Post by gill on Dec 21, 2008 21:45:28 GMT
I won't mention names but between 1995 and 1997 I worked for a pet shop company who had a number of shops around the north-east. I stood it for two & half years as I was the only one in our shop who DID actually like animals! The manageress actually hated cats and said they all had fleas...stupid girl!
Anyway, what I saw had me ringing the RSPCA on a number of occasions and they would send an inspector out to look around but they never seemed to go into the back shop where the sick animals were kept
Kittens and rabbits were the worst - if any fell ill they would be put out the back and left in a cage with no food, just water, and left to either get better on their own or, more likely, die I would often take them home to nurse them and at one point I had eight kittens of various ages living in my flat ;D Enormous fun they were and so rewarding to see them get better and I would often find them good Forever Homes myself and just not tell the boss
One of the shops in Gateshead was terrible for kittens though - the manageress there was a friend of the owners and had been told to never refuse kittens and at one point had 37(!!!) kittens in the stockroom - all crammed into any available box, dog crate or carrier They would be shipped out to the other shops whenever kittens were needed in those branches Litters would often be mixed and the shop owners preferred them to be between 6 - 8 weeks old as after that they grew too big and weren't as cute They were always riddled with worms and full of fleas (especially from the Gateshead shop) and it was my job to worm and deflea the poor mites when they came into our shop.
Our shop took kittens ''off the owners' hands'' and didn't give them any money and would sell them for around £25 - slightly less if they werre black and as much as £35-£40 if they were white!
One woman continually brought her kittens to us and they were almost always longhaired which, to the shop owners, meant even more £££ Sadly, one day, a lady came in who had been saving up for ages for two kittens and she took two of the longhairs and brought them back a couple of weeks later as they had fell ill. Her vet found them to have Feline Aids (if my memory serves me right - I know it was something untreatable!). Yet the shop owners didn't want to know!!! They said the kittens had been healthy when they left the shop And they STILL kept taking kittens from the woman who'd supplied the ill ones - even after I told them that the queen was probably a carrier and would pass it on to all her kittens
I left soon after that as the job was stressing me out too much and I felt as though I was the only one who cared about the animals' welfare But a year or so later I was VERY pleased to hear that quite a few of that particular company's shops had closed down and the owner had become VERY ill.....what goes around, comes around as I always say I was told I was wicked for not feeling sorry for the owner but as I often told folks, they hadn't seen what that woman had done to innocent animals in the name of money and sheer greed
As far as I am concerned the sooner they ban the sale of all animals in pet shops the better! Even fish, budgies and rabbits!!! So often they are bought on a whim and forced to live an unstimulating boring existence in solitary confinement when the children get bored!
Anyway, what I saw had me ringing the RSPCA on a number of occasions and they would send an inspector out to look around but they never seemed to go into the back shop where the sick animals were kept
Kittens and rabbits were the worst - if any fell ill they would be put out the back and left in a cage with no food, just water, and left to either get better on their own or, more likely, die I would often take them home to nurse them and at one point I had eight kittens of various ages living in my flat ;D Enormous fun they were and so rewarding to see them get better and I would often find them good Forever Homes myself and just not tell the boss
One of the shops in Gateshead was terrible for kittens though - the manageress there was a friend of the owners and had been told to never refuse kittens and at one point had 37(!!!) kittens in the stockroom - all crammed into any available box, dog crate or carrier They would be shipped out to the other shops whenever kittens were needed in those branches Litters would often be mixed and the shop owners preferred them to be between 6 - 8 weeks old as after that they grew too big and weren't as cute They were always riddled with worms and full of fleas (especially from the Gateshead shop) and it was my job to worm and deflea the poor mites when they came into our shop.
Our shop took kittens ''off the owners' hands'' and didn't give them any money and would sell them for around £25 - slightly less if they werre black and as much as £35-£40 if they were white!
One woman continually brought her kittens to us and they were almost always longhaired which, to the shop owners, meant even more £££ Sadly, one day, a lady came in who had been saving up for ages for two kittens and she took two of the longhairs and brought them back a couple of weeks later as they had fell ill. Her vet found them to have Feline Aids (if my memory serves me right - I know it was something untreatable!). Yet the shop owners didn't want to know!!! They said the kittens had been healthy when they left the shop And they STILL kept taking kittens from the woman who'd supplied the ill ones - even after I told them that the queen was probably a carrier and would pass it on to all her kittens
I left soon after that as the job was stressing me out too much and I felt as though I was the only one who cared about the animals' welfare But a year or so later I was VERY pleased to hear that quite a few of that particular company's shops had closed down and the owner had become VERY ill.....what goes around, comes around as I always say I was told I was wicked for not feeling sorry for the owner but as I often told folks, they hadn't seen what that woman had done to innocent animals in the name of money and sheer greed
As far as I am concerned the sooner they ban the sale of all animals in pet shops the better! Even fish, budgies and rabbits!!! So often they are bought on a whim and forced to live an unstimulating boring existence in solitary confinement when the children get bored!