Please don't give all of the Petsmarts a bad name. I worked at one in Louisville and the animals were treated wonderfully. I have been a long-time PETA supporter so I wouldn't have hesitated to blow the whistle if I saw any mistreatment.

Posted by: Becca | June 12, 2007 09:56 AM

Becca-

Even if your specific PetSmart treated animals well, most of them don't. Even the ones that do treat them better at the specific stores still get them from breeders who treat them poorly. So there is still suffering all along the lives of the animals, even if at some stores it isn't as bad as it is at others.

Posted by: rachel | June 12, 2007 01:09 PM

Becca,

I'm a certified vet nurse and a wildlife rehabilitator. Please understand, it's not that the people that you worked with are bad people. I can't speak for PETA, but the issue is much larger than just the store where you worked.

All stores that sell live animals need to stop. Not enough room here for me to go into details, but let's just say the tragedies begin long before the animals get to the pet store and continue long after they get to the buyer's home.

As a vet nurse I've seen hundreds of neglected reptiles and birds. Much of the time the nutritional and housing care in pet store literature is scientifically wrong. There is no screening process, so the buyers are getting these animals for all the wrong reasons.

Add to that the fact that biologically, reptiles and birds and chinchillas etc are not designed to live in a house, and the results are disasterous.

I'm postitve that the people at the pet store love the animals. Believe it or not, in vet tech school I was required to spend time in a research lab working with lab animals. Let me tell you, those people were the most kind, peaceful, gentle people I'd ever met. They did the best they could to keep the animals comfortable. But the conditions made the treatment of the animals inheirently cruel.

There is no way yours or anyone elses kindness or knowledge can make a pet store a good place for reptiles, birds and other exotics, who belong in the wild, and nowhere else.

I hope you are still working with animals in a professional capacity, since you are obviously very kind and intelligent. :)

Posted by: Maya | June 12, 2007 01:18 PM

I love Bea Arthur. She's a woman you wouldn't want to mess with, but she's got a heart of gold (no pun intended).

Posted by: Michael | June 12, 2007 09:42 PM

I agree that animals shouldn't be sold at pet stores...I just didn't want the entire Petsmart to get a bad name because they give a lot to charities and shelters. I work for a shelter now and we always need money from companies like Petsmart.

Posted by: Becca | June 12, 2007 10:23 PM

How do I rescue a homeless beautıful dog ın Turkey?
I am a tourıst and I don't think I'll be the same wıthout him. I would have to get hım to Alabama. No ears pıerced and one hıp ıs crushed so he uses three legs. He looks to the tourısts for food and ıs gentle and meek. I have been upset and can't thınk of anythıng else. I have money saved but don't know ıf anyone ın pAMUKKALE would be able to fınd thıs lıttle creature to get hım to a lovıng home for good care. If I hear from anyone wıllıng to help, I'll gıve more ıngormatıon on hıs descrıptıon. If anyone ın Turkey can rescue thıs meek lıttle dog I would be forever grateful. I wıll be home on June 23.

Posted by: judy davis | June 13, 2007 12:16 PM

Short, sweet, and to the point: I don't care how well the animals are treated at PetsMart.

They are bred in mills (not the most ideal conditions I'm sure.

For the person who works at the PetsMart--how many of the animals make the nice trip in cardboard boxes alive to the store?

How many arrive sick? How many are **seriously** taken to a proper vet for care?

I can't believe that the Banfield vet (or whatever it's called) connected to most PetsMarts are trained to care for exotic animals. I don't think opening one of those little bottles of that stuff that PetSmart sells as remedys is giving proper vet care...

How many of these animals are purchased as impulse purchases? How many will lead unhappy and/or unhealthy lives?

All animals purchased at PetsMart may not be in that position, but 100 happy healthy pets is NO excuse for one miserable, sickly little life.

Just sayin'....

Posted by: Tammy | June 16, 2007 09:29 AM

3 words SICK,SICK,SICK!!!!!

what disgusting fould people let poor animals get in them conditions they should be hanged bxxxs!!!!!

Posted by: raychel | June 16, 2007 02:17 PM

While some PetSmarts may well take care of their animals, bottom line is, they should not even be in Pet stores; pet stores = puppy/kitty mills !

Posted by: NatureMuzic | July 4, 2007 04:04 PM

not every petsmart is the same. cause they had some bad people working for them. and i got both of my cats from petsmart and i would do it again. so leave petsmart alone and get on with your lives. you punk loser's

Posted by: william | July 29, 2007 07:02 PM

I bought a Black Bear hamster from Petsmart 4months ago. Shortly after I bought her, she started losing teeth. She looked great, was very tame and friendly and active. Last week my daughter noticed a large bump on her pouch that grew rapidly and to make a long story short, it turned out to be a tumor. When the vet examined her, he found another lump under her neck, 2 dark tumors on her back and forehead, 4 on her eyelids, and 2 more pinpoint size tumors beginning to grow. She had an enlarged spleen and gum problems also. I am terribly hurt and angry that these animals are raised in such horrible conditions (it's hard telling what my poor hamster was exposed to or how this could possibly happen to her at such a young age). The vet told me he has never seen anything like it. Needless to say, she didn't make it and now I have the horrible ordeal of telling my 9 year old daughter that her hamster is in heaven when only this morning she was going to the doctor to get better. I am curious as to how many more of the hamsters from that litter have the same horrible health problems that mine did. I'm furious that this happened and I'm even more furious that I find out about Petsmart's reputation after-the-fact from my boss. I had no idea. THIS HAS TO STOP!! How can they get away with this?!? It makes me sick that anyone can allow this or purposely hurt these innocent animals. I think that anyone who does this sort of thing or knows about abuse/neglect and DOES NOTHING needs the exact same thing done to them. I am going to do everything in my power to find a way to try to stop this. I just don't understand how some people can be so evil!!!!! How can anyone just put a sick animal in the back of the store to die? Do people actually take their sick animals back to the store for a refund (which I personally can't understand anyway) and this is what happens to them? UNBELIEVABLE! We have a responsibility to report any type of abuse/neglect in any pet store (or anywhere, for that matter).

Posted by: Cindy | September 29, 2007 12:36 AM

I have worked at PetSmart for almost 6 months now. I had the same experience as you Cindy, when I was 12 years old. My hamster, the only one of 4 I owned that was bought from PetSmart, ended up with a tumor months later. But I do not believe it was PetSmarts fault. I do not want to elaborate why, becuase I have a very long rant on one of the other PETA blogs, but PetSmart is a great store, an awesome place to work, and I love taking care of the animals in our store. I'm really sorry about your hamster, and I assure you that is a very rare case, and that you next experience will be much better.

Posted by: Alisa | November 18, 2007 11:26 PM

I've worked at Petsmart for almost a year now, and have seen way worse than what is in that video. the first week we opened all of our small pets got wet tail, fish died left and right, birds pulled out all feathers in stress. its not fun coming to work knowing that you will find death everywhere. none were taken to a vet. i was shocked to find out that all my manager did was write a complaint letter to DC about all the dead animals and requested more animals for the next week. our store strictly prohibits cameras and phone for all employees, so that video is a great depiction of an animals life at petsmart. and all other petcare employees, you know that those animals can get much better care! so don't lie to your self, we all do the morning DEAD RUN!

Posted by: Anna | December 11, 2007 03:30 AM

i do not think they shold hurt poor animals

Posted by: Anonymous | February 28, 2008 09:14 PM

Again, I want to stress that not all PetSmarts are like this. Im on a pet care team in a store and every one of us does a great job taking care of the pets in our store.

Tammy: I think you should get your facts straight before you run your mouth. First off, animals don't come to stores in cardboard boxes. None, so far as I'm aware of, have ever arrived dead. And if an animal gets sick, the first thing we do is take it to a vet. There is no Banfield in my store, so they are taken to a local animal hospital that specializes in exotic animals. We also don't even sell "little bottles of that stuff that PetSmart sells as (sic) remedys," much less use any for the pets in our care. We do exactly as we suggest to customers is they have a sick pet: get it to a vet asap and follow their directions. And yes, that does mean prescriptions. we have the authority to deny selling a pet to someone if we believe they aren't going to take care of it, and that authority is used. We also give free "care guides" explaining the needs of that kind of pet, as well as walking the customer though all the requirements of that pet and making sure they understand them. other than that, how are we supposed to make sure the pets lead happy healthy lives after they leave our care? What do you want us to do, make house calls?

NatureMuzic, we don't sell cats or dogs! There are no puppy/kitty mills, you idiot. We give store space to local shelters so they can find homes for homeless cats and dogs.

I cant speak for all of our stores, just mine. But grouping all PetSmarts in the same category as one bad one is stupid and wrong. Just like calling all Islamic people "terrorists." Its ridiculous.

Posted by: Steven | April 1, 2008 08:07 PM