Important Information for PETCO Shoppers!

[Landon]

There isn’t just an overpopulation crisis with dogs and cats. Ask any bird rescue society, and you’ll discover a tragedy of discarded, lonely, neurotic, mistreated pet shop birds – birds PETCO is still selling to anyone who comes along, and still paying suppliers to churn out in warehouses full of distressed parrots and their babies. There are also major problems with reptiles, and other small animals sold at PETCO–sold to people with good intentions, but who often haven’t any idea of the varied needs of these species. Worse, PETCO is failing to provide many of these animals with their basic needs before the sale!

The majority of animals sold at PETCO come from breeding mills. At PETA, we have received complaints from horrified employees at some of the bird, reptile, and other small animal breeding mills that ship to PETCO. Many animals arrive before they are weaned and become so sick from transport that they die along the way or shortly after they arrive at PETCO.

By their own account, PETCO employees are not properly trained to care for these animals and don’t know how to teach customers about the animals’ needs. We are told that employee training is so bad that baby birds have starved to death and other animals have been left for days at a time without food or water, languishing in filth. PETCO employees have even told us that animals are routinely put into freezers to die.

Birds, who are born to fly free in large flocks, are stuck alone in small cages where they develop psychotic and neurotic behaviors from trying to cope with loneliness and boredom. Non-native lizards are frequently placed in small cages that aren’t properly heated and fed diets completely wrong for them. Hamsters and mice, who easily fall ill, sometimes die soon after they are purchased.

The complaints pouring in to PETA show not only that PETCO’s own "guidelines" for in-store animal care aren’t being followed, but also that basic state anti-cruelty laws are often violated, with animals being deprived of the bare minimums required by law, including adequate food, water, veterinary care, and a humane death.

On April 2, 2002, a former PETCO employee told us that "Everything you wrote about PETCO is true. ... Ferrets were always coming in dehydrated, with diarrhea, and they didn’t know how to eat hard food, way too young to be away from their mothers. Rats and mice came in suffering from upper respiratory infections, and since they were ‘cheap’ animals, we weren’t allowed to take them to the vet; it was either sell them as is, or send them back to be destroyed. Birds constantly came in with growths on their legs or deformed beaks as a result of bad factory breeding."

PETA has been corresponding with PETCO about the mistreatment of animals in its stores for years, yet our efforts to open a constructive dialogue have failed. In fact, conditions have even deteriorated further since we first contacted PETCO.



PETCOCruelty.com

[DavidDoyle]

What You Can Do
Please don’t support the tropical fish trade by purchasing fish. If you enjoy watching fish, consider downloading one of the many colorful and realistic fish computer screensavers available on the Web.

Fish in Tanks: No Thanks!

Fragile tropical fish, who were born to dwell in the majestic seas and forage among brilliantly colored coral reefs, suffer miserably when forced to spend their lives in glass aquariums. The same is true of river fish. Robbed of their natural habitats and denied the ability to travel freely, they must swim around in the same few cubic inches of water over and over.


Explain this to me. That was taken from the PETA media center.

Fish in the wild get eaten by predators all the time, they don't in most tanks.
Fish in the wild are often starved due to lack of food, they aren't in most tanks.
Fish in the wild often die from injury and diseases whereas in many tanks they receive treatment and recover fully.

PETA has no qualms about killing people in their narrow minded approach to animals.

[fishouttawater]

Things like these are written by competitors of specific chains. I LOVE that it is always ONE specific store we are to boycott. I agree with you David. Very well put.

[Lexus]

Fish in the wild get eaten by predators all the time, they don't in most tanks.
Fish in the wild are often starved due to lack of food, they aren't in most tanks.
Fish in the wild often die from injury and diseases whereas in many tanks they receive treatment and recover fully.

PETA has no qualms about killing people in their narrow minded approach to animals.

[align=center:8096ccb57a]I AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!![/align:8096ccb57a]

Basically thats life... animals and people live, they die. And who's to say that the animals are treated any better at home with or without proper instruction? And what about the regular people that run puppy mills or breeding farms that you see every day on Animal Planet?

[Fishfirst]

Oh god... not someone from PETA, (Peta Eating Tastey Animals)

Okay now to pick this post apart and actually defend PETCO (though i'm not a huge fan, they are doing a decent job in Wausau Wisconsin and I feel that if ALL petcos are bad then I'd have to disagree)

First lets go with the first paragraph

There isn’t just an overpopulation crisis with dogs and cats. Ask any bird rescue society, and you’ll discover a tragedy of discarded, lonely, neurotic, mistreated pet shop birds – birds PETCO is still selling to anyone who comes along, and still paying suppliers to churn out in warehouses full of distressed parrots and their babies. There are also major problems with reptiles, and other small animals sold at PETCO–sold to people with good intentions, but who often haven’t any idea of the varied needs of these species. Worse, PETCO is failing to provide many of these animals with their basic needs before the sale!

I have gotten a lot of good advice from petco when I purchased my leopard gecko, and the birds they sell seem very healthy here. The parakeets get a very large enclosure (bigger than any I've seen at any other store). And yes some of the finches/canaries do have small cages, but most are not there for very long. Also the "bird mills" you speak of need to be very careful with Parrots. Parrots that are distressed, won't breed, or have many complications with it... so you can't have babies, without healthy birds.

[/quote]We are told that employee training is so bad that baby birds have starved to death and other animals have been left for days at a time without food or water, languishing in filth.[quote]

I have never personally seen this in ANY petco I've been in.

Birds, who are born to fly free in large flocks, are stuck alone in small cages where they develop psychotic and neurotic behaviors from trying to cope with loneliness and boredom. Non-native lizards are frequently placed in small cages that aren’t properly heated and fed diets completely wrong for them. Hamsters and mice, who easily fall ill, sometimes die soon after they are purchased.

As I stated before, I've seen the large cages (which is much better than I can say for most bird owners) Loneliness and boredom I have to disagree with too... I frequently see the parrots that petco sell out and interacting with humans. The lizards are all in properly heated compartments, and their diets comprise of raw veggies, fruits, insects and for some, mice.

On April 2, 2002, a former PETCO employee told us that "Everything you wrote about PETCO is true. ... Ferrets were always coming in dehydrated, with diarrhea, and they didn’t know how to eat hard food, way too young to be away from their mothers. Rats and mice came in suffering from upper respiratory infections, and since they were ‘cheap’ animals, we weren’t allowed to take them to the vet; it was either sell them as is, or send them back to be destroyed. Birds constantly came in with growths on their legs or deformed beaks as a result of bad factory breeding."

I especially LOVE this one. Ferrets when they are young, often get diarrea, and NEVER should be offered hard food! Ferrets until they are almost 5 months old need a mushy food because its easier to digest and swallow. I've also never seen a bird with growths on their legs or deformed beaks come from petco.


As For PETA as and organization. They are very mislead and very very wrong. You talk about the crimes of PETCO but never talk about your own crimes, such as when a group of peta members released 1000's of mink in wisconsin from the mink farms. Those mink you released, DIED within days because they don't know how to fend for themselves, find food, etc. Not to mentioned you REAKED HAVOCK on the local ecosystem. The mink you released, also died without a purpose. Instead of being used to make a fur coat... they died because they starved to death. I rather take a quick and painless death over starvation.

I know your 15, and 15 is an age where you CAN and WILL be influenced by people who have no idea what they are talking about. If you are a member of PETA, I feel bad for you. Cults are no place for a 15 year old... and i hope your parents don't know or don't aprove. Peta is by far the worst animal rights group out there... I'm all for animal rights, but when it comes down to it... PETA can shove it.

[(RC)]

PETA wants all animals let go. How long to do think 99% of pets would suffer before they die in the wild on their own ?


RC

[Lexus]

They even have a Peta2 site for children and college students.

[fishfreaks]

our local petco does a good job at taking care of ALL the animals that come their way. but then again that may be because i have known the manager all of my life, shes my moms good friend! anyways, she loves animals, always has...if only we had more people like this..now petsmart is a different story

[Mr Aquarium]

After three or four times of this going around it does make ya think about it.

It could be another pet store chain that sends this stuff off to get around and try to
take down their compitition, or it could be animal activest trying to get them to go under,
In either case, I will say they talk about US, they told US,
Ok if you have prove of ALL THESE bad Letters, lets have a look at um.
But then that could be fronted prety easy as well.
Just stop and think a minute if all the animals just 1 store had was returned to the wild,
What kind of cost would that be to send them back where they are spose to fit in.
shut down petco, then who next? it;s going to go on just like the Wal Mart chain untell all the department stores are gone but them and they can set the prices......
Same thing seems to be going on here, And I wonder, I aint seen one for Petsmart yet.

[UgLy_eLf]

o_0 geez I was reading that and was like "that's not MY Petco." I've never encountered sick animals at petco, all of them look quite healthy and well taken care of.

[TheOldSalt]

PETA, for those of you who don't know it already, is nothing but a big scam. Only the idiots at the bottom actually believe all of the crap PETA spews. The honchos at the top don't believe it at all.
PETA exists solely for the purpose of raising millions of dollars and garnering political influence, plain and simple.

How much of the money raised by PETA actually goes toward any use involving animals?
Practically none. I saw a breakdown in FAMA magazine a few months ago, and the money spent trying to help animals is extremely low, like around 1%. The rest all goes to further fundraising and padding the pockets of the people in charge.
I sure hope that none of you have fallen for this scam.

By the way, as it happens, some of the things in this particular release about Petco just so happen to be true. That's unusual, for most of PETA's releases are complete crap. I have to agree with some of the previous posters in that I suspect PETA had very little to do with this.

[Scuba Kid]

Thats ridiculous....people like that are all morons...they just want to be rebels

[osteoporoosi]

Do any of you guys have any proofs against or on behalf of PETA?
I don't personally know anything about this organisation, only that it is pretty big(and powerful?).
Seems kinda ridicolous that PETA could have grown into a mighty organisation if they are just a load of bs.

[(RC)]

Not to long ago they had a deal going comparing the jews in nazi germany to Chickens in cages. Any group that would do that is screwed up. Peta has gotten smarter and toned down there **************** over the last few years because it was starting to hurt them. Anyone that supports PETA and has any kind of pet should know that PETA wants to take there pets away and let them loose. PETA is against any one keeping any kind of pet. Also if you wear leather shoes or a belt PETA is against you. Don't eat any fish,meat, seafood or dairy either if your a PETA supporter because they are against it. Don't do any hunting or fishing either.


RC

[mrmoby]

They are just one of many extremist groups in this country. Extremism rarely gets anybody anywhere. Another similair group, a more underground organization is The Earth Liberation Front ( ELF). They are protectors of the environment, and there means of saving the earth is burning Hummers sitting on dealer lots, housing developments, and research labs. I wonder how much pollution a burning Hummer releases into the environment?