petsmart bunnies ??

[evansvillegirl26]

Does anyone know if the petsmart bunnies are from  mills? They are like $100  but I cannot remember if they are spayed/nuetered. Usually petshop bunnies are cheap cuz they have come from mills. I am just curious.

[bunnytowne]

If it is 100.00 it is a spneutered already.   Bunny mills  not sure about that. 

[Hedi]

From what I remember they are still from Pet Mills its just that they come fixed at a horribly young age and Petsmart thinks that makes having them from the Mills better.

[MarkBun]

PETSMART should not be selling rabbits!  I would suggest going to the store’s manager and directing them to this link:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=196265&p=factset02

where it states, from their own corporate website and in bold at the end of the first bullet item:  “at this time, we’re not expanding the test and will not continue to sell dwarf bunnies beyond those already in or planned for our stores.”  He might say that they were stock on hand, so I’d ask them when they received the rabbits (before anything else – as well as get some pics with some of the Petsmart store in the background).  They announced stopping the practice on Dec 19th.

If not, get the name/address/number of the PetSmart store and let me know, I’ll be MORE than happy to forward this information onto their Corporate HQ.  BTW, it would help if you could get a picture of the rabbits there. 

Here’s Peta’s article on it where they suggest asking the manager to surrender the rabbits to a reputable rabbit rescue so that they are placed in loving homes and not just as a discarded pet.

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2007/12/victory_petsmar.php

[jerseygirl]

Do they have a loop hole here though with the term dwarf bunnies? Did they/do they only have dwarf bunnies in store? It does read that the get their rabbits from breeders.

There is a mention that they support adoptions too and are apparently affliated with 40 rabbit agencies……..but what they say and what they do?…..

It all seems to warrent further investigation.

 

[PeppersMama]

jersey girl. i think you were mean to be a spy. or detective.

[evansvillegirl26]

Wow I never new that!! I have not seen any bunnies in there in at least 6 months or so. I have in the past and when I walked past the place where they keep them today it got me thinking about them. They have guine pigs in there now.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By PeppersMama on 01/13/2009 7:55 PM
jersey girl. i think you were mean to be a spy. or detective. 

What do you mean  “were meant to be”?…….. 

Actually, I think I’d turn out to be a bit of an Agent 86.  Well intentioned but………..

 

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Hmm… I know that Petco has a deal with local shelters and the only bunnies they ever have are shelter buns! That’s the only thing I ever liked about Petco…

[Beka27]

Posted By jerseygirl on 01/13/2009 7:18 PM

Do they have a loop hole here though with the term dwarf bunnies? Did they/do they only have dwarf bunnies in store? It does read that the get their rabbits from breeders. 

 

 

 i’m so happy you have not seen them in there in months.  i saw this thread and i was about to hit the roof.

 ”breeders” could refer to the mills as well tho.  they’re not going to come right out and say they get them from mills…  anytime i’ve asked petstores out of curiosity where they got their puppies/kittens/rabbits… it’s always from a “breeder” on a “farm” about “30 minutes away”, never from a pet mill.

[Ruffles&Daisy]

It’s funny because my Petco always sold neutered dwarf bunnies for about $100. I asked her if they are going to continue to sell them and she said ,”no, these are the last ones, but we will have adoptable rabbits from rescues”. Petsmart never sold rabbits from what I understand.

[Ruffles&Daisy]

Oh and for the record, the Petco buns (the neutered dwarf ones for $100) are from Marshall Farms, so yes, it’s a mill.

[2lops]

That’s odd. I thought they didn’t sell rabbits….?? Yikes! and expensive ones if that.
Maybe someone dumped them there… do they know their age/breed? If not they were prob abandoned..
*reads a post* even if they were from a breeder it probably wasn’t a very good one by my guess… one who doesn’t care who will buy them,how they’ll be housed,cared for,treated…etc.. *shakes head in disgust*

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Hmm yeah, at least the stores are beginning to get the message. The shelter buns they have at Petco stores now are in good-sized cages with hay and greens. Each cage has a card attached to it with the bunny’s name, age, gender, and any background info the shelter knew. It’s definitely a move in the right direction.

[MarkBun]

Petsmart had put out a pilot program in late 2007 to 25 stores to see how sales of dwarf rabbits would go. They got more headache from activists than they made money so they stopped the program by the end of the year.

[Beka27]

i haven’t been to my local petco since the change. it’s only 10 minutes away, i just didn’t have a reason to go for anything. i might need to stop by b/c i’m curious if they have any adoptables right now… (since i REALLY need to see a rabbit that needs to be adopted… since this will be BENEFICIAL for me in any way at all…)

[Sarita]

They aren’t selling rabbits anymore – they may still have some in “stock” (that just sounds horrible)…they are now having rescue groups keep their rabbits there or do adoption events…the group I volunteer with keeps getting phone calls from Petco asking us to partner with them – well they have in the past 2 weeks. In the past 2 some Petco’s stores sold rabbits in our area and some did not – depended on the store manager…but all of these rabbits did come from Marshall Farms (a horrible place) which is also responsible for all the ferrets in Petco stores.

[KatnipCrzy]

Most of the large chain companies like Petco and Petsmart buy their small animals- hamsters, mice, rats from USDA certified breeders.  Especially due to the hamster illness scare a few years ago chain pet stores are motivated to control where they get their animals from.  But with that being said- it is not difficult to get a USDA certification.  (US Dept of Agriculture).  For example the minimum requirements per hamster and per hamster and litter are shockingly small.  All you have to do is fill out paperwork, pay a fee, pass inspections, etc. 

But places like Petco and Petsmart are going to want to get all their rats from the same place to minimize risk of disease, etc.  If you always get your rats from X Place- then you know if you have a problem- illness, aggression, death of pet, etc- it traces back to that breeder.

And I hate to say it but any breeder that breeds in quantity to sell to Petco or Petsmart IS GOING TO BE a mill.  MOST breeders that sell to petstores that will sell to anyone that walks thru the door with cash border on being mills.  Especially with the larger animals like cats, dogs, etc- if the breeder is OK with not knowing the purchaser of the puppy, kitten, etc that means that they are most likely a backyard breeder or a mill.  There are obviously always going to be exceptions, but in general I find this to be true.  Petstores that sell “mutt” kittens do not bother me as much as puppies.  Most kittens are oops and are not bred for money and I think petstores can be a good way for them to get seen- although I would prefer if they were speutered.  But puppies- I rarely, if EVER spend money at stores that sell puppies.

And although I hate that rabbits are often impulse purchases that don’t work out- there are some small pet stores that are capable of selling them properly.  Although I do prefer to see adoptions.  That way the pet store does not freak when the baby bun gets bigger and “less sellable” and the buns offered for adoption free up space at a shelter usually.

[iriswarrior1]

Yeah, Petco does sell rabbits, but there’s so much controversy over it, that they seem to not be restocking.  I saw a Lionhead for sale back in August, all by himself in this little glass box.  I came in about a month later, thinking I might buy him, just ot get him the hell out of there!   As I looked at him, I noticed he had a HUGE gaping hol in his side!  I asked one of the clerks what the deal was, and they said they had accidentally put another bunny in there, and that it had bitten him.  They assured me he had been seen by a vet, and they had removed the other rabbit.  Poor little guy.  Petco only sells males, and neuters them when you buy one, so someone was a dumbass.  I went back the next day, determined to buy him, only to find someone else had.  I still pray for that rabbit.

So, my answer?    DON’T BUY RABBITS FROM PETSTORES, EVER.  No, seriously.  Not because of the Lionhead, but because of my two boys.  I literally got Smokey off the street.  My boss’s neighbors upstairs were a bunch of potheads, and thought it would be ‘cool’ to buy a rabbit for Easter last year.  Smokey.  After they realized that it took work and money to care for a rabbit, they just threw him outside.  We live in Florida, and it was April, which makes it in the high 90s during the day.   So here’s a rabbit who’s never been outside, hopping aroung in a parking lot with snakes, raccoons, hawks, ospreys, and alligators all around him.  My boss knew he was theirs, and when she asked him if they knew he was out, they said, yeah, they had put him there, and they didn’t want him back.  She couldn’t keep him, and the rest is history.  He’s mine now, and I’ll only part with him over my dead body.  This kind of crap happens all the time, only most bunnies don’t survive. 

Fang WAS from a petstore, a local private one callled Pet Kingdom.   He was in a glass playpen with about ten other baby rabbits, mom was in the display case next to them.   The floor of the pen was reaaly slick, shiny plastic, I assume so it would be easy to clean.  They sprinkled Pine havings over it about four inches deep. but the babies, couldn’t walk properly, they kept sliding everywhere, and coudn’t move without falling.  So most of them just stayed in place.  the only interaction they had with people, was the clerks, and the kids who constantly reached int to pet or pull at them.  Fang bites because he knows it keeps hands away. 

The worst thing about this, is if you take the time to talk to someone in a petstore, you’ll find that most of the time, none of them knows ANYTHING about rabbits.  Most of the clerks have never had rabbits, so almost no one knows about how to care for one.  If you buy a rabbit from a petstore, you are going to be dealing with a rabbit that’s an emotiional wreck, and you’re going to have to take the time to deal with that rabbit’s manny problems.  The only difference between rabbits in a store and rabbits at the pound is that store rabbits are ‘new Emos’, and most of the pound rabbits are ’used Emos.”   That’s it.  So if you have to get a rabbit anyway, opt for the pound bunnies, at least they have some experience being in a home, however brief it was.  God, that’s so sad……….

My local Petco stopped selling rabbits after that Lionhead was gone.  I never saw or found out what happened to the other rabbit that bit him.  Another rabbit I pray for.  I  saved two, but when I think of all the other rabbits out there, it just pisses me off.  If I had a brick to throw at every loser who abandoned a bunny, the pile I’d have to throw would reach to Canada. 

[jerseygirl]

OK! This is all so confusing. Why do they all have such similar sounding names? Petsmart/Petco.

On the breeders/Mills thing I’ll quote Katnipcrazy here “And I hate to say it but any breeder that breeds in quantity to sell to Petco or Petsmart IS GOING TO BE a mill.”

That’s exactly how I defined them when reading Breeders in the link Markus posted. So for the record, I wasn’t stating it as being a positive thing that they get their rabbits from breeders in my previous post. I didn’t realise I wasn’t being clear til Beka brought that up – so thank you!

 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

OK They stopped that pilot program-they are NOT to be selling rabbits.

Evansgirl are you comfortable posting the address of that petsmart for us, and the phone number? We need to make a stink!!

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