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Free range buns in pet shop

sillyrabbit

Wise Old Thumper
Anyone seen this before?

I was at a small pet shop yesterday which sells animals. I usually dont shop in these but the other shop was out of JWB kitten food and we were desperate :shock:

Anyways ive never really gone in this one before and they had one giant bun for sale :( But he is given free range of the shop all day, I was like ive not seen that before and the guy said well it wouldnt be fair to keep him in the enclosure all day as he is in there at night when the shop is closed. The shop isnt huge like I would imagine the big stores on the mainland are, its not big enough for the bun to get lost or anything.

What do you guys think about this? I would still rather the bun wasnt being sold but I think its great he is able to exercise properly and spends most of the day interacting with staff instead of sitting by himself :)
 
well the space idea sounds great, but what if he knocked things over and injured himself? or are the shelves not floor upwards? how do they stop himr running out the door?

it is good that he isnt copped up but then i expect its kinda of like a sales pitch aswell..people tak emore notice if they come in nd a bunny is running around as opposed 2 sitting in a cage.
xxxx
 
I didnt really think of it like that actually :? They have more than one shop though, its a branch here and the other ones dont have the buns out of the enclosures so I think its a decision made by staff in this actual store, although there are only two of them and they were both sitting on the floor playing with the bun when we walked in. I think they are doing it because its a smallish shop and its not as busy as the others because you have to go down a million little lanes in the country side just to find it so they can get away with it.

They have things like dog crates on the floor and a big thing in the middle where they keep the bags of hay which the bun cant get too. Didnt really have a proper look because I was so suprised but things like food were all on the shelves and on the bottom level under the first shelf was where they keep litter trays. The shop is inside a big secure area which sells plants, kind of like a garden center but there was a gate on the shop door and there are doors to go in and out of the big part too.

I dunno I assume they just supervise like I do with mine at home :) There is always a chance a bun can injure itself playing I think x
 
Yep it did look secure to me and the bun can get in and out of his enclosure while he is out. He even did a little binky I was like :cry:
 
There's a pet shop near me with A FREE RANGE FRENCHY but he's not for sale! He's quite cutem very docile and happy to be stroked by all the kids that come in. He also has an area where he can get away from them :D
 
Sounds like a good thing to me and the shop owner seems quite responsible. Our local garden centre used to have a gorgeous giant white bunny running around all the time, it was their pet and not for sale but it was always very happy and content.
 
When Focus Petworld used to sell animals, I saw a rabbit free-range in the shop. I thought he'd escaped, so told the shop assistant...but they had let him out :shock:

At one point a man came in with dog, and the rabbit ran under a chinchilla cage to hide :shock:
 
Couldnt he have damaged himself eg by eating food off the shelves etc? or getting tripped over by customers?

I do think its good that he could exercise but would be a little worried about the practicalities.
 
I didnt even think to ask if he was for sale actually, maybe he isnt. I might go back just to have another look :)

I dont think its the owner being responsible, he owns a few pet shops here and im banned from the others :oops: I only went to this one because I knew he wouldnt be there as its in the middle of nowhere and he is always at the big shop. I think its the two people who just work there who have decided to let him out.

I asked about customers tripping over and stuff and they said they very rarely have more than a couple of customers in at a time, and if it looks like its getting busy they just pop him back in the enclosure until it calms down again. Didnt check if he could reach the food or anything but they seemed quite responsible about it and said he is always supervised so I dont think he is able to just help himself to food and stuff x
 
I think it sends out the right message. :) At least if they see him wandering around they'll not think he'll be ok in a small cage. Then again it could be a gimmick to mkae people want him wandering around their house.
 
I think it sends out the right message. :) At least if they see him wandering around they'll not think he'll be ok in a small cage. Then again it could be a gimmick to mkae people want him wandering around their house.

Yeh I dont really know what I think of it now :? I know its not what they do in their other shops and as the both of them were sat on the floor with the bunny and showing an actual interest I think they just let him out because they can as its so quiet up there and the boss isnt up there with them, they were both about my age and had given him a name and all
 
P@H in Elgin have a Giant that a customer returned to them. The staff loved it so much and it had a congenital eye disorder, so they lobbied HQ to be allowed to keep in as a shop pet. It lives in a run when the shop is open but for an hour or so before the shop opens and after it closes, it is given the run of the shop for exercise. Apparently, she is a bit of a norty bun cos she hares off to the seed section if they aren't quick and tears into the bird seed.

The shop use her to show customers how big they get and what a lot of work they are before people commit to buying one. I would rather they didn't sell any bunnies, but at least the store in my area are kind to their animals, they always have food and water and are clean and they don't do adoptions.
 
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