Please help me get Petco to listen

[CarlaS]

I would like to start this by saying I'm not normally a real activist, this is the first time I've done something like this. However, when I see animals being treated so poorly and not having a voice...it makes me so furious. I was visiting my mother in CA and while there we went to the South Corona Petco. I went over to see the cats up for adoption and was APPALLED at what I saw. These cats litter boxes were so filled with feces there was no room left for them to go to the bathroom. One cage even had a fly buzzing around. Several cages had two cats in them and those litter boxes were just horrible. In one cage the cats had pulled there bed into the box and now had no place to go. I went to go find an associate and tell them the boxes needed to be attended to. She said the agency came in once or twice a week to clean the boxes and agreed they were disgusting. She said she thought someone would be in tomorrow. Well, in my opinion those cats had no where left to go today! So I tried to call the agency and only got the voice mail. I left a message saying the boxes needed to be attended to today. Next I asked to see the manager. The associate went back and then came back to relay a message. He said the manager had called a 1/2 hour ago and someone would be by any minute now.... The fact that the manager would not come out and talk to me made me question how true this was.
I guess what made me really upset is that all these Petco employees were walking by these cages everyday and seeing what horrible condition they were in and not doing anything about it! I got on the Petco website and sent an email in, but I feel like one voice is easy to ignore. I know that many of you shop at Petco. If you feel comfortable, would you be willing to email Petco and tell them that this is not acceptable. Thanks

 

[Rocky Hoya]

Oh my god that is horrible. Just today I called the 800 number to petco to complain about our local store and the operator was very attentive and within the hour the main store manager called me to say that they will be making sure that the store is cleaned. I would suggest calling the 800 number and find out exactly what store it is.....the address is preferable and I will definetely call in too.

 

[haleyandmark]

Yeah, I am with you guys - I think a dirty cage is unacceptable - and you would think Petco & PETsMART would have the cleanist kitty cages seeing as everyone who walks by the glass windows can see right in ...

I guess they probably don't have someone coming in to fix their cages as often as they should, but that should be fixed!

I would call and complain, also. I'm not a cat person per se, but still ... poor kitties :(

 

[shannonmac]

good for you!

seriouslty my hats off to you for making a stand. that's awful that the employees were walking right by and admitted to knowing about the cages. a litter box needs to be cleaned EVERDAY not twice a week! these cats are having a hard enough time finding homes, I'm sure seeing them surrounded by feces doesn't make prospective owners come running! (although it should).
if you want to pm me the store information I'd be happy to write an email.

 

[CarlaS]

Good idea about calling, I will be doing that today!

 

[CarlaS]

An update, I was able to talk with both Petco corporate and the manager of the CA store. I was told that someone comes in once or twice a day (not week) to scoop the boxes. Apparently that week there were some issues. The Petco employees are supposed to take care of it if the adoption organization doesn't come in. I have been assured that things will be fixed. It was the assistant manager that was there the day I went into the store. The manager, whom I talked to on the phone, was upset and said she would be talking to the all the staff. I'll have my mom check on the store again in a month, but it sounds like things will be better.

 

[Shanz]

yeah good luck. This is a fight that PETA has been having for a while now. It seems that this problem happens at a lot of Petcos..and not jus with their cats. Ive heard stories about sick and dead animals being left in cages and contaminating other animals.

The problem is usually because the stores will usually hire young people who know nothig about the animals theyre caring for.

I saved my hamster Porkchop from petsmart because the other hamster it was caged with was beating her up.. she was all bloody and full of bites. We tol the guy working in small animals..and he just stood there thinking we would leave and he wouldnt have to do anything.. but we stood there so he finally went took her out and put her in a box on the shelf.. almost dropped her. Then he walked away. So i boughther (female hamsters will fight when they reach sexual maturity..and they were both females)

Another local pet store had chameleons that were EXTREMELY sick. Just by looking at them i could tell they had Metabolic bone disease (its basically rickets.. their joints turn to rubber and they arent able to walk properly..very painful) The poor things veils were sriveled and they told me they wouldnt eat. I went back and they couldnt even walk I even suggested to them to feed them worms because the crickets move too fast for them to catch in the state they were in. They didnt listen so I called the humane society. One of the employees even made a comment to me..her exact words were "yeah they look pretty dead dont they"

I was so upset.