Petco Inhumanity
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ERICinFL
Rejisturd Mimbur
I think if enough people wrote letters, change might happen... slowly, but it might (and that's a big might). Strong work on the letter backlash, I'm in the process of composing my own. 
I try to detour my friends from shopping at the local "KillCo" because of their treatment of both fish and reptiles. It's sad that big business doesn't take an interest in actually caring for their livestock.
I try to detour my friends from shopping at the local "KillCo" because of their treatment of both fish and reptiles. It's sad that big business doesn't take an interest in actually caring for their livestock.
Ploppers
Premium Member
I agree PETA is a complete joke. I went to the Vans Warped Tour and PETA had a little booth set up. They were giving some propaganda filled DVDs to any kid that would sign some petition. They weren't even telling the kids what they were signing it for. It was just "sign here and get your FREE DVD." That's one way to make it look like people are on PETA's side.
I thought it was kinda funny they were there seeing that Vans was the main sponser. Vans maker of LEATHER shoes. :rollface:rocketman2005
In Memoriam
i agree with Sundance1 never go in the store and try to stop everyone buying saltwater from going in there also, they can't loose money forever before they'll quit
Pandora
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6521630#post6521630 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MAreefer1
"rescuing" the fish does not help at all...its just making space for them to cram a few more pruple tangs or clown fish into a puney 10 gallon
Not only space, but you are also contributing to their bottom dollar... and $$$ profits are all these companies will really listen to. I cynically do believe that companies and stores such as these will never go out of business. There will always be uneducated impulse buying consumers who come in looking for Nemo or something to match their curtains. But anyone who's devoted enough to stick with it and start to learn even a little bit about this hobby wouldn't go back to stores like that. Sadly, we're not a very large part of the population, there are a LOT more impulse buyers out there.
That being said, I personally don't go to Petco anymore, even for their dried goods or cat supplies, mostly because I find the other sections disturbing.
Travis L. Stevens
New member
People were mentioning PETA..Forget PETA...they won't do anything for the responsible hobbyist except destroy the hobby. Try contacting the ASPCA and the Better Business Bureau. Sure it's not much of a complaint to them because they do offer you everything (responsibly or not) and give it to you, but their quality of stock is sub par and in need of a new business outlook.
tkeracer619
New member
The petco in my area isn't nearly as bad as the experiances you have stated. I have yet to see a dead or sick marine fish. They dont really overstock the small tanks compared to what i have seen in the local petsmart. Some people here feal the same way about the local petco as the rest but im not biased.
Every creature should have a chance to live and regardless of not buying the fish because they buy 3 more, they are going to buy 3 more anyways. If 3 die 3 die, if one sells then they made a few bucks and you saved a life. This is how corporations generally operate and it sucks but its reality. Send letters of concern they help.
That said I am new to the hobby and am starting my first marine tank, i'm picky so most of my fish will come from a lfs but if I come accross a 40 dollar fish for 5 bucks and there not sick i'm probably going to get one or two.
No reason to flame just an opinion
Every creature should have a chance to live and regardless of not buying the fish because they buy 3 more, they are going to buy 3 more anyways. If 3 die 3 die, if one sells then they made a few bucks and you saved a life. This is how corporations generally operate and it sucks but its reality. Send letters of concern they help.
That said I am new to the hobby and am starting my first marine tank, i'm picky so most of my fish will come from a lfs but if I come accross a 40 dollar fish for 5 bucks and there not sick i'm probably going to get one or two.
No reason to flame just an opinion
I have to agree about Petco. I also wrote (emailed) them some time ago when I first got into the saltwater hobby. They got a new store manager and all but 2 people quit. I wrote them that they were going to lose their customers if it continued. Well, I'm happy to say they moved that manager. But I'm sad to say the guy HE hired is the new manager.
I guess the up side of all of this is they no longer even have their salt water tanks! And the fresh water fish are always sick, about 17 out of 20+ tanks are always quarantined. Guess where people are going for fresh water fish now....Wal Mart! Boy, things just keep getting better. Actually the Wal Mart tanks "look" good but the prices are sure high for them.
All of this has been really good for the one LFS in town. They are getting most all of the business.
I guess the up side of all of this is they no longer even have their salt water tanks! And the fresh water fish are always sick, about 17 out of 20+ tanks are always quarantined. Guess where people are going for fresh water fish now....Wal Mart! Boy, things just keep getting better. Actually the Wal Mart tanks "look" good but the prices are sure high for them.
All of this has been really good for the one LFS in town. They are getting most all of the business.
speckled trout
New member
Don't contact "peta". They are completely against pet "ownership". They do not believe that anyone should be in the possession of any type of animal or living organism. It's against their doctrine. That's why I get a kick out of it whenever a "celebrity" acknowledges "peta" and how much they love the organization. What a joke!
SerranidTerror
New member
I guess I'll jump in here because I'm a manager for a Petco (hopefully for not too much longer) One thing I have to say is training for the "aquatics" department is terrible. I read through the handbooks, which there are 6. Only one has actual useful information- the others focus on customer relations and so forth.
My saltwater department is definitely not perfect but I like to think of it as better than most petcos. I spend a lot of time back there with my fish- especially since I have kept some for a month or two before they find a home. But if I didnt work there I really don't know what would happen there. I stress and stress the importance of all the work THAT MUST be done back there on a weekly basis. I even lead a night crew weekly to put out the bulk of the stock in hopes that they will focus on animal care.
In my store the problem lies in the fact that all the girls like the cute fuzzy animals and they stick to taking care of them. The guys are forced to mainly work stock or similar work, which leaves me alone in the department. After months of complaining they hired me a pupil that would hopefully help in bettering the lives of the fish. He's moving along great but unless I am the manager on duty he is forced to do other work despite him telling whoever is on duty that I left him maintenance tasks.
And I too think my company does not care for fish. Here's what I don't understand. If my, say, district manager pays me a visit. She will go around and inspect all the departments and grade our animal care. If she walks to the reptiles department and the leopard geckos have no meal worms I lose points (despite that those worms crawl out of the dish or the geckos will eat loads of those on a daily basis anyway.) But if she walks by a saltwater tank and I have a tank with some skinny tangs in them shes not going to take points away for that and them having no Nori seaweed available, no shes going to say oh my gosh you have salt creep on the corners of the tank. Its just not fair.
I try my best to do what I can for my fish. I only work so much per week and most of my time is spent explaining to people why you can't keep 10 goldfish in a bowl or calming down customers who are ****ed because all 20 fish in their 10 gallon tank died. I'm not defending my company by any means...as I agree they "want" top notch animal care while constantly cutting our hours all the time demanding better customer care as well and focusing on how much money we make. The only thing they give me to feed for the fish is crappy wardley flakes. I've ordered some other frozen foods for them but they never come in so I just pull what little frozen food we have off the shelf and use that.
As far as complaints they do get heard. I do see the complaints pop up in my e-mail at the store. The problem can sometimes lie in that the management may just not care, which seems to happen a lot at the "Killco" (I prefer where the pets go...to die) thats a few miles from us. So that may be one problem you may run into.
Theres a few other problems as well. Sometimes corporate will tack on extra fish onto your order which ****es me the hell off. Actually I would say a good bulk of my saltwaer deaths occur from these "extra" fish because they send waaaay too many or they are fish that I just can't take care of...or some that they get "price breaks" on but the fish come shipped in so terrible there's really nothing I could do for them except maybe put them in a nice Tricaine Methanesulfonate bath to put them out of their miseary. I've told my regional manager a couple times to back off with these orders as I know what I'm doing. I told him not only am I familiar with the fish and have a BS in marine bio, but I'm very in touch with my customers and I know what sells even down to what fish we are dirt cheap on and undercut our competitors on.
I wouldn't mind discussing/complaining with you guys some more if you want me to. And for those of you wondering why I still work there...it's a long story and I'm hoping some of my interviews work out
My saltwater department is definitely not perfect but I like to think of it as better than most petcos. I spend a lot of time back there with my fish- especially since I have kept some for a month or two before they find a home. But if I didnt work there I really don't know what would happen there. I stress and stress the importance of all the work THAT MUST be done back there on a weekly basis. I even lead a night crew weekly to put out the bulk of the stock in hopes that they will focus on animal care.
In my store the problem lies in the fact that all the girls like the cute fuzzy animals and they stick to taking care of them. The guys are forced to mainly work stock or similar work, which leaves me alone in the department. After months of complaining they hired me a pupil that would hopefully help in bettering the lives of the fish. He's moving along great but unless I am the manager on duty he is forced to do other work despite him telling whoever is on duty that I left him maintenance tasks.
And I too think my company does not care for fish. Here's what I don't understand. If my, say, district manager pays me a visit. She will go around and inspect all the departments and grade our animal care. If she walks to the reptiles department and the leopard geckos have no meal worms I lose points (despite that those worms crawl out of the dish or the geckos will eat loads of those on a daily basis anyway.) But if she walks by a saltwater tank and I have a tank with some skinny tangs in them shes not going to take points away for that and them having no Nori seaweed available, no shes going to say oh my gosh you have salt creep on the corners of the tank. Its just not fair.
I try my best to do what I can for my fish. I only work so much per week and most of my time is spent explaining to people why you can't keep 10 goldfish in a bowl or calming down customers who are ****ed because all 20 fish in their 10 gallon tank died. I'm not defending my company by any means...as I agree they "want" top notch animal care while constantly cutting our hours all the time demanding better customer care as well and focusing on how much money we make. The only thing they give me to feed for the fish is crappy wardley flakes. I've ordered some other frozen foods for them but they never come in so I just pull what little frozen food we have off the shelf and use that.
As far as complaints they do get heard. I do see the complaints pop up in my e-mail at the store. The problem can sometimes lie in that the management may just not care, which seems to happen a lot at the "Killco" (I prefer where the pets go...to die) thats a few miles from us. So that may be one problem you may run into.
Theres a few other problems as well. Sometimes corporate will tack on extra fish onto your order which ****es me the hell off. Actually I would say a good bulk of my saltwaer deaths occur from these "extra" fish because they send waaaay too many or they are fish that I just can't take care of...or some that they get "price breaks" on but the fish come shipped in so terrible there's really nothing I could do for them except maybe put them in a nice Tricaine Methanesulfonate bath to put them out of their miseary. I've told my regional manager a couple times to back off with these orders as I know what I'm doing. I told him not only am I familiar with the fish and have a BS in marine bio, but I'm very in touch with my customers and I know what sells even down to what fish we are dirt cheap on and undercut our competitors on.
I wouldn't mind discussing/complaining with you guys some more if you want me to. And for those of you wondering why I still work there...it's a long story and I'm hoping some of my interviews work out
This is not the first time PETCO and Petmart has gotten this BS. The reason my petstore can not have dogs is the cost for the dang licencse. They got in trouble for not taken care of dogs and goverment raised dog licensce and now a one man store like me can not have dogs since licensce is so nuts they raised it almost 250 percent and I can not afford it anymore. DOWN WITH CHAIN STORES AND THEIR BS and I thought this before I got my store now I really do
jawaiianmon
Premium Member
petco and petsmart really blow. Thanks for giving them some feedback. My feedback is not going there.
chocolateblnt
New member
Wow I love to read about people who HATE Petco! I went to my local Petco in Sunnyvale recently to purchase my sump tank and of course went by the saltwater section out of curiosity. Horrible things I saw ... I could talk hours about what was wrong ... but it's redundant because they will never acknowledge our knowledge and respect for saltwater animals.
Props to SerranidTerror for the extra effort and care at the Petco you work at... the SW gods will reward you
Props to SerranidTerror for the extra effort and care at the Petco you work at... the SW gods will reward you
