Is anyone good at complaint letters? Complaint letter added

I would like to write a complaint letter to one of my local pet shops!
1. i have been in their loads and rabbits dont have hay
2. they are covered from head to toe in sawdust, poor things have it in their eyes.
3. their food is the mix food.
4. they dont have a good range of 'large' hutches and only 1 run which is TINY.

I asked today why they dont give rabbits hay and i got " we do, in the afternoon, well...when we close, so they have it at night, we put a big bundle in"

LIES :evil: if thats the case they would have had little bits sitting, or still a pile!
Im annoyed as anyone could walk in their to buy a rabbit, and they will see sawdust and mixed food and think that is all they need!!! no they need hay etc :evil: they should have fresh stuff 24/7 but they dont seem to understand that. The was i see it is if i write a letter to head they may take notice, young girls in a shop wont!

Im so sad...
Can anyone write a complaint letter please, also state the recomendation cage sizes, rabbits need hay, pellet foods better etc. please.. better than nothing i suppose. At least i would be trying. xx

Oh you could also add in about rescues and how many come in a year etc.

I think they have a draft letter in the 'Rabbit Welfare Issues' section which you can use. You just need to amend the right bits.

FriskyClover said:

I think they have a draft letter in the 'Rabbit Welfare Issues' section which you can use. You just need to amend the right bits.

Click to expand...

Thank you, will have a look. xx

If you don't have any joy with that, pm me and I can probably knock one up in a couple of days.

Cage sizes for small animals who are in pet shops are very different from the ones which are recommended for an adult rabbit to live in. The appropriate size is set out in information about obtaining a pet shop licence. http://www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk/6-living/hcs/licensing/pdf/pet-shop-cond.pdf

Thanks everyone ill try one, see how i get on. Im upset about run aswell as they only had one run and it was one of them triangular ones, well it had a flat top, a women in shop said oh i need one of them and i gave her a few websites to get a decent one of of x

Do you think this sounds ok. Feel free to add changes/spelling mistakes/grammer etc as i am very bad at that
OH darnet ive not written in about rescues!!!
[Your Address/phone]
[Date]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have visited your store in Arbroath on many occasions most recent was 4/11/2007. I'm writing regarding some concerns I had during my visits:

Most of the hutches you were selling as suitable for rabbits were less than the minimum size of five foot (150cm) long set by the RSPCA and Rabbit Welfare Association. Lack of adequate space for movement can have serious health consequences for rabbits including obesity, fly strike, muscle wastage and spine deformities. I also noticed their was only one run for sale which was very small and not enough room for any animal to have a good run around in.

You had longhaired rabbits available for sale which were covered from head to toe in sawdust. These rabbits pose a large welfare concern to rabbit rescues that are frequently called in to deal with badly matted rabbits with associated skin conditions. Longhaired rabbits need special housing to prevent matting and daily grooming. Many new owners fall for their beautiful appearance and are unable to provide the dedication needed to maintain them.

The rabbits did not have hay available. As you should be aware, rabbits must have a constant supply of hay (roughage) for them to graze on throughout the day to prevent life threatening gut issues such as bloat and can also cause serious teeth problems. I approached a member of staff about my concerns on this and the reply i got was “We give them a huge bundle of hay in the afternoon (upon realising that it was the afternoon she then said) i mean night, when we close, so they can use it as bedding”. As i was aware their was only sawdust in the enclosures which pose big health problems and i never saw any hay at all, not one little strand which to me shows the rabbits are not giving any hay. If i went in to your store not knowing anything about rabbits i would look at this and think “sawdust” and just buy that. I also noticed the food you were feeding the rabbits was mix, as you should be aware rabbits should be given pelleted food to balance out their diet and to help a lot of health problems. Again if i went into the shop and noticed this, i would then buy mix food. Same applies for the guinea pigs (hay/food).

You had no care sheets available on the care of the animals you were selling. Although staff can provide information there is a lot of specific knowledge needed to properly care for rabbits and it's unreasonable to expect a new owner to remember accurately everything they are told. I have great concern about this for the animals welfare.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully

Hayley

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have visited your store in Arbroath on many occasions most recent was 4/11/2007. I'm writing regarding some concerns I had during my visits:

Most of the hutches you were selling as suitable for rabbits were less than the minimum size of five foot (150cm) long set by the RSPCA and Rabbit Welfare Association. Lack of adequate space for movement can have serious health consequences for rabbits including obesity, fly strike, muscle wastage and spine deformities. I also noticed their was only one run for sale which was very small and not enough room for any animal to have a good run around in.

You had longhaired rabbits available for sale which were covered from head to toe in sawdust. These rabbits pose a large welfare concern to rabbit rescues who are frequently asked for assistance[/COLOR] with rabbits with matted fur and associated skin conditions. Longhaired rabbits need daily grooming and special bedding to prevent matting. Many new owners fall for the beautiful appearance of long haired rabbits and are unable to provide the dedication needed to maintain them.

The rabbits did not have hay available. As you should be aware, rabbits require a constant supply of hay (roughage) for them to graze on throughout the day and night to prevent life threatening gut issues such as bloat and can also prevent serious teeth problems. I approached a member of staff about my concerns on this and the reply i got was “We give them a huge bundle of hay in the afternoon (upon realising that it was the afternoon she then said) i mean night, when we close, so they can use it as bedding”. As I was aware their was only sawdust in the enclosures which pose big health problems and no hay was visible. If i went in to your store not knowing anything about rabbits i would look at this and think “sawdust” was suitable as the only bedding required and just buy that. I also noticed the food you were feeding the rabbits was a mix, I am sure that you are aware tha pelleted food is far superior preventing selective feeding, rabbits who selectively feed are more prone to gut and dental problems. Again if i went into the shop and noticed this, i would then buy a mix food. Same applies for the guinea pigs (hay/food).

You had no care sheets available on the care of the animals you were selling. Although staff can provide information there is a lot of specific knowledge needed to properly care for rabbits and it's unreasonable to expect a new owner to remember accurately everything they are told. I have great concern about this for the animals welfare.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

These are my suggestions

Thank you Janice xx

Was that Acorn by any chance - it is just that at oleast half a dozen of us have been in to speak to them and they just can't be a*sed to make things better

Apparently they have been on "training" :roll:

Also if it is Browns then they have also been visited loads of times as well:roll:

The head office of Acorn is based in Rosyth and I had a bad experience trying to telephone and speak to them. When I tried to explain that a constant source of hay and grass to forage on mimics the diet and lifestyle of rabbits in the wild, important for teeth and digestion, I was told that pet rabbits are different to wild rabbits and don't share the same rights as them. She then hung up the telephone on me

Fionabun said:

The head office of Acorn is based in Rosyth and I had a bad experience trying to telephone and speak to them. When I tried to explain that a constant source of hay and grass to forage on mimics the diet and lifestyle of rabbits in the wild, important for teeth and digestion, I was told that pet rabbits are different to wild rabbits and don't share the same rights as them. She then hung up the telephone on me

Click to expand...

OMG! That is terrible! Stupid people

I have also just sent off a complaint letter to a garden centre - despite them having 4 pens, they *still* mix rabbits and guinea pigs - despite having enough space to split by sex and species :roll:

They have also NEVER had hay when i've been in there....not a single strand, so it's not even like they've just eaten what was there...they never had any in the first place

Also the biggest hutch they sell is 4ft - and sell some really horrific 2ft ones.

I used the complaint letter on the welfare section as a template, but make it flow a bit better by using the words 'also' at the beginning of paragraphs to link them together a bit better - otherwise it just sounds like a series of separate complaints and doesn't quite hit home to them exactly how much they are doing wrong. :roll:

Yes is is Acorn :evil: they have just opened two stores near me! more poor animals to be sold in a shop! they are hopeless and does my head in. Im sending a letter to manager and if nothing gets done ill send one to head and see if they say anything! :roll: