Are you kidding me?

[trockafella]

I think perhaps the misunderstanding came from the interpretation of "megacorporate". I am refering to the corporate practice of animal husbandry (specifically fish). I expect no more from the employees than I expect of employees at other retail establishments. Many of the employees are unskilled and simply need a job. There's nothing wrong with that. However, it is clear that petco does not have a corporate policy regarding the way these fish are treated. That is why each store is a new experience.

 

 

As far as making a complaint or being more proactive, once I have solved major issues such as human trafficking, world hunger, war, cured cancer, etc... then I will move on to seeing what I can do about these poor fish.

 

 

In the meantime, I would hope I will still be free to share my opinion on a local forum without being lambasted over misinterpretation.

 

 

This statement I completely agree with...

[trockafella]

"As far as making a complaint or being more proactive, once I have solved major issues such as human trafficking, world hunger, war, cured cancer, etc... then I will move on to seeing what I can do about these poor fish."

 

This statement I find hilarious.!

 

 

[DaveS]

Agreed, I would like to write off the losses as well.. Btw, got any red yumas still? PM me.. Coral seller

 

I do but I'm charging you sales tax! hahaha

[Reefoholic]

If you sell out of state, you don't need to charge tax

[trockafella]

To bad the meeting isnt in MD. Then we would be taking over statelines.. Uhoh

 

 

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

I know somebody that worked at petsmart and was often told that they couldn't take a sick animal to the vet. Even if the animal was very sick. So what we see as customers isn't isn't always the whole story. And money is more important than the animals to some of these stores.

[Reefoholic]

I know somebody that worked at petsmart and was often told that they couldn't take a sick animal to the vet. Even if the animal was very sick. So what we see as customers isn't isn't always the whole story. And money is more important than the animals to some of these stores.

 

So what happens? They watch it die?

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

Yup.

[Coral Hind]

I know somebody that worked at petsmart and was often told that they couldn't take a sick animal to the vet. Even if the animal was very sick. So what we see as customers isn't isn't always the whole story. And money is more important than the animals to some of these stores.

That's just wrong and I hope it isn't true.

[davelin315]

I was told by an employee that they do not treat any sick animals in their stores and that they are not allowed to call or take animals to the vet. This was years ago so I'm unsure of what their current policy is. As far as which stores are good and which are bad, the overall feeling I have for PetCo is that it's a business and the bottom line is what's important for them. If they were to realize that the business aspect of selling marine fish and corals would be much more sustainable and therefore profitable in the long run were they to engage in responsible collection and husbandry practices then I'm sure that they would be better. The PetCo in Sterling is typically OK as far as how they care for animals, but then again, when the fish department employees refer to the "...for Dummies" series of books to answer questions for customers, then they are in serious need of some training. The PetCo that was in Herndon, on the other hand, was one of the worst places I have been in prior to it closing - untrained employees, smelled bad all of the time, water changes that took place directly from the sink into the system and then adding salt afterwards... it was terrible, but now it's closed.

 

I think that as far as PetCo overall is concerned, there are some sweeping generalizations about the corporation itself that are very true and accurate. On the other hand, there are some employees there, just as in any store, that can surprise you with their knowledge and helpfulness. In the long term, do I feel that PetCo should be in the coral business? No.

[SunWyrm]

Just to interject the Petsmart I worked at had a vet on site and we treated animals in the back room away from customers. This was about 3-4 years ago.

 

Edit: I know first hand that what makes these animals sick is the conditions corporate places them in. The individual stores and their employees have no say in this and get in insane amounts of trouble if they do otherwise. I tried to fight the system and district management flat out said they didn't care - that it was more important that it looked good than we lose some baby reptiles to eye infections because of inappropriate environments. Vets also only treat large animals like guinea pigs, for small rodents and reptiles employees are on their own. Fish get nothing but the trash (my store hid a treatment tank in the back to save what we could, and tried all we could to keep a very healthy "recovery room" for our animals.)

 

TLDR; I never said this

Edited January 18, 2012 by YiatzOfEden

[treesprite]

The fish on delivery are generally in poor condition. I worked at a PETCO, I took very good care of the fish, but there's only so much you can do when have of the incomings are DOAs or headed that direction.

[SunWyrm]

^+1 the suppliers are pretty horrible.

[SunWyrm]

Back to the petco in question though... it's very hard to get people on all shifts in a dept who care enough. You get maybe one or two and the others in the dept and the rest of the store that cover it when no one else that's there could care less. They just stock dog food, try to sell puppy classes and maybe catch some feeder goldfish some evenings.

 

Helen cares, and she's hired a few people who at least can catch fish without undue stress. Don't get your fish if no one is covering saltwater or if they haven't done it before. Offer to catch him yourself or put it on hold.

 

I don't agree that petco should be into the saltwater business as heavily as they are - its a gamble to go in there, so be careful. But my opinion is that there are individuals that care more about the animals than the bottom line - it's just that the bottom line is shoved down you're throat all the time and you can't do anything to help them except try to get them to a better home, sad cycle that that is.

 

Hope I didn't go on too much of a tirade-this isn't the best topic for me as I have too many bad experiences working at places like this. Ima go hug my fishes now...

[Reefoholic]

YiatzofEden and treesprite,

 

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences with us! I am sure it was traumatic to recall these unfortunate instances. Your contribution at least gave my feelings of wanting to save every animal in those stores validity! I only wish I could...

[treesprite]

YiatzofEden and treesprite,

 

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences with us! I am sure it was traumatic to recall these unfortunate instances. Your contribution at least gave my feelings of wanting to save every animal in those stores validity! I only wish I could.

You would have to save them before they get to the stores. Like, when the divers or fish catchers are out somewhere using deplorable methods to catch these creatures, or at the holding places, or at anywhere else along the chain.

 

Among the first things I discovered wlhen I started that job, were two tightly shriveled anemones in fish tanks with 1.18 sg.

Edited January 18, 2012 by treesprite

[F&Fmgr]

I know somebody that worked at petsmart and was often told that they couldn't take a sick animal to the vet. Even if the animal was very sick. So what we see as customers isn't isn't always the whole story. And money is more important than the animals to some of these stores.

 

 

I have hired more than half a dozen people from pet department stores that wanted exactly that....to be able to CARE for the animals. Each and every one of them has described a "room" in the back where the sick animals were placed for "observation" . they all said that pretty much w/e went in that stayed in the room until, well, you get the idea.

 

one of my customers used to work at a Pet dept. store, and they would tell me about how animals would go in, their shift would end, only to come back the next day or two to find the animal gone.

 

AGAIN, THIS IS NOT FACT. I DO NOT KNOW IT TO BE TRUE. I AM SIMPLY RESTATING OTHER PEOPLES WORDS.....THAT OUGHTA HOLD OFF TROCK AND THE MAN

[Origami]

My son has worked in several small pet stores. I hear stories. While there will always be losses (deaths), the good ones buy from reputable sources, and work hard to ensure that they provide adequate care when problem cases arise. Sometimes, though, animals, like people, contract or are shipped with a disease that's not yet presented itself. Or, they could just be weak for whatever reason. Humane treatment of these cases should be a moral requirement for anyone in the pet business.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

Yea I stay away from buying from these stores unless I need food for my pets and i no option on where to purchase the food. The person I k ow who worked at the petsmart HATED working there because of the sick animals and coworkers that didn't care and everything else that comes with working at thoes stores. Since quitting their mood has lifted dramatically.

[treesprite]

I have hired more than half a dozen people from pet department stores that wanted exactly that....to be able to CARE for the animals. Each and every one of them has described a "room" in the back where the sick animals were placed for "observation" . they all said that pretty much w/e went in that stayed in the room until, well, you get the idea.

 

one of my customers used to work at a Pet dept. store, and they would tell me about how animals would go in, their shift would end, only to come back the next day or two to find the animal gone.

 

AGAIN, THIS IS NOT FACT. I DO NOT KNOW IT TO BE TRUE. I AM SIMPLY RESTATING OTHER PEOPLES WORDS.....THAT OUGHTA HOLD OFF TROCK AND THE MAN

When I worked at Petco, animals would disappear. One of the managers who got fired for stealing, would sometimes order an excessive number of fish and then he and one of the workers would take a bunch of them home. Then another time after that, a reptile guy was hired who took an iguana and snake home, claiming that they were his, that he has just brought them to work to keep an eye on them... maybe it was the truth or maybe not, but who takes their pets to work when work is a store that sells the same animals?

 

Then there is sabotage. Sometimes if you go in a store and see most of the fish dead, well, sabotage does happens. Three times some kid who was out for revenge for being fired, came in the Petco and poisoned fish. The first couple times he poisoned entire sections of tanks. The last time he "only" poisoned the betta cups because he got caught and kicked out of the store before he got to the tanks.

 

Then there is stupidity that seals the fate of livestock. TWICE the same guy, who only worked once or twice a week, and had no directions to do anything with the water, left hoses on to flood the salt water tanks overnight with fresh water, flooding the entire store and killing every single salt water animal. TWICE! Once is an accident, but twice is, well, he got fired the second time.

 

Note: this branch is no longer in existence.

Edited January 19, 2012 by treesprite

[steveoutlaw]

Wow - I certainly didn't mean for this to turn into a "Mega Corporate Chain" bashing thread.

 

Yes, I was talking about the Dale City Petco and they do have a separate tank for the corals. Unfortunately the frag tank had a single "Powersweep" powerhead in it and no skimmer (I could tell when the few corals in there were because they looked like they had just puked up their guts). Here is my problem - no matter how much research Helen, or any other Petco employee does they will still be a slave to one thing; Petco is a volume business. This means that they will never have enough time to properly care for these animals and never dedicate enough money to acquiring the proper equipment to take care of them. They are more concerned with moving the livestock than treating them well. Not an assault on ANY Petco employee, that's just the way it is.

 

As to the livestock - I have witnessed several Petco employees floating the bags for ~5 minutes and then dumping the livestock straight into the tank, water and all. So if the fish are stressed when they arrive the are REALLY stressed when they wind up in their 10g tank. So trying to expand the saltwater offering of a store that doesn't know how to take care of saltwater livestock (or refuses to) is irresponsible, no matter how you look at it.

 

Now - This doesn't mean that they are good because they pay taxes, or that former Petco employees are bad because they worked there. It simply means that supporting Petco's marine products will keep them making money and able to re-stock. That will keep these poor fish in bad shape and dying. Funny thing is, people think that they are rescuing an animal when they buy it from Petco to get it out of the tank when all they are doing is making a spot for the next victim. It's sad but unless people stop buying from them and take the money out of it, they will never change.

 

 

Final Note - Keep the thread on topic - some people are getting personal.

[John]

Was just in Dulles Petco today for some non-reef-related items. I swung through the fish department and the woman there recommended a few of our WAMAS sponsors to go visit...I played dumb, but I thought that was pretty cool!

[darkcirca]

I have hired more than half a dozen people from pet department stores that wanted exactly that....to be able to CARE for the animals. Each and every one of them has described a "room" in the back where the sick animals were placed for "observation" . they all said that pretty much w/e went in that stayed in the room until, well, you get the idea.

 

one of my customers used to work at a Pet dept. store, and they would tell me about how animals would go in, their shift would end, only to come back the next day or two to find the animal gone.

 

AGAIN, THIS IS NOT FACT. I DO NOT KNOW IT TO BE TRUE. I AM SIMPLY RESTATING OTHER PEOPLES WORDS.....THAT OUGHTA HOLD OFF TROCK AND THE MAN

 

Your correct on the back 'room' to QT the sick. When I worked in a chain store (which was a brief 2 months, if even that), we had these 'rooms' in the back for sick animals. One was for birds, the other was for everything else. I don't think I'd even call them rooms - they were CLOSETS. Literally, a closet with a few shelves and the animals were put in there.

 

I did witness animals just 'vanishing', but I also witnessed numerous vet trips, and medicating animals daily. Even had a customer that bought a veiled chameleon that ended up with an eye infection - the store took it back, went to a vet for treatment, and placed it into QT for sometime before going back to the owner. The place I was at had management issues (GM quit, no GM for some time, then new GM who was a total jerk) and I remember a change in care during that time...

 

It all depends on the store I guess. I only worked at one store. I've witnessed so many poor sales tactics going into chain pet stores.. like the sales guy trying to sell someone a Chinese Water Dragon. I stepped in and mentioned how big they get and the customer looked shocked. Sure enough, sales person was holding back on that. Go figure. I hate going to the chain stores - I try to order all my crickets/worms online for the lizards, and the only reason I'll slip into one is to grab dog food.. which if I can find a local shop with the same price, I'd much rather support them.