldn't have been more than a day or two)
- bring her directly to their vet and have them billed (about $60)
- bring her to my vet and get reimbursed (about $40)
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I chose to bring her to my vet because I was familiar with her and she
was closer. We put Kiwi on medication and adjusted her diet. I
called the store to tell them the result of the vet visit, and as soon
as I told them she'd be okay they began discussing reimbursing me.
All I had to do was bring in the bill and they'd pay. To everyone's
amazement (including myself), at that point I chose to decline
reimbursement - I said that I'd rather incur this cost as my first
investment in her health and long life, instead of making her entire
existence an issue of money. Something didn't feel right about me
making a $6 hamster into a $40 issue. I was more comfortable footing
the bill myself, and I felt that would keep her "world" cleaner. Or
something. The folks at PETCO were quite shocked, and the next time I
was in there to buy food everyone wanted to meet the oddball who
wouldn't take the money. So my overall experience - I was very pleased
with the way the store handled everything.
Now, about all this bad press about PETCO:
I recently (March 25, 2005) wrote a letter to PETCO expressing
my deep concerns about all the news I've read about them, and the
conditions that supposedly exist in some stores. I also relayed my
concerns about a particular store from which a rabbit was recently
rescued by someone I am in contact with. I followed that rabbit's
story with great interest, and at one point the poor thing went into
GI stasis and nearly died. And from what I heard, that PETCO store
(in Orem, Utah) did not follow policy or demonstrate the concern one
would expect for a living being, nor were they willing to stand behind
their policy. They insisted that the person return the rabbit to the
store and let the store worry about it. Of course, that didn't
happen.
To my surprise, within an hour I got a call from someone at the
corporate headquarters.
I had quite a lengthy and enlightening talk with this person (contact
info can be found below), and added to the fact that I've never
observed anything to be worried about in the conditions I've seen for
the animals at the stores I shop at, I decided that I'm not entirely
sure about all this bad press. I was satisfied with what he had to
say, and that goes way beyond quoting policy - I questioned him at
length about many aspects of how the animals are cared for, and he had
good answers. He is also a good point of contact you need one within
the company.
Original text deleted April 4, 2005 in light of lack
of results
PETCO gets their rabbits from
Marshall Farms,
the same breeder that supplies animal testing laboratories with their
animals. Conflict of interest? You bet.
I had hoped at this point to have something better to say in defense
of PETCO, but thus far there have been no tangible results from
conversations with this person regarding the rabbit purchased at the
Utah store. It is worth noting that she was purchased two and a half
weeks before Easter 2005, and that is during the time PETCO supposedly
suspends sales of rabbits nationwide.
In 1994 PETCO (then) Vice-President Craig Walker delivered a written
promise to several animal rescue organizations to the effect that
PETCO, as a national retailer, would refrain from selling rabbits, as
it had refrained from selling puppies and kittens. Here are two brief
excerpts from Mr. Walker’s letter (dated 5/31/94):
5/31/94
"OK. No more rabbits for sale at PETCO.A house rabbit can make a
great pet. However, we have found it next to impossible to convince
inexperienced prospective owners that rabbits need special care,
attention, and devotion, just like dogs and cats. A bunny grows up
into something quite different than that warm and fuzzy fur ball that
loves to be held against your cheek.
We attempted to educate prospective owners that house rabbits are to
be kept out of the elements of weather, away from other harmful
animals, need a proper diet, need their home cleaned and litter
changed regularly, should be spayed or neutered and need regular
veterinarian checkups.
House rabbits need lots of attention and they love to play with toys
and love healthy treats. A rabbit should receive a nutritional steady
diet designed especially for rabbits.
The more we learned, the harder we tried. But we just weren’t
satisfied with the results. We feared that too few new rabbit owners
were not sincerely accepting the responsibility for the life of the
rabbit.
Therefore there will be no more bunnies (for sale) at PETCO."
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The House Rabbit Society sent them an
open letter
asking PETCO to uphold this promise, but so far PETCO has done nothing
to honor their word.
As enlightened as this was, they didn't follow through on it.
PETCO clearly sees the same problem that all bunny lovers see - there
are so many uninformed bunny owners out there, and educating them is a
task in itself. But PETCO's intentions are not enough. They need to
act. So far, they talk, but that's all.
Read more:
http://www.rabbit.org/opinion/petco.html
http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/petco_update.html
http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/oregon/newsletter99_2.html
Well, this is the guy who called me and seemed to want to bend over
backwards to help correct some things at PETCO. So far, after my
initial positive conversation with him, everyone else has gotten a lot
of corporate policy whitewash and "well I'l look into that" and "oh
that shouldn't be" but nothing more about what he will do about it.
Contact PETCO representative:
Bryson Salinas
888-824-7257, x3694
brysons@petco.com
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If you ever get a pet from a store and it gets sick
right off, NEVER return the animal to the store and accept a refund.
(If you do, the animal is no longer your legal concern and the store
can do whatever they want). Contact the store to see how they will
stand behind the animal, and then take the animal to a vet you are
comfortable with. Then, when all is settled, submit the bill for
reimbursement to the store.
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