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Bought Harry from P & H yesterday

willowholly

Mama Doe
Was getting the terrible twos hay etc yesterday & happened to see a trolley coin with a bun on called Harry.It was only £1 & was for charity so thought i'd get one[even though I dont use trolleys that take pound coins].what tickled me was that the charity was p & h support adoption scheme & it said on the back of the card
"Every year in the uk thousands of pets end up without a home due to a change in their owners circumstances.We want to make it our mission to help abandoned pets find new and loving homes."
I have nothing against P & H & find our shop very good but should ANY petshop make a statement like that whilst still selling animals?
 
P@H head office told me the 'adoption scheme' is run by a separate charity and not part of the company....I wonder how far that is true??
I too have no probs with my local store, except for the adoption centre and lack of formalities in allowing adoptions - no home checks etc.. I complained to head office and was told that all new adoptive owners are thoroughly quizzed and sign an adoption form.....reeealllyyyy? Not when I was there they didn't! I heard every word of a conversation whilst spying on them - which basically went:
"Have you had rabbits before"?
"Yes, we've got a couple already"
"Oh well i'm sure they'll get on fine, there you go!"
That was it....no bonding advice, neutering advice etc. Head office, to be fair, chased up my complaint and rang the store manager, and then came back to me with an apparent explanation and also a 'long' email to confirm all their adoption responsiblities and how they take advice from the RWAF... I had heard that was true...is it?
I find it's easier to go straight to head office than talk to the manager....I get a better result although i'm sure they're sick of my emails!:lol:
 
Pets at home sent me a pack about how they help local rescues. It still isn't enough in my opinion, i think they just try and keep them sweet so they can carry on selling the rabbits.
 
I agree, I find the whole thing rather contradictory....selling them and rehoming them....it doesn't make sense. The only way I console myself with it is that atleast they are offering people the chance to bring them back for the adoption centre which has got to be better than just 'setting them free' or neglecting them....i hope!
Although I still believe that rescuing and rehoming should be left to the experts...proper rescues.
 
Absolutely. Anyone that can't get a rabbit from us goes straight to a pet shop so thats hardly helping animal welfare is it. Especially as there is a strong chance that if they wouldn't upgrade to the appropriate accomodation or change whatever else the problem is, the rabbit will most likely end up in care anyway.
 
I got a bun Indy from a "proper rescue" yesterday which is linked to both Pets At Home stores in Hull. I think she does a fantastic job and helps a lot of people if they have problems with their buns.
She rehomed almost 300 rabbits last year so I don't think it's a scam or just a way of P@H getting rid of the rabbits they don't want...
 
I got a bun Indy from a "proper rescue" yesterday which is linked to both Pets At Home stores in Hull. I think she does a fantastic job and helps a lot of people if they have problems with their buns.
She rehomed almost 300 rabbits last year so I don't think it's a scam or just a way of P@H getting rid of the rabbits they don't want...

I work for PAH and know how we work, but regardless of what you say it makes no difference to some people. The charities that pair up with us are often condemned for doing so as well which is a shame.

We advertise their rescues in-store and if that encourages even just one person to rescue then that's a bonus in my eyes.
 
Pets at home sent me a pack about how they help local rescues. It still isn't enough in my opinion, i think they just try and keep them sweet so they can carry on selling the rabbits.

I disagree with that. We don't sell dogs and cats but pair up with dog and cat rescues as well as small animal rescues and when they're getting thousands of pounds to continue the good work they do, then that's fantastic. How is that just keeping dog and cat rescues sweet?

I'm paired up with Honeybunnies and I don't try and keep Jill sweet. Jill knows how I work and knows my opinions on things and I try and promote her rescue as much as I possibly can.
 
my local Pets at home has a section for animals waiting adoption and its always full of Animals that haven't been sold and are last of the litter. or are beyond cute fluffy stage. and all the other animals are ones that have come back to the pet shop because they weren't suitably homed in the first place........

i hold no opinion on this :shock:
 
P@H head office told me the 'adoption scheme' is run by a separate charity and not part of the company....I wonder how far that is true??
I too have no probs with my local store, except for the adoption centre and lack of formalities in allowing adoptions - no home checks etc.. I complained to head office and was told that all new adoptive owners are thoroughly quizzed and sign an adoption form.....reeealllyyyy? Not when I was there they didn't! I heard every word of a conversation whilst spying on them - which basically went:
"Have you had rabbits before"?
"Yes, we've got a couple already"
"Oh well i'm sure they'll get on fine, there you go!"
That was it....no bonding advice, neutering advice etc. Head office, to be fair, chased up my complaint and rang the store manager, and then came back to me with an apparent explanation and also a 'long' email to confirm all their adoption responsiblities and how they take advice from the RWAF... I had heard that was true...is it?
I find it's easier to go straight to head office than talk to the manager....I get a better result although i'm sure they're sick of my emails!:lol:

The Foundation is completely separate and run by Trustees. Adoption forms are filled in. The paperwork is quite lengthy.
 
my local Pets at home has a section for animals waiting adoption and its always full of Animals that haven't been sold and are last of the litter. or are beyond cute fluffy stage. and all the other animals are ones that have come back to the pet shop because they weren't suitably homed in the first place........

i hold no opinion on this :shock:

You obviously do have an opinion on this. Your assumptions make your opinion clear.
Belive me. My adoption section certainly isn't full of animals that didn't sell and it's very rare we get one back that we sold in the first place. We tend to deal with the fallout from the small pet stores round us!
 
The thing to remember is not all stores are the same, just because there is a bad one in your area doesn't mean they are all bad. Some of the staff at the Bristol one are very through offering bonding advice, neutering info, accomodation size the lot. I was in there one day and a lady had a fit because the sales assistant refused to sell her a pair of piggies to go in a nero 2. He insisted it had to be the Nero 4 or no piggies.

In an ideal world no, pet shops wouldn't sell animals but would this really solve the rescue problem? You'd just get backyard breeders exploiting the situation to make a quick buck and would they meet the welfare of the buns any better than a 'good' pet shop. (By good I mean ones that try their best for the bunnies ie not cramped, clean etc) You'd still get clueless new bunny owners buying for children with no forethought to finding out the proper care etc.

At least pets at home are trying. By advertising rescue in store it does make jo public more aware so they can go away and make their own informed choices. To be honest if I didn't have the internet I'm not sure I'd even know a rabbit rescue existed.
 
You obviously do have an opinion on this. Your assumptions make your opinion clear.
Belive me. My adoption section certainly isn't full of animals that didn't sell and it's very rare we get one back that we sold in the first place. We tend to deal with the fallout from the small pet stores round us!

haha, im not MAKING ASSUMPTIONS im just stating FACTS. EVERYTIME i go to my LOCAL pets at home that is the case. I dont have an opinion on the situation because i dont visit every store so i dont know whether that is the situation everywhere.

get off your high horse - not everyone is out to get you because you work in a pet shop!
 
Was getting the terrible twos hay etc yesterday & happened to see a trolley coin with a bun on called Harry.It was only £1 & was for charity so thought i'd get one[even though I dont use trolleys that take pound coins].

I have one of these! Mum bought it for me cause it had a bunny on it!

I think that you can only judge a store on an individual basis. My local P@H is fairly good tbh, all the buns seem as happy and healthy as is expected and had heaps of hay and toys with water at a reachable height. I was allowed to have a cuddle with a pair of gorgeous dutch baby girls who were in the adoption bit having been dumped for being mismarked. They were only about 10 or so weeks old so it was nice in a way to see that they hadn't just put them in with the other babies (does that make sense?)
There were a lot of dogs and cats (and a few chickens) profiles up in the area from local rescues too.
 
Adoption forms are filled in. The paperwork is quite lengthy.

I can only go on what I witnessed with my 'own eyes' that evening. I watched the entire thing from start to finish, ending with the couple paying for their rabbit at the till. NO adoption form was filled in AT ALL at any stage and NO advice given for anything, or any relevant questions asked of the couple adopting.
I have NO problems with my P&H store, I buy things there myself, and when I emailed head office I thanked and praised them for the changes they had made instore re. signage and new pens (too high for people to reach in) and that the buns for sale all looked healthy and had hay - a big improvement on a year or two ago.
My complaint was with the 'procedural' aspects of adoption and what I witnessed that evening. Personally, having adopted two buns of my own from an RSPCA where we had to go through 'rigourous' home inspection and meet all the criteria - landlord permission letters the lot, and for GOOD reason, rescue buns have already been through enough in their lives, I think it is essential that when being adopted they go to a home where they can be sure they will 'stay hopefully forever' to avoid any more upset or disruption in their lives. There's no point in having a 2-tier system - where one lot of rescues is doing everything they can to prepare new adopters and make sure the buns go to good homes, if, based on my local store, a petshop adoption centre can send them off with no checks made at all. I fully appreciate this could have been a one-off and internal staff matter! To be honest i've not hung around long enough to listen in on another example, and Head office were apologetic and thorough in their response so I'm hoping they are keeping to their word!
 
haha, im not MAKING ASSUMPTIONS im just stating FACTS. EVERYTIME i go to my LOCAL pets at home that is the case. I dont have an opinion on the situation because i dont visit every store so i dont know whether that is the situation everywhere.

get off your high horse - not everyone is out to get you because you work in a pet shop!

Your post said....."my local Pets at home has a section for animals waiting adoption and its always full of Animals that haven't been sold and are last of the litter. or are beyond cute fluffy stage. and all the other animals are ones that have come back to the pet shop because they weren't suitably homed in the first place........"

Your post says that it's always full of the unsold and 'unsuitably homed' animals in the adoption section. Unless you're dealing with it on a daily basis, you don't know the exact situation, so it is making assumptions.

I'm not on my high horse at all. I know everyone isn't out to get me because I manage a PAH. The people on this site are great and I've learned so much on here. I know what peoples opinion on PAH are and I am allowed to comment on a post made.
 
Your post said....."my local Pets at home has a section for animals waiting adoption and its always full of Animals that haven't been sold and are last of the litter. or are beyond cute fluffy stage. and all the other animals are ones that have come back to the pet shop because they weren't suitably homed in the first place........"

Your post says that it's always full of the unsold and 'unsuitably homed' animals in the adoption section. Unless you're dealing with it on a daily basis, you don't know the exact situation, so it is making assumptions.

I'm not on my high horse at all. I know everyone isn't out to get me because I manage a PAH. The people on this site are great and I've learned so much on here. I know what peoples opinion on PAH are and I am allowed to comment on a post made.

i do go to my pets at home store on a daily basis because my friend works within the store and i give her a lift to work, so i do happen to know precisily where the animals are coming from. I dont have a problem with pets at home or i wouldnt buy my pet stuff from there.


i just choose to not hold an opinion. which is my choice!

sorry if i offended anyone who is feeling overly sensitive. i didnt realise someone would jump down my throat for posting. :roll:
 
The way i see it - ANYTHING that promotes rescues is good in my book. Surely its better that Pets At Home help some rescues than sit back like all the other pets shops and do ****** all :?
At least they are moving in the right direction so i think its a good thing.
Ive found with my Pets At Home Store that all the animals seem healthy and always have what they require - which is a lot more than a lot of smaller pet stores that seem to get away with murder - literally.
 
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i do go to my pets at home store on a daily basis because my friend works within the store and i give her a lift to work, so i do happen to know precisily where the animals are coming from. I dont have a problem with pets at home or i wouldnt buy my pet stuff from there.


i just choose to not hold an opinion. which is my choice!

sorry if i offended anyone who is feeling overly sensitive. i didnt realise someone would jump down my throat for posting. :roll:

You posted, I replied. I didn't jump down your throat and I'm not feeling overly sensitive :)
 
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