Question:
Considering Hagen owns over 50% of Pets Unlimited ... and that there main office is in Toronto ... Pets-Unlimited will take a lot before shutting down ...
If only the ones that are tolerable would become independant from the franchise ... then maybe the stores would begin to clean themselves up a little ...


Answer:
That is horrible. Then if they had been okay they would have sold them for an arm and a leg and never told anyone any different.
Hopefully with you working there Rob you can make some changes. I am just surprised it doesn't happen more.


Answer:
Originally Posted by petkeeper
Then if they had been okay they would have sold them for an arm and a leg and never told anyone any different.
That brings up another issue ... say some did make it ... and looked fairly *normal* ... should they be sold ... or should all the inbreded babies have been destroyed once born? There's always the possibility that the one purchasing is looking for a new breeding stud ... or something of the sorts ...


Answer:
On a good note, I feel that I should mention this here... I actually found a "good" pet store- Moncton Pet World! The place was extremely clean, and it was owned by vets so all the animals were very well taken care of. They had a few rodents but they each had their own cage so there wasn't any crazy breeding going on. They also had a bunch of REALLY cute puppies, who would take turns having naps and having free run in the store. They let them out on walks and stuff too, and they were allowed to interact with customers. They also had a rabbit in huge open tank that you could pet, so she was extremely friendly. I really liked how the store only had one or two of each animal so it wasn't overpopulated, but the animals also weren't lonely because they were allowed to interact with people. It was exactly the opposite of Pets Unlimited!


Answer:
well the reason ive decided to stop breeding rats is because of another person that recently started up mass producing rats and sells them to stores like pets unlimited. my friends keep telling me about the ones she brings in there and how long some of them actually end up staying there, that they are housed on cedar/pine and fed poor diets.
i wish petstores would take puppies and kittens from people and use the profits to help those people spay and neuter their pets. so that it didnt look like a cash cow to them.
and wouldnt it be nice it petstores only had some display animals for interaction in thier stores and referred people to the breeders so that could keep on doing what they love best in the world.


Answer:
say some did make it ... and looked fairly *normal* ... should they be sold ... or should all the inbreded babies have been destroyed once born
if not destroyed, then sterilized...
just have to say, inbreeding is not the most horrible terrible thing in the world..if done properly and knowledgably it can be a great way to bring out strengths in a line and establish certain traits..but done improperly (like pet store feeder bins and such) it is horrible, if you are breeding genetically inferior animals, like these seem to have been...then you are passing on and magnifying those inferior genes...
but, if the animals were healthy then i don't see any reason they couldn't be somebody's sterile pet as long as that person knew to look out for potential problems that could pop up in the future


Answer:
i wish petstores would take puppies and kittens from people and use the profits to help those people spay and neuter their pets. so that it didnt look like a cash cow to them
i would love to run a pet store like that...say, go in partners with a veterinarian, have their clinic next door, then have my store, with a small selection of pets, mainly what i breed myself, and a database to find other breeders...then a large selection of supplies, and then have an area to house dogs and cats, take them in from the "free to good home" people, have my vet neighbor friend spay/neuter/vaccinate them, then sell them for just over the vet costs....
also, include with every pet purchase a packet with information about said pet...like don't use pine/cedar for small furries, alternatives for live food for snakes and such, don't use the beta vase unless you know to make sure there is enough surface air and you feed the fish! etc..lol
wonder if it would actually make a profit?


Answer:
How sad to see an ethical, caring breeder forced out of the business.
It's like anything else these days: people just want cheap & fast access to pets.
They don't care about health & bloodlines usually.
I agree that petstores would better serve animals by adopting out unwanted pets, but it will never happen. The cute puppy/kitten is what draws the $$$, not the older animal.
The cheap readily available rat in the pet store is more attractive to an idiot than a rat whose breeder has put care into his/her feeding & breeding, & cares about where he/she ends up.


Answer:
just have to say, inbreeding is not the most horrible terrible thing in the world..if done properly and knowledgably it can be a great way to bring out strengths in a line and establish certain traits..but done improperly (like pet store feeder bins and such) it is horrible, if you are breeding genetically inferior animals, like these seem to have been...then you are passing on and magnifying those inferior genes...
I agree that inbreeding is not that bad if done properly...we purchased a herd of holland lops from a lady who did extensive linebreeding as well as inbreeding and by keeping and breeding only those with healthy good traits she was able to create a strong herd that are breed with good traits consistantly.


Answer:
How sad! That poor little baby! I do do some inbreeding in my rabbits, but it is very carefully controlled, and only done with careful thought. I sometimes do it to expose any hidden bad genes that might be hiding so that I know to either not breed that line, or breed it with extreme caution. I also sometimes do it to improve a certain characteristic. If it is done properly and not overdone, it can be a great asset to a show breeder, but if done improperly you see results like the poor little hoglet above. I love hedgies, and that just breaks my heart!
There is a genetic deformity in rabbits called Max Factor that is common in the netherland dwarf breed. A lot of breeders actually try to have their breeding herd carry it because when they carry it they often have better fur, which also makes the head look better. The kits that have two of the genes, though, are born with terrible deformities (twisted limbs, eyes open at birth exposing them to infection before they eyes are fully formed, extra toenails and/or toes, and either really thick luxurious fur or coarse hair-like fur are the signs of a max factor kit). I tried to breed away from it because I could not stand seeing the babies like that. It is bad enough that the breed has a fatal dwarfing gene where the rabbit has to have one dwarfing gene to be small enough, but kits with two of the genes die shortly after birth. Of course, there is a way around that, too...breed a proper sized rabbit to an oversized rabbit, and you get none with the two dwarf genes.