If you buy a sickly pet in a pet store, you ARE NOT rescuing it!
One of the hardest things to do is turn away from a sick or injured animal. But when you buy it you may be saving that one-but
you are creating dozens more. When you buy an animal it shows the breeder that they CAN make a profit with bad breeding. Please
do not support these people! If you want to help that animal, plead with the pet shop owner to give it to a rescue. Find a
rescue that will take it and give the information to them. They really do not want to be stuck with it either.
Be friendly and keep your judgements to yourself.
Here's how you can handle the situation: 1. Ask them if they would like you to help them find a local
breeder who can give them the same price or better. THe reason even healthy animals do not make it in pet stores is because
they ride on the trucks for days to reach the store. And usually distributors ship them off too early of age and
do not prevent stress. 2. Some stores may even let you foster animals. But for heaven's sake, do NOT ask
for the animal. This just looks like you are trying to scam them out of a free animal. Just consider that you are helping
the animal without letting the breeder profit from you. A pet store will eventually stop buying from a distributer who sends
animals that have to be nursed back to health. Unfortunately, sometimes distributers are the store's only option. That is
why we have to offer them more humane solutions. Think of the STORE'S profit making. Make it worth it for them to stop using
the mass breeders. They CANNOT say no to that, even if they have no heart! 3. If you think you can handle
being a responsible breeder of even one type of animal, offer to do it for them. That is one breed that you have kept
out of the assembly line breeding and off the trucks for days and weeks at a time. They cannot keep producing the animals
if no one buys them. Put their distributors out of business! But don't be tempted to mass produce yourself. And check with
the state Dept of Ag and your city to find out what kind of licensing you will need.
Be sure and read the progress I have noticed so far below in italics
I know a lot of rescues do not believe in breeding at all. These are my opinions. 1. Someone
HAS to breed if the species is to survive and be improved. 2. People WILL buy from Back yard breeders
and assembly line breeders if nothing else is available. Responsible breeders need to be the ones doing it, not factories!
3. These animals need to come into the world in loving homes, not dark bins that someone shoves food into.
4. They need to be handled and socialized to make them better pets. 5. But do your homework
and a. make sure these are not animals that everyone is already breeding. b. Don't step
on responsible breeders' toes. c. choose something to breed that is coming from the distributor or an irresponsible
breeder. d. breed for quality, not quantity. e. Don't worry about demand, fill what you
can breed humanely. You cannot beat the distributor right away. Be patient. It will happen. And people will wait to buy if
they know one of yours is coming later.
And MOST IMPORTANTLY-
DO NOT send opposite sex groups of animals to the pet store. The biggest problem of overpopulation in the small animal
world is being sold in opposite sex pairs and animals getting pregnant while they are waiting to be sold! Sending only
same sex animals makes it a bit more difficult for novices to buy a girl and boy just on a whim to see cute babies
born (then thrown away).
ARE PET STORES BAD?
Not all pet stores are bad. The drawback with pet stores is that there is no application process for animal purchasers.
This is a goal we need to strive toward. Even pet stores that care about their animals have to make money. We will accomplish
nothing if we picket, argue and boycot. I am not saying you need to buy your animals there. You should not if there are rescues
that need homes. But pet stores are always going to exist and they are always going to sell animals! We have to work together
if we want changes. We have to come up with better solutions for them. This is a long-term goal that IS reachable. Patience
is a virtue. But we will never accomplish anything if we cause them trouble. Think of the end result. It will be so worth
it!
After I had a couple of generations of my pocket pets in the local pet store I noticed dramatic effects here at my
own rescue.
1. Fewer (almost none) pocket pets came to rescue. None of the pocket pets I have bred have come through.
2. None of the pocket pets that were bred by me were returned to the store.
3. The pet store never any of the pocket pets I have bred die or arrive/become sick. That boosted their sales up
almost 50%. That certainly makes them stop using the distributors to have YOUR animals in their store.
4. There was not one pocket pet surrendered at my rescue while I was breeding responsibly for the
pet stores.
These are only observations and stats from MamaDori's Jungle Rescue. It may not reflect everywhere. This
could be pure coincidence, but it is hard to deny! You can do it too and it doesn't take as long as you think.
