Petland Sadists

[Munchy]

If you find what you heard abusive then I think it is your responsibility to report it. Maybe nothing will get done but maybe they will learn what they were saying/doing is wrong.

[Michael]

I was fumbling with my phone hoping to video record what was going on. But I have never done that before and had no idea how. By the time I might have figured anything out it would have been over. I forgot the exact words and had to paraphrase. The only other customer in the store was at the front. I'm sure the 3 employees (without a recording) would have all denied it and won by majority. So I ended up not doing anything. After I left I regretted it and wished I had at least made them feel bad about it even if there was no sense in reporting it.

I haven't really considered this previously so it all happened quickly and I was too shocked to act before it was too late. But it's a good thing we are having this discussion so that others might be more prepared if they come across a similar situation.

[Azure Hanyo]

I saw a guy slap a cockatiel at a Petland once. Literally slap the poor thing right off its perch. And then the guy's wife started tugging at another cockatiel's tail. I had my daughters with me at the time or I would have spontaneously combusted into loud swears and who-do-you-think-you-ares but instead my husband calmly told me to take the girls to the car, and he would speak with the manager.

Long story short the manager kicked the people out of the store and told them not to come back.

I hate a lot of people.

[notscaredtodance]

OMG yes, the only thing worse than petstore employees are idiots who go into petstores to mess with animals they know nothing about (little kids trying to pick up rabbits by their ears, banging on the bird cages, tapping on glass of fishtanks, sticking grubby little HANDS in OPEN TANKS.

-_-

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I hate a lot of people.

Am I the only one that reads a tale like this and loves the husband and the manager?!

I'm not downplaying how awful it is that people would do that, but very refreshing indeed that someone stuck up for the bird and that the manager actually did the right thing.

[pchela]

Not all pet stores are bad. It is true that I won't even walk into one that sells puppies and kittens, I just won't go there, because of the breeding practices behind the sale of puppies and kittens in the local mall. I'm less hard over on stores that don't sell cats and dogs, but do sell birds because as far as I know birdmills aren't a problem, so it comes down to how well the store can care for the birds.

Sadly, while they aren't as widespread as puppy and kitten mills, birdmills are in existence. I've seen some pretty horrific video footage. I don't know exactly how widespread it is, and some stores do get their birds from local breeders like the one I worked at. I guess the key is to ask where their birds are from and hope they are honest with you.

[Azure Hanyo]

I hate a lot of people.

Am I the only one that reads a tale like this and loves the husband and the manager?!

Yes you are. I am filing for divorce and plan on slashing the manager's tires.

...Are you serious? Yes they're both awesome. I was just steamed up about remembering how mean those people were to the birds. Thanks for being nitpicky.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

[Saerphe]

There are a couple local petstores I frequent, mostly because I just love seeing the birds and animals, but of the two there's only one I would consider buying a bird from. I would prefer one from a good breeder, a specialty bird store, or to adopt one from a shelter, but if I had to buy from a big-name or whatever pet shop, it would be PetSmart.

I usually only go to the pet store at the mall to buy my dog's rawhide chews... he's an older rat terrier and he only likes chews of a certain size and shape so I get them there. They have a lot of birds but not a lot of choice in cages, food or accessories. They also seem to feed their parrots exclusively seeds which is just not healthy. I also noticed some of their budgies' beaks were getting a bit long, and when I pointed it out the employee said she'd put a cuttlebone in for them. It's been a few weeks and there's been no chew toys of any kind added to their cages.

Otherwise the birds seem happy and healthy, but I would never buy from them.

PetSmart on the other hand, their birds are very active, and healthy looking. They're on a pelleted diet and have chew toys and wood branches,and seem very friendly. I caught the Senegal staring right at me and when I reached my fingers up to the glass cage front, he tried to preen them! What a charmer! There's also a better selection of cages, food and toys and the employees are caring and helpful. They don't sell dogs or cats, but they help house animals from the shelter which is also attractive to me. There's also a selection of free parrot pamphlets that have checklists in them... Are you ready for a long-lived bird, a messy bird, a destructive, loud, potentially nippy bird, etc. I would rather spend my money there to be honest.

[Margaret]

Am I the only one that reads a tale like this and loves the husband and the manager?!

Not anymore
I usually don't react in that kind pet stores. I have to admit, I don't feel good enough with my English and I'm always afraid that I'm gonna be the one people assume is wrong.
What I do is take my boyfriend, who always can find the way to get to the point that everybody listen to him.
He usually starts with question about manger and it's routine employees ask what you want. He never say complain, always tell them(employees) that he bought something and he want to personally congratulate manager for good service.
This trick worked out so many times, if you ask about manager and say that you want to complain they always say, he's not here now or today.