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I got told to leave a pet shop for asking them to give rabbits more hay Picture added

Aliswan

Warren Scout
Today I went to wilkinsons to get some willow balls which were out of stock.
So stupidly I thought well I'll quickly check the pet shop to see if they sell them. I walked passed two bunnies in what looked more like a tank than anything else. They were pretty little things, both uppy eared brown rabbits, one was huddled with it's head under the other and the the other had it's ears pinned right back against its back (I have only ever had lop eared bunnies so not sure what it means but they didn't look happy) I'll try and add the photo I took on my phone. They were sat on sawdust, with a bowl of muesli and a water bottle then at the other side of the tank was one of the metal balls that you can fill with hay (I hang them around the room with hay and veg in as a toy) but this was their only source of hay...
I was a bit shocked by it all and decided to pluck up the courage and say something. I was really polite when I approached the man at the till and told him I thought the rabbits were running short of hay. He walked with me to see the rabbits and said "no the ball's full and they have loads of food" and turned to walk off. I said excuse me but I don't think that's enough hay for 2 rabbits, there diet should be 80-90% fresh hay... He turned back to face me and said, I think you should leave the shop now, I do not want anyone accusing me of neglecting my animals. I have worked here for 23 years I know how to look after a bloody rabbit!
I was so shocked I just walked away. I really wish I hadn't and I had the guts to stand up to him :(
 
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Good for you. Sounds like you did stand up to him as best as you could in the situation. I would go back a few times at different times of the day and evening to make sure that the hay balls are being refilled. I might even pull some hay out of the balls when no one was around and offer it to the rabbits just to make sure that they realize that it is there. I would love to see the pic that you took.
 
Good for you. Sounds like you did stand up to him as best as you could in the situation. I would go back a few times at different times of the day and evening to make sure that the hay balls are being refilled. I might even pull some hay out of the balls when no one was around and offer it to the rabbits just to make sure that they realize that it is there. I would love to see the pic that you took.

I just wish I'd done more! There is only 1 hay ball and sadly they are in a kind of tank behind a big screen so there is no way I could get to them to give them more! Actually contemplated buying them out of protest but I just don't have the space or money for 2 more!
Also there was a sign which read something along the lines of
"If you buy a puppy or kitten you must buy a reasonable quantity of their current food as a sudden change can cause severe stomach upset" And I wanted to scream "This applies to rabbits too!!!!" Grrr.
I'll upload the photo now, just need to get it off my phone.
 
Good for you!

How about writing a letter and sending RWA info to him? That might educate him in his own time. Sad for the bunnies though.
 
Here's the photo of the bunnies. There's a sign saying don't take photos so I tried to be sneaky about it hence the bad angle. It shows the kind of tank they were in (it's about 2.5-3ft wide) and you can kind of see my reflection in the glass that covers the section that the animals are kept in. Also that corner litter tray was totally empty just a few stray bits of sawdust. The only thing I could say was that they must have recently been cleaned out because there was no visible wee or poo anywhere in the sawdust, but there is wee splashed up the back wall!
IMAG0227.jpg
 
One pet shop I went to some of the bunnies had run out of hay (they do give it to them but obviously not enough as they'd eaten it all) so i told them and someone topped it up then - but only some of the bunnies were topped up and not by a lot. I've been in again and the same thing's happened again some bunnies don't have any hay.

Ruthie xxx
 
Thats ridiculous!!

Is the pet shop a chain or just an indy?
If is a chain go higher up and complain,
I also consider pointing you local rspca in their direction too who knows what they are doing with other animals.

And bloody good on you for saying something musta plucked up a lot of courage and to be talked to like a child was insulting!

They look like my poppy same colouring and ears ):
 
I would send a letter and complain. Theres one local to me at the moment that has the same set up - I've at least got some encouragement from the fact they don't buy from breeders just help unwanted rabbits - but they still sell them so not so good.

He wouldn't have got so shirty if he was generally concerned about them.
 
I'm not being funny, but while it might not be best practice and they could do more to encourage good hay eating, by the sounds of it, they did actually have hay...so what's the problem? We could equally complain that animals have hay strewn all over the floor so they just tread on it, but instead of that he had it in a ball to keep it clean and off the floor. It might be their only source of hay, which isn't perfect, but at least it was there and available for them. The RSPCA are hardly going to get their knickers in a twist over that, are they? I must admit that I think I'd get a bit shirty if someone was telling me that my animals needed to eat hay, when they did in fact have hay there anyway, I think there's a risk that a letter of complaint might actually make them dig their heels in and would do more harm than good :?
 
Hay in a ball is not sufficient, they should be able to freely eat hay without having to work for it.

I would report them to the council and contact the RWAF to see if they would send a letter.

I don't know why people think doing something a number of years makes them qualified. Just because you've been doing it for 20 years doesn't mean you're doing it right!
 
I hate it when they are kept in those tanks :( It makes me feel so sad for them I would write a letter of complaint, although I don't know who to. I would never shop in a place like that. It would end up with me in tears just looking at how sad they look :(

I am quite pleased with my local pet shop that I use. They keep their rabbits and guineas in two 7-8ft by something enclosures made out of fencing. One for boys and one for girls. Only downside is that they keep guineas and rabbits together but I think they have reduced the amount of animals they take on, and they keep them on for longer if they don't sell. They always have toys, tunnels and piles of hay for them.
 
hay in just a ball though, isn;t setting a good example to the public who buy on a whim, they will think that is enough for a rabbit to eat maybe, they don't think like us forum members, see they have a litter tray, he could of put hay n there, unless the bunnies had eaten it, i know if it where my buns they go straight for their hayball
 
My concern is if the hay is just placed in a ball and the rabbits are not use to eating hay or encouraged to eat it they might not even realize that it is for eating.
 
I hate it when they are kept in those tanks :( It makes me feel so sad for them I would write a letter of complaint, although I don't know who to. I would never shop in a place like that. It would end up with me in tears just looking at how sad they look :(

I am quite pleased with my local pet shop that I use. They keep their rabbits and guineas in two 7-8ft by something enclosures made out of fencing. One for boys and one for girls. Only downside is that they keep guineas and rabbits together but I think they have reduced the amount of animals they take on, and they keep them on for longer if they don't sell. They always have toys, tunnels and piles of hay for them.

Is that pam purred pets?thats our local pet shop and I always feel sad that they probably leave the pet shop to live somewhere worse!The local ones to us, dont keep rabbits and guineas together, obv the boys and girls are split up too. they have the same size area as you mentioned above to play in and a hutch they can go in and out of and they always have toys and tunnels and some greens in their pen and they are fed on pellets and have tons of hay. They always seem happy and then i feel sad because they sell totally innappropriate hutches that the rabbits will probably end up in, even though they are actually kept well in the pet shop!
 
hay in just a ball though, isn;t setting a good example to the public who buy on a whim, they will think that is enough for a rabbit to eat

This is exactly my concern. It doesn't show a very good example of care.
I know P@H isn't brilliant, but our branch does at least house the bunnies in a decent sized space, with toys and tunnels and a pile of hay.
 
I've been worried all night about these poor bunnies. I want to go back and check on them today but don't think I'll be allowed in the shop!
It's not a chain that I know of although there are 2 stores in about 15 miles of one another but these are the only ones I've ever seen. They do have a website and I think it says a lot that they only sell 1 hutch that meets the minimum 6x2x2 and it's over £200 but there are about 11 others which are much smaller and cheaper, I wonder which one people will buy?
I don't know who I would write to but think I might make a call to the RSPCA just to see what they say, maybe I'm not the only one to have commented on their animal care.
 
I agree with Santa. I've seen far worse in pet shops. And who is to say how often the hay even gets topped up? It just looks and sounds like a standard pet shop set up for me. While that isn't ideal, and we might not be happy about it, it seems to be the industry standard.
 
I agree with Santa. I've seen far worse in pet shops. And who is to say how often the hay even gets topped up? It just looks and sounds like a standard pet shop set up for me. While that isn't ideal, and we might not be happy about it, it seems to be the industry standard.

No doubt there will be worse out there but that does not make it ok!

No matter how often the hay is topped up to throw someone out of the shop just for asking for them to have more hay is disgusting! The more I think about it the more I think that he gets regular complaints about his animals which is why he reacted so badly but surely it wouldn't have put him out just to put some more hay in!
 
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