I’m not talking about pet supply stores i.e. PetCo or PetSmart, I’m talking about a store where you could buy a puppy/kitten/rabbit/gerbil/fish/etc. I remember these being common up until the late 80s/early 90s then they just disappeared. I know you can still get small rodents, small reptiles and fish easily, but nowadays it seems you can only get a dog/cat/rabbit from shelters or dedicated breeders (not that I have a problem with that; all of my pets have come from shelters and I felt it was the ideal method for both myself and the animals).
So does the classic pet store still exist anywhere or did the TV expose’s of puppy/kitten mills (or some other reason) kill them?
They’re still around, but the ones I see have generally gotten out of the dog and cat business-- bad publicity about mills and all. At best, you’ll see them have an “Adopt a Pet” day arranged with local shelters, but usually the stores I see limit themselves to smaller pets-- fish, birds, hamsters, snakes that eat the hamsters, etc.
We have a local chain called “We Love Pets” (insert pukey smiley here) that sells puppies, bunnies and kittens. I refuse to enter the store, but have heard from people that they tell the customers that the dogs aren’t from puppy mills, but “local breeders.” Considering we live just 45 minutes away from East Puppy Mill County (Lancaster, PA) I seriously doubt the authenticity of their claims. Plus, no reputable breeder would sell their puppy to a pet store to sell to an uneducated consumer. Yes, if you buy a cat, dog or rabbit from a store like this, you are an uneducated consumer.
I am still surprised that consumers are willing to patronize the store and I shocked that someone will pay $1300 for a puppy from one of those stores. If I am willing to make a $1300 purchase on anything, I will do my homework on it.
A couple of years ago while on the Board of a local rescue, we got a call from someone who purchased a puppy from one of these places, it had parvo, got sick and died. The store claimed they sold them a healthy puppy, etc. They wanted “help” in their fight and wanted to know if we could do anything. The call got sent to me and I told them that they essentially got screwed out of their money and vet bills. If they had been a more discerning consumer and just did a simple google search on the place that sold them the puppy they would have seen the multiple complaints to the BBB, the newspaper articles, and the overwhelming bad reputation that places like this receive. There were pissed I wasn’t more sympathetic. I told them I had no sympathy for someone who makes a major purchase like an animal without doing more research into how to procure a healthy pet. People then bitch that getting a dog from a rescue is “too hard”. Sorry, we want to make sure you can actually take care of the animal you are about to adopt…
There’s a handful of pet stores around me (all the same store, 4 locations I think), that sell fish, reptiles, spiders, hamsters, chinchillas, rabbits, ferrets, birds, hedgehogs etc and will have a cat or two from time to time.
There’s one not far from me. They do sell dogs (though not many cats), but most of the live pets are birds, rodents, or fish. And, of course, food and pet supplies, which probably is most of their business.
Although I notice that most of the ones that used to be around have closed, there are still a few around.
By the way, PetSmart does sell pets, in addition to their supplies. We got our last kitten there, and they have dogs, fish, reptiles, insects, and small furry mammals as well.
Huh. Down my way they’ve got a few small mammals, reptiles and fish but nothing larger than a hamster. They have an enclosure that looks like it could have rabbits in it but I’ve never seen any animals in it.
I remember there was a puppy/kitten store at the mall when I was a kid but since then I haven’t seen one of those for a good 20 years (I asked the question because I was reminded of a time I was looking at the animals in the store when I was little and my family left the store without me:(; it was about this time of year IIRC).
Our Petco here has everything previously mentioned, along with rats, rabbits, and ferrets! They don’t sell puppies or kittens, but they do have frequent adopt a pet days with the local shelters.
Huh. :dubious: I have never seen a dog or cat for sale in a PetSmart. I did adopt a dog from an adoption fair being held in one, but the dog was not sold to me by PetSmart. It was an adoption from a local rescue group (which does not keep the pets in a shelter, but has foster homes for their adoptable pets, instead).
The local PetSmart has a collection of adoptable cats they keep 24/7 but no cats that weren’t “pre-owned” and no dogs/puppies at all.
The local mall has a store (“Furry Babies”) where they sell extremely expensive puppies on a retail storefront basis. No goldfish, bunnies or parakeets though – just purebred puppies and overpriced puppy accessories.
PetSmart does not sell rabbits, dogs or cats. PetSmart has adoption centers for animals in rescues located in their stores. You adopted a kitten from a rescue, the money did not go to PetSmart, in fact, PetSmart gave the rescue anywhere from $10-15 when you adopted the animal at one of it’s stores. See here and here.
Yeah, there’s a major-name chain around here that regularly receives a tractor-trailer shipment from the Missouri puppy mills – scores of puppies crammed into the truck. They slip in before dawn on weekend mornings so no one sees them. If you do see them they get angry and try to chase you off because they know perfectly well what they’re doing is inhumane and unpopular.
A few years ago one of the trucks burned on the highway and state police were in tears at the carnage. Nobody cried for the replacement shipment of puppies that didn’t burn, but instead were crammed into bins until they were sold to the uneducated or “disposed of” as unsold stock.
There are also several small family-owned stores around here that sell live animals including dogs and cats. They claim they don’t buy from mills, but they always have an endless supply of animals in bulk and they’ve been visited by the trucks from Missouri as well.
Our local PetsMart sells cats that come from a local rescue operation, they have a permanent cat kennel area. They also do dog adoptions on weekends.
I have also seen PM stores that keep a couple of rescue dogs/puppies in house for sale, but I think as they are much more labor intensive it’s usually just done as a weekend gig.
Nitpicky details. Yes, we adopted the pet through PetSmart. I was aware of the difference, but considered it not worth the mentioning. The point is, you can get beasts at PetSmart.
And I’m pretty certain their fish aren’t from shelters.
Adoption =/= sale, although PetSmart does profit from people buying food and supplies for their newly-adopted pets. And yes, the difference is worth mentioning, and no, it’s not a nit-picky detail.
DEpends on what you’re after – I maintain it is, since the OP was implying that you couldn’t get pets at pet stores anymore. You can get them at PetSmart. That they are shelter adoption is important if you want to avoid puppy mills and the like, but for the purposes of not being able to get pets at Big Box storesthe OPs premise was false.
Yes. In various cities I’ve lived in throughout eastern Canada, there is still the odd pet store around.
My best friend’s parents bought their Yorkie a couple years ago from one of those storefront pet stores. Like…$800. Same place that sells those weird trendy mixes–i.e., labradoodle puppies and stuff like that. I’ve held my tongue with them, but…given that these puppies spend most of their time in a three-by-three-foot cage, I dunno if I’d trust those pet store folks as far as I could throw them as far as “certificates of health” and other nonsense go.
Correct. I’m aware that PetSmart has days where the shelters bring in animals to be adopted, but I was specifically asking about stores whose main stock and trade was animals as opposed to mostly supplies. You know what I’m talking about: the wall of cages with puppies and kittens behind glass on one whole side of the store, a dark section in the back with fish, various small mammals/reptiles and piles of supplies in the middle, and small rooms on the other side of the store where you could play with one of the animals (or that is just how I remember the layout of these kinds of stores from when I was a kid; YMMV).