Question:
Thought this might be of interest:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/04/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes
PETA to Petco: Stop selling animals

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals brings shareholder proposal to chain's annual meeting.
June 4, 2004: 7:35 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Animal rights protestors staked out Petco Animal Supplies Inc.'s annual meeting in San Diego on Thursday to pressure the No. 2 U.S. pet supply chain to stop selling animals in its stores.
The shareholder proposal, brought by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, had asked Petco to study ending animal sales in its 670 stores.
The proposal won approval from less than 2 percent of shareholders, but PETA spokeswoman Christy Griffin said the organization planned "to keep bringing up this issue over and over until they get animals out of their stores."
Petco spokesman Shawn Underwood said "shareholders spoke clearly" with their sound defeat of the proposal.
"From our perspective, 62 percent of households have pets, so 62 percent think it's OK to have pets in the house," Underwood said. "We have a philosophical difference of opinion with them that I don't think we'll ever be able to bridge just because of the fact that they think pet ownership is slavery."
The proposal comes one week after Petco announced it had settled two lawsuits accusing the chain of failing to properly care for animals in its stores.
The consumer protection lawsuits, brought by prosecutors across California, came after state inspectors documented widespread animal care violations at Petco stores during a four-year period.
Petco sells small animals such as birds and rodents, but it works with about 2,000 animal welfare groups to offer customers dogs and cats, Underwood said.
About eight PETA protestors outside the San Diego-based company's annual meeting carried signs that read: "Petco starves baby animals," "Petco throws sick animals in freezers" and "Petco: Where animals die."
As part of its nearly $1 million settlement for the overpricing and animal neglect claims, Petco was required by court order to implement a detailed daily animal care program in all its stores. The chain did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.


Answer:
peta's been on petco's case for a long time now...
personally, if the stores would just improve the quality of care to the animals they sell i don't think stopping selling them completely would be necessary.
and individuals CAN help..if you have a petco near you, and you see animals in substandard conditions (dirty cages, dead animals, males and females together, no food or water, etc) contact the store management...i believe petco is a franchise which means that the individual stores will have different quality standards....so complaining to the store ownership and writing letters and telling them what is wrong and how to fix it really can make a difference...i have a friend who did this and the next time he went in the mice were separated by sex, the cages were clean, and there was plenty of clean food and water for them...


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I have seen a lot of pet stores w/ abyssmal living conditions for pets. I have noticed that the larger stores are usually worse, like Pets Unlimited.
I don't know what the answer is: these places typically seem to have uneducated/uncaring staff who are paid very low wages. I think this is part of the problem: the staff don't know how to take care of the animals, or don't care. Management don't seem to be able to turn things around because they are giving instructions to people who don't understand or care.
I personally fantasize about running a pet store w/ very well paid employees who are actually *skilled* w/ pets, rather than just working there because McDonald's wasn't hiring that week.
My employees would all be certified as vet techs or have courses in breeding, grooming, etc. I would make it worth their while to work for me & take REALLY good care of all the pets.
Now I am dreaming, but could this sort of certification ever become reality & maybe help matters?
BTW the only pet stores I have seen that treated animals really well seemed to have the owner working in the store: Bloorcourt Pet Supplies in Toronto & Proud Pets in New Glasgow.


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That's the problem with huge chain pet stores, the bad apples spoil the whole image for individual stores. There could be Petco's out there who take outstanding care of their animals but it really varies from store to store. They need to concentrate on individual stores that have bad animal care.


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I agree that it is on a individual basis. I have seen some well run pet stores as well as pet stores you wouldn't even bring friends or kids into (it was like a cave, thank god it went out of business).
To be vet tech certified would be a huge step and perhaps a bit too much because its basically 2 years of education on everything from bloodwork and diseases and drugs to basic animal husbandry. Lets not forget that dreaded exam that costs like over $350...Perhaps basica animal care and husbandry could be taught as well as signs of certain diseases that are common in the birds and small rodents and rabbits.
I personally fantasize about running a pet store w/ very well paid employees who are actually *skilled* w/ pets, rather than just working there because McDonald's wasn't hiring that week.
I know what you mean. I am taking my boards exam for Vet Tech next week and am going back in the fall for the business and accounting management portion of the degree. I hope this will work too ways as making me better rounded to work in a veterinary hospital and give me the business know how to acheive my dream, which is owning my own well managed petshop. I even drew out plans and did a project in economics on start up


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Good luck w/ your exam & your future in the animal biz Sweet Comfort!!!


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Good luck in your exams, SweetComfort!


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Thanks


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How did your exam go, SweetComfort?