Reply from pets at home

[taylor v 109]

I today had a call from one of the vets at the said pets at home in charlton, asking me if i could take in 2 piggs that had been left with them. I took the opertunity to ask on the results of the check ups on the rabbits that i had said were ill. They had not been asked to look at any rabbits, but the vet said she would go and look. I then rang the manager of the store and asked why the rabbits had not seen the vet . He stated that they had seen the vet and had been okayed and put back.There is more than one vet working at the store, and he maintains they are heathy. We then went on to have a row about being able to count the bones on a rabbits spine was not a sign of a heathy rabbit. Whil writing this ive spoken to another vet their and asked her and she is going to check them she is coming to me to bring the piggs so i can see whot happens later. As well as this i thought i would check out whot i had thought that tha rabbits they get are mass produced and they are they come from one place whitch explains why most of there rabbits are not friendly and dont make good pets for children. At the end of the talk i made it clear that i would speak to the vets myself and would carry on NOT recamending any one to buy there rabbits. val :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

[Tamsin]

Well done for sticking with it. I believe mosts of the P@H bunnies come from mass breeders which means they are more likely to have unspotted health problems and been unsocialised.

There really is no excuse when they have instore vets.

Tam

[bunnyhuggger]

Well done Val, good on ya' girl!

[haffyj]

Well done

[Fluffybunny]

Hi Val,

Good thing you brought it to their attention....one P@H i went into had a rabbit sitting there, a little Fawn mini lop, looking sorry for itself, but upon getting a closer look it had mites, swollen eyes and a runny nose...I suspected something like Myxi and therefore went straight out, but telephoned the manager and he said they had taken it to a vet (surely they wouldn't have put it back into a pen with other rabbits tho!) but I was doubtful.

Although saying this Poppy is a P@H rabbit - however HE was bought as a doe :roll:

xxxx

[Suzi Wong]

Yes Jasper was bought from P@H and he originally came home as a definate Maisie :?

[Maaike_Butter]

I always feel so sorry for the animals at places like P@H. I always want to take them home, coz I feel it's like rescueing them all the same!

I got my two girls from Cadbury Garden centre, after sadly being rejected by the RSPCA (my landlady was out of the country for 6 months and I couldn't give them the proof they needed, fair enough). I was going to rehome from the want ads, but felt so immensely sorry for my girls, sitting in a little aquarium with 4 other girls, I signed for them immediately and took them home 4 days later. They were AMAZED by the space I offered them, it was really sad to see...

Woe are the pet shops...

[luvabun]

Well done Val. I don't want to get told off for this but shouldn't we all try to look at other sources for the stuff we get from P@H e.g. Hay etc. If they can't provide proper care for the animals they are selling, they should not be in business.

[taylor v 109]

I do agree this place should go if you can find another source then please do. This company is not animal friendly. Even their compaion care vets work to a money target, i happen to know an ex manager of the store who told me this after i had the occasion to double check a rabbit that had been diognosed as needing a ?100 op for teeth. I had a rabbit that came in on wed that the owner didnt want to give up but had to after the vet there told her it needed a dental urgently. It looked in good heath the front teeth were lovely no running eys nothing, so i took it to my vet who gave it the all clear. The rabbit has gone back to the owner. Please all of you think hard before you give this company any of your money and dont use thier vets. val :twisted:

[Amelia]

Hi Val,


Although saying this Poppy is a P@H rabbit - however HE was bought as a doe :roll:



:lol: :lol: that sounds very familar, Mr Bump came from P@H and was orginally called Bunnykins until we took "her" to the vets to be spayed and find out she was actually a he :shock:

[honeybunny]

I dont want to offend anyone but all people on here are aware of the number of rabbits in rescues so why are some people still buying rabbits from pet shops whose only interest is profit? If a bun is bought from a shop you may see it as "rescuing" but sadly it will only be replaced by others. If people make a stand and do not buy animals from such places they would stop selling them. If a shop has a really bad reputation then report them to the RSPCA who may do a visit and offer advice and then stop giving the store custom either for livestock or other products.
Also how about asking the store to advertise recues as a service to animal welfare? If you suggest they do this and let the local paper know it would encourage them as they would get free advertising ( and so would the rescues! :D )
Sorry to go on and on.....! :oops:

[LurcherGirl]

Totally agree with Jill. After having bought a baby bunny from then Petsmart six years ago, which died after just three days as he was very ill, I got another four rabbits from a pet shop (that looks after rabbits well, but still...). However that was over four years ago and since then all my rabbits (and other pets including hamsters, mice etc.) have been rescues and always will be. There is no excuse anymore for buying from pet shops. Each bunny that is bought is replaced by two others just as unhappy, unhealthy and sad ones...

Vera

[Fluffybunny]

Forgot to mention aswell that the one i got from pets at home was also very ill - the day i got him home he seemed ok but after i had locked up for the night and gone into the shed in the morning he was sat in a pool of diarrhoea and very bloated :( Luckily though I managed to pull him rounf but i thought i was about to lose him, he was so young his earas hadn't lopped even!

[doorkeeper]

I popped in to pets at home the other day to buy another guinea cage, and saw a poor piggie who had scratched his/her fur really thin. I was amazed they hadn't noticed. I told them about it and pointed out that the other one in there would need treatment too. I must go back in and check that they did get them treated.

I also pointed out that the cage was far too small for rabbits despite being labeled as a rabbit cage. Even a Nethie wouldn't be able to stand upright in it without his ears touching the top :( Good for piggies though, unlike the tiny cages they have labeled for guineas:( Poor Mr Beans needs to be isolated as he has a respitory infection which recently killed (I suspect) his girlie pig Bertha :( :( Now he is living in my bedroom, getting lots of extra treats.

[Amelia]

I dont want to offend anyone but all people on here are aware of the number of rabbits in rescues so why are some people still buying rabbits from pet shops whose only interest is profit? If a bun is bought from a shop you may see it as "rescuing" but sadly it will only be replaced by others. If people make a stand and do not buy animals from such places they would stop selling them.

Hi Jill, I agree with your point entirely. I bought Mr B from P@H about 8 months ago, but at that point I wasn't aware of how many rabbits were in resuce sites and didn't know rabbit rehome existed! (I think the majority of people who've bought from petshops are like me). Since then my last two rabbits have come from rescues and I would never buy from a pet shop again (I don't even like buying supplies from certain pet shops due to the way they treat their livestock)

On the otherhand in a way I do feel like I have rescued Mr B as he is such a character and I hate the thought that he could have gone to a horrible home and been kept in a tiny cage for the rest of his life :(

[Denny]

I dont want to offend anyone but all people on here are aware of the number of rabbits in rescues so why are some people still buying rabbits from pet shops whose only interest is profit? If a bun is bought from a shop you may see it as "rescuing" but sadly it will only be replaced by others. If people make a stand and do not buy animals from such places they would stop selling them.

Hi Jill, I agree with your point entirely. I bought Mr B from P@H about 8 months ago, but at that point I wasn't aware of how many rabbits were in resuce sites and didn't know rabbit rehome existed! (I think the majority of people who've bought from petshops are like me). Since then my last two rabbits have come from rescues and I would never buy from a pet shop again (I don't even like buying supplies from certain pet shops due to the way they treat their livestock)

On the otherhand in a way I do feel like I have rescued Mr B as he is such a character and I hate the thought that he could have gone to a horrible home and been kept in a tiny cage for the rest of his life :(

I agree too, but like you Amelia, our bun was from P@H and I did not know about RR or rabbit rescues, especailly how many were in rescue :(

Everyone might be interested to know (hope you dont mind Tamsin) but, on the occassions that i do go to P@H, I park as near to it as possible and I have printed one of Tamsin's posters (rabbits in rescue one) and I place it in the car window with blue tak while I am shopping. I have to take it off when I leave because it obscures my vision when driving. I hope many people have read it and thought about it before going into p@h, who knows, if we all did it, it might hopefully, make people realise what we on here now know about unwanted bunnies and certain petshops.

I am a bit limited in my area for pet goodies so do use p@h for a wider variety. I dont know if that is because most petshops in my area dont sell rabbits, but they dont seem to cater for rabbits much (well mine does'nt)

[luvabun]

On the otherhand in a way I do feel like I have rescued Mr B as he is such a character and I hate the thought that he could have gone to a horrible home and been kept in a tiny cage for the rest of his life :(

I agree too, but like you Amelia, our bun was from P@H and I did not know about RR or rabbit rescues, especailly how many were in rescue :(
.

I am a bit limited in my area for pet goodies so do use p@h for a wider variety. I dont know if that is because most petshops in my area dont sell rabbits, but they dont seem to cater for rabbits much (well mine does'nt)[/quote]

Totti was from Focus Do-it-All :oops: I fell in love with him when I went in for fish food and he was all on his lonesome. I asked if he was for sale as he was seperate from all the other buns and they said yes but they thought he was blind. did I want to hold him? Of course and that was it - me smitten. He was sold at a discount as "damaged goods" and I now feel as if I rescued him.

Re buying a wider variety of stuff from P@H, I think bunns needs are very simple. Top quality hay and straw (which is better and cheaper from the farm); veggies - again good quality from the farmers market or supermarkets; wood shavings (if you use it) from a garden centre with a pet section and likewise with the pellets. I really can't think of anything that you need to go to P@H for. Toys? Maybe a one off purchase and easy on the internet. So, what do P@H provide that cannot be easily sourced from elsewhere?

[Denny]

Re buying a wider variety of stuff from P@H, I think bunns needs are very simple. Top quality hay and straw (which is better and cheaper from the farm); veggies - again good quality from the farmers market or supermarkets; wood shavings (if you use it) from a garden centre with a pet section and likewise with the pellets. I really can't think of anything that you need to go to P@H for. Toys? Maybe a one off purchase and easy on the internet. So, what do P@H provide that cannot be easily sourced from elsewhere?

At the time of having my bun Jill, no where around here sold Burgess for dwarf rabbits which he loved, even a mineral stick was hard to get. Even now, the closest garden centre to me have not long been selling burgess and ss, meaedow hay and timmy hay. Unfortunately, it is the same garden centre who I had a row with regarding selling bunnies. They did'nt look pleased when I walked in to get hay for Pams 2 boys.

I go to p@h for cat food and dog biscuits + food for my mom. She has a yorkie and has special diet to avoid sticky bottom problems that can occur with this type of dog. Also, late last year when my cat was diagnosed with renal failure, the vets renal foods where very limiting and I did research on what ingredients he could and could not have. p@h are the only ones with a large variety of suitable foods. I now buy certain foods for my remaining cat as he has only a few teeth left and am trying to avoid whiskers because of the high sugar content to try and avoid any renal problems occuring. Also, my local asda, tesco's etc all seem to be changing to chunky foods which my cat struggles with and I am finding it increasingly hard to find supermeat cat food.

Also, the big chain stores and local petshops only sell the nasty bunny brunch, I dont know any local small petshops that sell burgess or any decent rabbit pellets, where I live.

P@H is a good 20/25 min drive for me and even the garden centre is 15 mins away from me so I dont go lightly as I do find it distressing to see the animals.

So as much as I agree with not giving them the trade, until local smaller petshops start stocking good quality stuff, I have to put a pets health first.

P@H would still make a good profit on products alone without selling any kind of animal, and this is what I think they need educating in.

Internet is a good source as you say, but to some, postage can be heafty at times, especially if bulk buying or have more than 1 pet.

I was in Lichfield last week and popped into the petshop that I reported to the RSPCA. The gpigs are now seperate from the bunnies but it was still heart wrenching to see these baby bunnies in what I would class as a hamster cage, so the RSPCA have obviously educated them in not keeping buns with gpigs, but there is no law on what size cages rabbits etc should be in, except for birds that is (thats what the rspca told me)

I missed out me smilies, cant be bothered to go through this essay :lol: so I'll put them all here :D :( :roll: :oops: :cry: :( :D :shock: :shock: :? :? :( :( :oops: :oops: :roll: :cry:

[Caz]

Report them to their local council Environmental Health department (the one that deals with the pet shop licencing) - my council has strict guidlines on cage sizes and numbers of animals per cage:

http://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/_assets/cs/eht_023_-_pet_shop_conditions.doc

It is possible they haven't been inspected recently. Take some photos if you can sneakily and send them to the EH officer in charge of Pet shop licencing. In my area insepctions are once/twice a year but if a complaint is made they should be inspected immediately - warning though they may be informed when the inspection will take place!!

The RSPCA will be no threat to them but the possibility of having their licence taken away so they couldn't trade would be!!

Caz

[Tamsin]

I'm going to sort the petshop packs out at the beginning of Jan, the box of bits was under the boxes of Christmas goodies so I've now uncovered it again :D

Tam

[Maaike_Butter]

Petshop packs, Tamsin? What're those?

[Tamsin]

I'm organising (slowly) some information that volunteers have offered to take in to their local petshops. Things like leaflets, posters and some guidelines on selling bunnies.

Tam

[Maaike_Butter]

Cool!

[The Fonz]

Val, that's awful! :( You would think a massive business enterprise such as P@H would make sure its animals are all well taken care of! It's not as if they can't afford to! My parents got my Fonzie from P@H, and she's been perfect (apart from the episode we had in May!) and I, too, didn't realise how many rabbit rescues there were until after I got her. I had done tonnes of research on looking after a house bunny, and then needed extra help from great forums like this one which is where I found out about all the rabbit rescues. If we do ever get a friend for Fonzie (which seems highly unlikely since she's a little madam! :lol:), we'll certainly be looking at the rescues and sanctuaries! Our P@H is relatively small, so it doesn't have its own vet, but I'll be sure to have a good look at the animals next time I go in there! Is the P@H hay and sawdust okay to buy then? I've never had any problems with it, but this post has made me think...

Take care & Blessed Be

[luvabun]

Denny -point taken about the variety :oops: what was the arguement you had with the garden centre? You prabably posted it on here but I've forgotten..... you could always go in disguise :wink: are you going to take Cazs' advice? Keep us informed if you do.

The Fonz - my 2 fussy hay eaters wouldn't touch P@H hay with a barge pole. Having now got a couple of bales of the organic hay that Caz put me onto and also fresh straw from a farm, courtesy of Amber, both me and the bunns notice the huge dfference in quality. Trouble is, I've got so much hay now, I've had to turn the downstairs loo into a grain store :oops:

[emilou]

I definately think there is no ecxuse for selling rabbits in pet shops/garden centres when there are sooo many buns in rescues looking for homes. I have to say I went into the cambridge p@h and saw a bunny village filled with unneutured males fighting, i legged it to a staff member who told me they already had separated one bun and that they were monitering the rest. It was so silly because I expect most of the buns had been there a while and it was only natural that they'd fight being so many and all being intact so why????dont they only sell neutered older buns, I know its all about the money but its hard to have any hope :(
rant over now it really annoyed me

[Denny]

Report them to their local council Environmental Health department (the one that deals with the pet shop licencing) - my council has strict guidlines on cage sizes and numbers of animals per cage:

http://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/_assets/cs/eht_023_-_pet_shop_conditions.doc

It is possible they haven't been inspected recently. Take some photos if you can sneakily and send them to the EH officer in charge of Pet shop licencing. In my area insepctions are once/twice a year but if a complaint is made they should be inspected immediately - warning though they may be informed when the inspection will take place!!

The RSPCA will be no threat to them but the possibility of having their licence taken away so they couldn't trade would be!!

Caz

Thanks Caz, I will look them up. Might struggle with photos as I am a bit old fashioned and have a camera with one of those twenty foot zoom lens, :roll: very noisey :lol: will see if one of my kids will part with their mobile but will need a week of learning how to use it :roll:

[Denny]

Denny -point taken about the variety :oops: what was the arguement you had with the garden centre? You prabably posted it on here but I've forgotten..... you could always go in disguise :wink: are you going to take Cazs' advice? Keep us informed if you do.

Sorry Jill, I know my writting sounds a bit harsh sometimes, its not meant to be, it just that i am a touch typist so find words that are not in the english dictionary a bit hard to type :lol: infact, i have been having lessons from oldest daughter on oohs and arrrhhs etc :lol: :lol:

Anyway, the garden centre. They sell bunnies and I was in there having a look, as you do. I was with my mother and sister at the time and my sister was asking questions to the young assistant and I disagreed with everything the assistant was saying. the assistant got really stroppy with me :shock: She said that, you cannot keep two buns together especially the same sex :shock: Of course I disagreed with this and explained about neutering/speying, she disagreed with me :shock: my sister was trying to cool the situation between us by which time the I think mangeress came over (obviously wanting to know what the rumpous was about :oops: )

While trying to explain how wrong the assistant was on rabbit keeping, the assistant change her tune and basically denied what she has said :shock:

to cut along story short, Tamsin is so right about educating people, vets and pet shops.

I went back to the garden centre with my sister again and got chatting with the 'i think manageress' who was telling me about all the breeders in the area and assumed that i was interested in getting a bunny. When i told her i would be getting a bunny from a rescue centre when i decide to get one, and how many petshop buns were dumped in rescues, well, the look on her face said it all. My sister dragged me out before another row erupted.

They kind of ignore me in there now, certainly no smiling sales assistants when i walk in anyway :roll: but do I care - do I heck :lol:

[luvabun]

No offence taken Obi-Wan Denny and its really quite frustrating that a lot of small pet shops/ garden centres are as ignorant as P@H when it comes to bunny care so how do you decide to give one your business and boycott another. Very difficult methinks.

[taylor v 109]

sorry this has taken so long but ive been without a computer over xmas but now have an all singing all dancing one that does everthing but make the tea. Anyway whot i was going to say was as an idea for people that do not want to use pets at home would be ,if you could muster 2 or 3 people that are close to eachother you could ask a pet shop to order in the food you want. If there is a couple of you buying it they may think it wise to get it in stock. The other way would be if you live near a wholesalers you could buy from them. Im lucky that i live near a livery yard[horses] and they also have a shop that you can buy bales of hay and straw cheap as well as wood chips and any animal feed you can think of. Its so much cheaper to buy this way i know it would be a bit hard for most of you because of space but if you have a shed or loft its worth buying the hay by the bail for £3.50 and splitting it up in black bags and storing it somewere.If you perhaps had a friend close buy who had a rabbit you could go halves on the big 20k bags of food. Because of were i can get my supplies i can keep 80 rabbits for about£25 per week, i get mine delivered as well but i have to order it monthly luckely ive an empty aivery that is now a store for my supplies, do have to put poison down though to avoid little visitors, although i think i mentioned somewere else that the rabbit food i use happens to be poisonious to rats and mice so they are not attracted to it.I would ask any of you that visit any pet retailers to always take a look at there stock and DO complain if you feel there is anything wrong. It needs more people to complain and keep on complaining to make them think about whot they are doing. I intend now to pay monthly visits to my p@h to keep an eye on there rabbits. val

[bluebunny]

I get all my supplies (except the food ) from a local fam shop it works out a lot cheaper plus my rabbits wont touch petshop hay.

[luvabun]

Some good points made by Val.
1. to club together if in the same area. As an example, I bought a 20kg sack of Allen and Page pellets for around £6 from a horse feed wholesalers. There's no way mine can get through that amount before the sell buy date so pooling is a good option there.
2. keep an eye on the shops and speak out. Erm, I did just that yesterday... :oops: I noticed one absolutely stunning bunny all on his lonesome in an outdoor hutch at the garden centre, with not a single strand of hay!!! Grrr :evil: I went in all guns blazing and it didn't even register that they were armed with brushes, mops, disinfectant etc. The reply, "he's only there while we clean the indoor run out" :oops: :oops: :oops: