Buying pets

[EcclesCake]

I've just driven past a local pet shop the sign out side advertises 'Tortoises now in stock', a couple of weeks ago the sign was announcing they had kittens for sale.

I'm really not sure how I feel about pets such as these being available to buy off the shelf. I'm concerned they could be made as an impetuous purchase rather than having due consideration applied to the decision.

Do pet shops vet their customers or can anyone just walk in and buy a pet these days?

[dotty.]

well pets at home sell live animals to anyone who turns up, it cashes in on then selling everything from pet food to pet insurance, so it is big business but can't be a vets as well, though they do sell alot of none- prescription products

[ummmm]

I got my cat from someone on FB.

Did I think it through...No. Went to pick him up and didn't even have a litter tray. At least in the pet shops they have everything you need to go with your pet.

[Baldric]

Our local Pets at home has a built -in Vets Surgery

[bednobs]

how else are people supposed to acquire new pets? - even if you gotit from a rescue, who's to say you applied due consideration to the decision?

[EcclesCake]

By vet I mean do they make an assessment of whether the customer appreciates what they are undertaking, e.g a tortoise could easily outlive the purchaser.

I feel that maybe a prospective customer should be encouraged to place an order that will be fulfilled in x weeks to allow the purchaser to go away and think about what they are committing to.

[gingejbee]

"vet their customers"....ha-ha.

[EcclesCake]

Rescues tend to apply quite strict rules to who they release animals to.

It's the ability to make a spontaneous purchase that bothers me.

[friedgreentomato]

eccles the don't do that at sanctuary

[joeluke]

Don't see the problem here, it's no different to people advertising dogs/cats etc for sale in local newspapers

It's impossible to police, how can you tell if someone is going to look after the animal properly just from meeting them?

[woofgang]

I really really DO NOT think that petshops should be allowed to sell livestock beyond maybe fish. Has anyone on here thought about what happens to the unsold cute baby kittens, hamsters and so on?. Tortoises need very specialist care and petshops usually give the advice that gives them sales (vivariums and dried food) so the poor torts grow up deformed if they survive at all. Many of the tortoises who are imported from abroad where they are farmed arrive here with parasites and illnesses which are hard (and expensive) to treat.
Please get your pet from a rescue or a breeder.

[ummmm]

Just because some people purchase on a whim doesn't mean they'll be bad per owners.

People have babies without thinking it through.

[EcclesCake]

FGT, in my experience rescues want to know about your family, do you have kids work full time and often make house visits.

JL, private ads in the paper are quite different to licensed pet shops.

I'm not suggesting it does Ummm.

[friedgreentomato]

3 of the local places here will let you walk away with a cat/rabbit or other small animal with out any vetting.

I say 3 because they are the ones I know of!

[Smowball]

Ive never bought a pet from a pet shop but I do know that they just sell the animals to whoever comes in. I did get my cat from a sanctuary though and they wanted to know quite a lot about me and my home.

[EcclesCake]

Woof, I'm glad I'm not the only one with reservations.

I didn't think tortoises couldn't be imported anymore and are all UK bred, is this not the case?

[ummmm]

When I got my previous cat from a rescue place they vetted me.

[craft1948]

I got my first dog from the RSPCA and had to have a home visit before being accepted. I bought my second dog online................

[EcclesCake]

I bet the postman loved you Craft!

[Ratty2E]

I worked briefly in a pet shop and all the animals came from breeders who basically used the shop as an agent to sell their animals. If they didn't sell after a period of time they took them back. Some pet shops will ask if you have any experience and if you have all the right equipment as obviously thats basically salesmanship. I suppose it's up to you to be responsible enough to think it through before you buy. Pet shops are'nt always a bad place to buy an animal and a breeder isn't necessarily any better either. I also thought tortoises had to be UK bred these days.

[McMouse]

It's much safer to buy them fresh from the pet shop. They taste better.