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Stressed. P@H letter back.Updated.

rabswood

rabswood

Wise Old Thumper
I buy lots of my bunny things from Pets at Home (between £20 and £40 per month) and always feel distresssed when I see the 'Bunny Village' and all those poor buns and pigs sold to just anyone.

However whats stressing me more than ever are the bunnies and piggies mixed together. In the shop I go in the 'Bunny Village' is made up of 2 seperate sections which means that bunnies and piggies don't have to be mixed. Pigs on one side buns on the other BUT NO LETS MIX THESE 2 COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SPECIES TOGETHER AND SELL THEM AS COMPANIONS SO THAT THE POOR PIG CAN BE SAVAGED AND RAPED AND BULLIED BY THE RABBIT ONCE IT GROWS UP.

I have decided I am going to write to my local P at H branch and explain about pigs and buns and suggest they split them, I will also enclose info which I will print off the Rabbit Welfare site and send it with my letter. I am also going to send the same letter to head office. I am also going to write to the RSPCA and enclose info and a copy oletter.

Has anyone else approached P at H re: how they sell their pigs and buns?
I always think you get more achieved if you put things in writing and copy to a head office.

Rabswood
 
Writing to the branch sounds like a sensible idea. Could you also include copies of your receipts and advise them that you are looking at taking your custom elsewhere? You're spending a lot of money there, is there no alternative?
 
my ex took my son to P@H a few weeks ago, and was most embarrassed when my son (who doensn't know the meaning of the word embarrassed) started ranting about the piggies and rabbits living together - He got all the passing staff members and gave them a good telling off, plus every customer that stopped to look got a lecture :lol:

It seems to be common practise for P@H - even though the RSPCA criticise this practise - you'd think that would be enough guidance for a major pet store, and it's not like they sell more hutches pairing them up becauase customers are already buying for a rabbit!

Piggies are rodents, giant rats really, they wouldn't sell rats as companion animals for rabbits would they? It's total stupidity.

Even if the rabbit and piggie are good friends, as can happen, their dietary needs are so different that if one is met, the other animal will suffer health problems - ie the piggie will get sick on rabbit food, and the rabbit will overeat, get fat and flyblown on piggy food - that would be my main argument against it as nobody can come back and say 'well my piggy and rabbit have lived together happily for 5yrs' - which does happen believe it or not!
 
My local P@H have piggies and bunnies together to and there is also two seperate pens so they don't have to be together.

Lynda
 
my local does to i refise now to buyt anything i there, i have mentioned it many a time and just get an aggrogant kid look back at ya with "i dont give a **** look on there faces, like they only work there :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
 
To be honest i do still shop there although i must stop!! however i like to in and check the animals are ok :? I wish they would stop selling them!!!!

The thing i've noticed is everytime i go in there its different staff. Does anyone find the same?
 
Perhaps a tactful letter to the store manager enclosing an RWA leaflet about why Piggies and Bunnies should not be kept together? Maybe you could suggest an alternative 'display' for their Buns/Piggies showing how they SHOULD be housed. All the various toys and hidey-holes designed for Piggies and those designed for Buns. If you worded it all in a 'friendly' way you MIGHT get a way in to EDUCATE the idiots!! Jane and Buns xx
 
one of our local p@h stores last time i went in had rabbits in one area and guineas in another so they could see through the fence but were in separate pens, however the store in the town i live have them together even though they have two pens.

caz
 
I get at LEAST one call a month from people saying that their rabbit has killed or badly injured their piggie.
Very often they say that the animals have been living happily together for years and suddenly the rabbit has 'turned'.
Have also had two calls where the guinea has caused the death of the rabbit.
Sometimes they cause injuries accidently - we all know how hard a rabbit can kick - now imagine you are a guinea, some of your ribs are only as thick as two human hairs - doesn't take a lot to imagine how easily injuries can occur.
I'm sure there are also lots of guineas found dead and it's put down to natural causes without the owners realising that the rabbit has caused the death.
By keeping the two together in the shop it is giving people the impression that it's OK.
 
what annoys me is the instore vets at this place ADVISE ( !!?) people to keep buns and guineas together, and when it comes to money befor morals and professional integrity the staff are no better.
the company hires young people (you dont need to pay them as much) who then recieve little, or more often, no training and yet are expected to give advise to the general public on animal welfare.
in the very short time i worked there (befor leaving in disgust) i had the 'pleasure' to work with a young man who did not know that a budgie and a Budgerigar are in fact the same species. ( :shock: ) and this was somone who the company would on a regular basis recomend to give advise on birds to consumers :(
whats worse is that this was by no means an isolated incident.
 
I have to buy my rats food from there as I dont know anywhere else that sells pellets & I was in there yesterday when the girl(who I think is new) at the till asked how many I had, I replied & she went on to say that if I ever need any advice this was the place to come. I found it SO hard not to laugh in her face! I politely declined (whilst swallowing a snigger) telling her I was very knowledgeable about rats thank you.
Im sure she is lovely but through having to go to the store for the last 3 years ive had plenty of exposure to their 'advice' to customers & have come to the conclusion that I'd be better off asking a ratcatcher!!! :lol:
 
leanne said:
I have to buy my rats food from there as I dont know anywhere else that sells pellets & I was in there yesterday when the girl(who I think is new) at the till asked how many I had, I replied & she went on to say that if I ever need any advice this was the place to come. I found it SO hard not to laugh in her face! I politely declined (whilst swallowing a snigger) telling her I was very knowledgeable about rats thank you.
Im sure she is lovely but through having to go to the store for the last 3 years ive had plenty of exposure to their 'advice' to customers & have come to the conclusion that I'd be better off asking a ratcatcher!!! :lol:
Click to expand...

There is someone called Lesley who works there (the manager I beleive) and she is very rat knowledgably. She goes on http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/community so she knows what she is talking about, I agree most p@h stores are crappy when it comes to advice about any pet (I also wish they would keep rabbits and guinea pigs seperate, but one side is for males and the other is for females and it's still a 'common practise' to keep the two together :evil: even my manager has kept rabbits and guinea pigs together for years and (in his own words) has had no problems. :( )

But next time you go in there have a chat with her you may be pleasently surprised :D She makes sure the rats are handled too.
 
I think it's all about space and cost rather than ignorance, to be honest, because they don't sell them together (or at least I heard staff say "I wouldn't advise it"). To separate pigs and rabbits you'd need 4 pens, for both species of each sex. Mixing them, you only need two. At the Stockport P@H, they have 3 pens and by far enough room to have another and separate them all completely. :evil:
 
If you all feel that strongly about it have you all thought about tellign watchdog about it. as remember the more ppl tell them the better the chance they will look into it
 
The two pens are so they can split male/female. I went to a different pets at home at the weekend, & 2 of the guinea pigs were fighting quite seriously. One had a torn ear & a cut behind it & was being bullied by a massive gp. I mentioned it to one of the staff members & they said it was an old cut & that was the end of the conversation. The bunny in the same enclosure also has a cut on his ear. I've never seen anything bad in my 3 local P@Hs though.
 
bunnylove said:
my local does to i refise now to buyt anything i there, i have mentioned it many a time and just get an aggrogant kid look back at ya with "i dont give a **** look on there faces, like they only work there :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
Click to expand...

I was going to ask to speak to the Manager and then thought I might get further if I put it in writing and sent a letter to head ofice. They at least have to send you a reply in writing if you do that.

I am going to ask my colleague who has just had to split a piggy and bun if she will write independantly and complain.

Rabswood
 
Bunnybasics said:
If you all feel that strongly about it have you all thought about tellign watchdog about it. as remember the more ppl tell them the better the chance they will look into it
Click to expand...

I think if everyone on the forum started writing to their local branch and sent a copy to head office I think it might have an impact (strength in numbers).

Like Jane and Buns said, it can be polite and just state that you are concerned that pigs and rabs are being sold together, different species etc, not good practice, people don't supervise their animals 24/7, your average pig/rab owner probably sees them for 10 minutes twice a day at feeding time, how do they know if they are/are not getting on.

Rabswood

PS will post my responce when I get one. If I dont' get one, will write again and again, and again...
 
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