Stop Corporate Pet Stores From Selling Small Animals

My mission is simple: to stop the practice of selling small animals in corporate pet stores such as PetSmart and PetCo. While claiming to be interested in animal welfare, keep in mind that these are businesses. They are out to make money and the only way to do this is to buy low and sell high. And how can these businesses buy low...?

Mills. Animals, of any species, are kept in terrible conditions. Cramped, dirty environments, fed cheap food devoid of necessary nutrients, denied basic veterinary care. Female animals are overworked and strained to their limit to provide as many litters as possible. This is a huge problem- small animals are mis-sexed or simply left in mixed-gender groups, and the females get pregnant much too early or late, compromising their health. These animals are never given the stimulation needed to enrich their life, for that would be leeching money out of the mill's eventual profit.

Nor are things much better when they get to the pet stores. I am concentrating on small animals (rodents, birds, herps) because they receive the worst of this treatment. Because of their size, they are often considered "stock"- nevermind the fact that a lizard is capable of all the physical feeling of a human! Or even that a mouse is capable of the loyalty and emotional attachment of a dog. Employees are often ignorant to the needs of the animal they are supposed to be taken care of. To the new pet owner, who depends on this information, this can even be fatal to the animal in question.

Feeder animals are another issue. Whether you support live-feeding or not, mice, rats, and fish are kept in even worse conditions that their "pet only" counterparts.

http://www.petsmartcruelty.com/

Sign this petition, and refrain from buying animals at these types of pet stores. Look to private breeders and rescues instead. As heartbreaking as it can be to resist an obviously unhappy and unhealthy animal- remember, you are not "saving" it. You are only supporting the animal mill business, and another animal will soon take its place. For pet supplies, shop at stores that do not sell live animals, if possible.

Thank you very much for your support. This practice needs to be stopped.