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What's going on with Pets at Home?

C

cloverandchip

New Kit
I stopped off at P@H today to pick up some more pellets and noticed they are no longer selling rabbits at that specific store. Has anyone else noticed this? They had two pairs up for adoption in the 'rehoming' section but had signs up saying 'this store no longer sells rabbits' and directing you to the nearest P@H that still does. Is this P@H finally taking on board what rescues have been saying for years or am I being too hopeful?! I also noticed the shelves in the small animal section were very empty :?
 
In my opinion I don't see it being likely they've stopped due to rescues advocating proper rabbit care etc, more likely as costs are going up etc getting rabbits in is too pricey compared to what people want to pay for them or there's been little demand maybe?? I think most people go breeder ( :( ) or rescue these days. But that is interesting
 
An insider tells me it is a branch by branch decision, not one made by HO and not something that is to become Company Policy as far as they are aware.
 
I have also noticed it. My local branch at Colne has the same message re not selling rabbits and directing to Keighley and ?Blackburn. Keighley only has 3or 4 stock rabbits and a higher number of adoption rabbits. Same in Harrogate, rarely more than about 6 stock rabbits. Interestingly, they also had the same adoption rabbits for weeks on end.
 
Bunny Buddy said:
I have also noticed it. My local branch at Colne has the same message re not selling rabbits and directing to Keighley and ?Blackburn. Keighley only has 3or 4 stock rabbits and a higher number of adoption rabbits. Same in Harrogate, rarely more than about 6 stock rabbits. Interestingly, they also had the same adoption rabbits for weeks on end.
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And the Adoption Rabbits are usually unsold ‘stock’.

It would be brilliant if they did finally stop selling Rabbits and all other animals. As has always been said, the thing that will make that happen is when there is no-one buying them. They stopped selling Birds when the first outbreak of Avian Flu occurred in the U.K. years ago. People just didn’t want Pet Birds.They never started selling birds again.

They will have to consider not selling fish too as the cost of running all the water filtration systems etc will be a big hit on their profit margins too these days.
 
InspectorMorse said:
And the Adoption Rabbits are usually unsold ‘stock’.

.
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That hasn't been my experience. The rabbits that I have seen recently are older (adult) rabbits. There was a rabbit at Keighley last week who found himself there as he had bitten a two year old child :cry: he was an adult and a pure bred mini lop so not one of their mixed breed stock. This is fairly typical of the rabbits I see in there. I adopted Dinky from there aged 5 and spayed, Lolly aged 8 months and spayed, Inky, 2 years and castrated.
 
Bunny Buddy said:
That hasn't been my experience. The rabbits that I have seen recently are older (adult) rabbits. There was a rabbit at Keighley last week who found himself there as he had bitten a two year old child :cry: he was an adult and a pure bred mini lop so not one of their mixed breed stock. This is fairly typical of the rabbits I see in there. I adopted Dinky from there aged 5 and spayed, Lolly aged 8 months and spayed, Inky, 2 years and castrated.
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I know someone who works in a Branch local to me and she said she moves ‘old stock’ out to the Adoption Centre when they have been up for sale for 4 months. If they haven’t got space in the Adoption Centre at her branch she has to get them moved to one at another Branch.
 
InspectorMorse said:
I know someone who works in a Branch local to me and she said she moves ‘old stock’ out to the Adoption Centre when they have been up for sale for 4 months. If they haven’t got space in the Adoption Centre at her branch she has to get them moved to one at another Branch.
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One thing I have observed re old stock in the adoption centre (I am cheeky enough to ask when the notice says "special care needs"), a lot of the young rabbits that I have seen that are from stock have been treated for respiratory infections then not put on the shop floor but into adoption. I wonder if anybody actually keeps statistics on this as there seems to be a lot of instances of it .. and it doesn't bode well for the conditions the rabbits are bred in.
 
P@H do use their adoption section for unsold stock, for sure. There are also rabbits handed in by the public too.
 
Bunny Buddy said:
One thing I have observed re old stock in the adoption centre (I am cheeky enough to ask when the notice says "special care needs"), a lot of the young rabbits that I have seen that are from stock have been treated for respiratory infections then not put on the shop floor but into adoption. I wonder if anybody actually keeps statistics on this as there seems to be a lot of instances of it .. and it doesn't bode well for the conditions the rabbits are bred in.
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I think most Rabbits who come from P@H go on to develop RTIs. Probably due to the fact they come from a large ‘Pet Rabbit Breeding Farm’, then subjected to the stress of being transported from Breeder to store at just 8 weeks of age. Then they spend god knows how long in the For Sale enclosures on the shop floor, with wood shaving beddings. Having kids hang over the enclosure sides, dogs jumping up at the enclosures,etc…..etc.

My last encounter with P@H was with the PetShop Five. A Doe who gave birth in store, then died 3 weeks later. Her orphaned kits were housed in one of those awful cabinets on the shop floor aged just 3 weeks themselves. That experience and then the ‘VIP Special Rabbits’ fiasco http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...-*worse-than-ever!*&highlight=Special+rabbits made me vow to never have anything to do with the company again.
 
I used to work in a vets inside p@h, we'd see rabbits all the time with respiratory problems and guinea pigs with ringworm. The staff didn't keep any kind of record. The animals being treated would stay in the back then be too old/big to go back onto the shop floor so go into adoption. Same with old stock, often the notice would say something like all my friends have found homes and I haven't. They do take pets from other circumstances too as mentioned. Jake came from p@h adoption, he was bought in-store as a baby with another male, both un-neutered, then they had a fight where Jake tore the penis and testicles from the other rabbit leaving him needing surgery. The owners kept the other male and returned Jake, the staff kept him un-neutered (but he did come with a neutering/vaccs voucher) and his sign said he needed to be an only rabbit and no children as had an aggressive past. My partner was the one that fell for him and we kept being told are we sure we want that one and he must be kept away from other rabbits. :roll:

ETA: he has respiratory issues and always had them!
 
Liz47 said:
I used to work in a vets inside p@h, we'd see rabbits all the time with respiratory problems and guinea pigs with ringworm. The staff didn't keep any kind of record. The animals being treated would stay in the back then be too old/big to go back onto the shop floor so go into adoption. Same with old stock, often the notice would say something like all my friends have found homes and I haven't. They do take pets from other circumstances too as mentioned. Jake came from p@h adoption, he was bought in-store as a baby with another male, both un-neutered, then they had a fight where Jake tore the penis and testicles from the other rabbit leaving him needing surgery. The owners kept the other male and returned Jake, the staff kept him un-neutered (but he did come with a neutering/vaccs voucher) and his sign said he needed to be an only rabbit and no children as had an aggressive past. My partner was the one that fell for him and we kept being told are we sure we want that one and he must be kept away from other rabbits. :roll:

ETA: he has respiratory issues and always had them!
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The ‘must be kept as an only Rabbit’ is something I have heard a lot regarding Adoption Section Rabbits. But as with Jake, their previous ‘ aggression’ is always because they are un- neutered and were housed with another un- neutered Rabbit.
 
Ours is hit&miss. Sometimes there's rabbits (and GPs) for sale, sometimes not. The adoption section is empty. Plenty of larger hamsters and rats for sale though. The keep not having the litter pellets I use though! Might just order online for instore pickup (if that's a thing) or go somewhere else cheaper (it's the only thing I buy there other than a bag of food every 2yrs or so, and occasional toys with vouchers).
 
keletkezes said:
Ours is hit&miss. Sometimes there's rabbits (and GPs) for sale, sometimes not. The adoption section is empty. Plenty of larger hamsters and rats for sale though. The keep not having the litter pellets I use though! Might just order online for instore pickup (if that's a thing) or go somewhere else cheaper (it's the only thing I buy there other than a bag of food every 2yrs or so, and occasional toys with vouchers).
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You are so disciplined with your nugget feeding !
 
Our local one still has rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils and fish. Used to have chinchillas. Current rabbits are white and grey and harlequin lop × lionhead.
 
for those who now just sell in adoption section, are these rabbits still in the glass fronted mini tanks or the bigger enclosures the straight from breeder young buns used to live?
 
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