PETCO scandal

J

josh0302

New member
:angryfire: Petco, where the healthy pets go, ha!:angryfire: My petco infuriates me! I saw a baby bicolor dwarf angelfish ( with itch ) being pecked alive ( barely alive ) by a full grown Undulate trigger who were put in the same tank. Half of the flesh on the abdomen was gone:(! I don't blame the triggerfish I blame the employees who put them in the same tank. And when I complained about it the employee just said its the,"quarantine tank", and the were fine. Seriously! That fish is going to die a painful death and the trigger is going to get sick because of their negligence:headwally:.
 
While its not pretty to see,sometimes theres nothing the employees can do about it. Especially if he was already in a QT.
 
When I worked at Petco as the fish specialist, I got in trouble so many times for keeping fish together that belonged together. They have a piece of paper that lays out exactly which fish goes in each tank as decided by corporate. The employee can put them wherever they want when they come in, but they will get fired if they get caught too many times. My point is, if corporate says all fish go in that tank for qt then that's where they go. It sucks, but that's why I dont work there anymore
 
that's fine but I mean would you get in trouble as an employee for putting eggcrate to separate the fish like in josh's stores case?
 
josh0302 said:
:angryfire: Petco, where the healthy pets go, ha!:angryfire: My petco infuriates me! I saw a baby bicolor dwarf angelfish ( with itch ) being pecked alive ( barely alive ) by a full grown Undulate trigger who were put in the same tank. Half of the flesh on the abdomen was gone:(! I don't blame the triggerfish I blame the employees who put them in the same tank. And when I complained about it the employee just said its the,"quarantine tank", and the were fine. Seriously! That fish is going to die a painful death and the trigger is going to get sick because of their negligence:headwally:.
Click to expand...

Your problem was going in there to begin with. Support your LFS.
 
If it were dogs that were killing each other in a store and they did nothing about it, they would be in some serious trouble. Why are exotic fish any different!?!? BTW, I agree, support your LFS!
 
tigerjace said:
If anyone shop at petco for live fish, that just tells you how much you know about fish!
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That's kind of an ignorant statement. There's no need to bash other hobbyist for where they shop. Yes some Petco locations are way under par, but theres some that are better than some LFS that are out there..

Their fish come from the same exact vendor if not better vendors that your local fish store. Quality Marine, ORA, Sustainable Aquatics, A&M Aquatics all of which are excellent vendors.. What happens to the fish once they arrive is at the mercy of the specific Petco that you are local to.. Just cause your Petco sucks does not mean that mine does...

I have purchased 3 seahorses from Petco.. Why? Because they are from ORA and were all eating frozen Mysis.. Guess how many I lost... NONE. Because I know what I'm doing as I'm experienced enough on how to recognize a healthy fish no matter where they come from.

And any good reefer is going to quarantine their fish regardless

I don't disagree that there are many subpar Petco locations out there, but there is no reason to bash another hobbyist because you are inexperienced to be able to recognize a healthy fish at a reasonable price.
 
Honestly the petco here has about the same level of fish and corals as our two lfs. None of them are great, but this particular petco has consistently better livestock than the one lfs, and is about the same as the other with the lfs having an edge on coral variety but the petco beating them on inverts. Like I said none of them are really great, but until Des Moines gets better stores petco is a viable choice.
 
meredith1985 said:
When I worked at Petco as the fish specialist, I got in trouble so many times for keeping fish together that belonged together. They have a piece of paper that lays out exactly which fish goes in each tank as decided by corporate. The employee can put them wherever they want when they come in, but they will get fired if they get caught too many times. My point is, if corporate says all fish go in that tank for qt then that's where they go. It sucks, but that's why I dont work there anymore
Click to expand...

I've spoken with enough Petco employees to know this is 100% true. The problem is primarily with the corporate stooges and their inflexible policies. The employees' hands are tied (even if they know what they're doing).

Bainreese said:
Your problem was going in there to begin with. Support your LFS.
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For many, Petco is their only LFS option. Or as mentioned above, some Petcos are no better or worse than any LFS in the area. Plus, I've gotten some really good deals from Petco. ;) It helps to just prophylactically medicate any fish you buy from them.
 
tigerjace said:
If anyone shop at petco for live fish, that just tells you how much you know about fish!
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I've been to Petco stores that have employees that are also in the hobby who are knowledgeable.

I've also been to LFS that gave me completely bad advice and sold me stuff that got me in trouble.

It depends on the person and the establishment. Don't go bashing other hoobyists because of where they shop.
 
oseymour said:
I've been to Petco stores that have employees that are also in the hobby who are knowledgeable.

I've also been to LFS that gave me completely bad advice and sold me stuff that got me in trouble.

It depends on the person and the establishment. Don't go bashing other hobbyists because of where they shop.
Click to expand...

+1...you got that right!
 
meredith1985 said:
When I worked at Petco as the fish specialist, I got in trouble so many times for keeping fish together that belonged together. They have a piece of paper that lays out exactly which fish goes in each tank as decided by corporate. The employee can put them wherever they want when they come in, but they will get fired if they get caught too many times. My point is, if corporate says all fish go in that tank for qt then that's where they go. It sucks, but that's why I dont work there anymore
Click to expand...

This is not 100% true. I have also worked for Petco and our department was given the ability to move certain species of fish around. It sounds like you may have had either a stubborn GM or regional manager who did not allow you to use your better judgment.. The store / management team that I worked for allowed our store to use our best judgment to properly house our aquatics life.. especially when it came to marine life.

Yes they do have "planograms" which indicate where Petco wants the species to go, but depending on your manager (which is where the issue lies) you may or may not be allowed to alter the location of each species..

Again, I think the issue depends on the individual Petcos as they all seem to vary from area to area.
 
Five years ago, Peta led a 7 month raid against Texas based exotic pet wholesaler, US Global Exotics (USGE). They found that this wholesaler was losing, on average, 3,500 animals per week, due to overcrowded, unsanitary conditions and lack of feeding. Of 24,000 animals kept there, over 80% were dying, with no chance of survival. The raid actually went down as one of the largest in U.S. history. Biologists were brought in, and were able to determine that USGE was responsible for the spread of animal-borne pathogens to homes, zoos, and pet stores.

http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1002-wilson-usge-animal-loss.html

When they began looking into who bought animals from USE, Petco was at the top of the list. Now, this doesn't pertain directly to reef aquariums, but it does reflect on where Petco gets their animals. USE was known to undercut other wholesalers, and kept far more animals then they could realistically care for. Many Petco's operate like small USE's, packing animals (reptiles, fish, etc) into overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, and allowing people with no credentials to sell them to an ignorant public. Why do they do this, money. USE's are far cheaper to buy from then wholesalers who care properly for their animals, and they don't ask any questions about how the animal will be cared for on the retail side of things.

Petco didn't get to where it is today, by selling a few well cared for fish here and there, by employees educated in reef aquariums, which were paid a wage based on their knowledge. Petco got their mounds of millions, by working with places like USGE, and using minimum wage employees, with little to no knowledge about reef aquariums, to sell livestock to anyone.
 
aqua_man7010 said:
USE's are far cheaper to buy from then wholesalers who care properly for their animals, and they don't ask any questions about how the animal will be cared for on the retail side of things.
Click to expand...

No livestock wholesaler is going to ask their customer how they take care of the animals on the retail side of things.
 
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