# Petco trip awful



## Berks (May 15, 2007)

So I went to Petco with the family yesterday to get a few things...(hubby wanted a fish) and I was so grossed out. I have been in this particular store before but never was it this bad. I literally had to stay away from one section of the store due to such a foul odor. I am not sure where or what is was coming from but it was awful. I than proceded to check out the ratties and go figure...they all had mites, and I thought the odor on the other side of the store was bad...but then realized this was a new worse odor. I felt so bad for them. Makes me not want to go into another petco for a long time!


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

You should report them!


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## lostbutnotforgot (Apr 19, 2007)

That sounds horrible. Can you report them?

I was in a Petco the other day and I looked in on their little rats and they all looked miserable. Breathing badly, one was so tiny and just skin and bones. I'll at least give the Petsmart near me kudos for taking far better care of their animals than Petco.


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## papricka (Apr 2, 2007)

ick. Petco seems to be the WORST pet store. I have heard so many horrible things about it!


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## Berks (May 15, 2007)

I feel like reporting them! The girl seemed upset and told me the rats were being treated for the mites, but i doubt it. I know they are also moving the store to a new location and my husband thought maybe they just were letting the store kinda go a bit because of that. They also told me they had a little girl rattie in the back who accidently came with the buck shipment. They only sell boy ratties there. I was so temped to ask what would happen to her.


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

Berks said:


> maybe they just were letting the store kinda go a bit because of that.


You are being too kind!  There is no reason to leave animals in those conditions, temporarily or not.


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## Berks (May 15, 2007)

oh no, i dont feel that way at all, thats just what my husband was saying to me, since i was venting to him the whole time about it. There is no excuse for any of it, the foul odors, or poor conditions. Makes my heart ache for those animals.


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## Zach (Jun 2, 2007)

Yeah, we never go to Petco, but Petsmart seems pretty nice, all the animals were active and happy looking.  You should report them though, that's pretty bad. Hopefully they really are treating the rats for mites!


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## chrisstrikeagain (Apr 10, 2007)

Report them. and go to a local pet store. like a family owned.

chances are better rats and better fish. and in most situations less smell and better conditions.


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## crapola (Feb 12, 2007)

berks, dont you have SPCA in america?? report petco to them.


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## Berks (May 15, 2007)

yes we have an spca...i figured that is who to call. We have one local pet shop here in town (small family owned) and I refuse to buy any animals from there. They themselves have been in the paper for some not so nice issues.


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## amandahoney (May 14, 2007)

that's interesting, because i've actually had some good experiences with our local petco. i'm assuming they differ, nationwide, just like any chain store does. i have three friends who work at this petco, and they're all conscientious people. they host a cat rescue group every weekend, which brings in adoptable cats and sells pet treats and toys as a fundraiser. in addition, our petco often recommends that people looking for pets adopt some of the abandoned rats/mice/hamsters. i went in looking for something else, but for a $5 "adoption fee", i got skunk and her friend squirrel (no longer with us) AND their 16"x16"x24" cage.

also, i had one situation where a friend of mine bought two baby rats from petco. within a week, one died unexpectedly and suddenly, and then the other started showing respiratory symptoms. my friend (we had some harsh words over what happened next) "returned" the rats and bought new ones. i was afraid for what might happen to the little one he returned if it seemed like no one cared about her, so i kept calling petco to ask about her and coming in to hold her, and i told them i intended to take her home if she made it. she didn't survive, but i now have a lot more confidence in the competence of this particular petco, since they spent almost two weeks giving her oral and topical antibiotics. they should never have been selling them this young in the first place- i'd guess maybe four weeks, but probably younger. still, the employees, if not the owners, did a good job in this case.

...sorry this has been such a long reply.


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## Berks (May 15, 2007)

I agree with what you said. I believe each store is different, and it also varies by what kind of staff they have there. The young man that was working in the fish department was excellent. He answered all my 6 year old sons questions very attentively and seemed very knowledgable and helpful about the fish my husband was buying.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

In addition to calling the SPCA, you should contact PetCo's headquarters and have everyone you know contact them. I know from other stories PetCo headquarters take this kind of situation seriously. YOu could phone or e-mail them, give them as many specifics as possible and be sure to mention that if their store continues down this route they will not only be loosing a customer, you will be informing all that is near you about what is happening and advise people not to shop there again. That usually gets them, they need to keep the customers.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

There is a much worse situation going on at a PetCo on another forum and I copied some of the info for people here...

_Some info:

If you have concerns about a PETCO store, pleaseâ€”in addition to letting us know by e-mailing [email protected]â€”call PETCO's customer hotline at 1-888-824-PALS and/or e-mail PETCO at [email protected]. For after-hours complaints, please call PETCO at 858-453-7845, extension 5858. When calling PETCO's hotline, please be sure to obtain an incident number and ask for the name of the person you speak with.

An important note for current PETCO employees: An associate hotline number is available to you. The number should be posted in your store's break room and/or easily obtainable from training materials, paycheck stubs, etc. PETCO's corporate office assures PETA that calls to this hotline are handled by an independent party and that you are not required to provide your name when calling with concerns. It is vital that you obtain an incident number when you call. Please do not let anyone dissuade you from using this important resourceâ€”it is your direct line to PETCO's corporate headquarters. _

PetCo is very serious about these allegations and the issue on the other forum was dealt with, people were fired and very quickly too.

Do not think you cannot do anything at all.


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## radical (Jan 15, 2007)

i went into petco the other day to see if they had a specific kind of treats for my rats.. and there was a tiny cage (by tiny i mean, smaller than my rat cage fit for four rats..) with SIX ferrets in it. SIX! there was one regular sized rat which actually seemed to be alright, but in the cage above it there were like ten of those bigger breed of rat. the cage was waaay too small and there was nothing for them to interact with in there.. and i took a look at the betas, which are kept in tiny little closed plastic containers.. and they all looked dead. by far the sadest betas i've ever seen.  i hate looking at their animals.. it makes me sad.


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## tasha (Oct 16, 2006)

My Petco is AMAZING. It depends on the store in my opinion.

The employees are great, the animal conditions are extremely good and the worst thing I have ever seen was a dead hamster (which quite apparently died from an attack from his cagemate).

If your Petco is not doing as well, please report them - they'll be forced to shape up to save their customer base.


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