Pets at home 'adoption' section

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Vikki

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I recently did a round of all the pets at homes in Norwich and all told me that none of the stores are taking in animals from the general public at the moment. One even said that they have too many rabbits 'in stock' and they will not take in any animals from the public until they have been 'cleared'. So just to let people know that all the guineas and bunnies in Norwich pets at homes are ones that have not sold and they need to get 'rid' of.

I know there are lots of posts about PAH but to call a section the adoption centre whe in fact it is just somewhere for surplus 'stock' is a bit naughty in my book. The money raised does go to a local charity but I would not be comfortable accepting such money and the adoptions forms signed in our name when there is absolutely no home check and the horror stories that are everywhere about PAH!

A good home for a guinea pig is a good home wherever it comes from but with every case involving pets at home several rescues are documenting it and sending a letter to head office. Hopefully if enough rescues do this then something could be done about staff training and the conditions these animals rabbits or guinea pigs are bred in.
 
My mum 'adopted' two young girls for me in April from the PAH Adoption centre.

The staff said they were 9-12 weeks old. Turns out they were the size and weight of 3 week olds. Apparently they were "unwanted in their last home". And what home might that have been.....

Even if it is "true" adoption and rehoming in 'some' cases, it doesn't excuse the fact that the staff usually know nothing at all and are usually not fit to advise on looking after animals - especially those who may need specialist care, as is often advertised in the adoption centre. The fact that they do not do homechecks is a mockery of genuine rescues and is no better than selling animals to strangers who are willing to pay. If an animal has been surrendered to PAH, surely there is even MORE reason to do homechecks, to ensure the safety of the animal in its future home.

I like that they are raising awareness of rescue and that they have the charity. But they need to change their procedures with the adoption process; at the moment it is still too much like buying any other animal from the store.
 
My local P&H also have an adoption centre and they list the animals honestly, about a month or so ago they had two boars that they had named and the info stated that noone had wanted to buy them ergo like you said excess stock that had been moved from the general sale pen to make room for younger, cuter stock.

I was not tempted but I did look at them every week when I went in for supplies and earlier this week they were gone, however when I looked in the for sale pen the guineas were rather large and these two were back in the sale pen! I'm sure it was them because one of them had rather distinct markings.
 
pets at home "adoption"

Hi, I didn't realise that pets at home had an adoption section, do you have to ask them cos i have never seen any up for adoption at my local store? Trouble is i would want to rescue them all. Sharon S.
 
sharonS said:
Hi, I didn't realise that pets at home had an adoption section, do you have to ask them cos i have never seen any up for adoption at my local store? Trouble is i would want to rescue them all. Sharon S.
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I don't know if every store has one, but they are usually seperate pens and our local has posters for The Blue Cross. My concern is that they are not really legitimate rescues per say and some people may think it is a cheaper way of acquiring animals through a pet store, since they ask for a donation rather than have a list price.
 
I really do have my doubts about PAH adoption section. Sometimes I think that it is just an overflow ... piggies that have been unsold for a number of weeks ... that are put in there.

I might be wrong though.

I regularly check my local PAH stores just to see what is occurring in there!
 
They do occasionally seem to have 'genuine' animals in there that need adopting, but quite often it's just animals that are too big for the sales pens.

In Ipswich today they had an 'unsociable' bunny (not a rescue, again, from the sales pen) and some Degus in the Guinea Pig bit... no pigs

Sophie
x
 
Perhaps I'm in the minority but all of the Pets at Home stores around my way have a really good atitude towards the animals and it's never occurred to me that the animals in the adoption section might be surplus stock - most of them are elderly (1 year plus) and have been brought in due to their owner's being ill, or fighting with another that they were kept with. The staff in the stores around here do seem quite knowledgeable and helpful, not to mention they are very kind to the animals. I'm sure other things go on though, I am probably just lucky. They are leading the way with adoption sections though, I do hope other pet stores follow because as has already been pointed out, they are raising awareness of rescuing an animal rather than just choosing a 'baby' and their funds do go towards a charity. Most of the stores around here also advertise animals that are available in other rescues too, which they aren't obliged to do, and I think that's great.
 
Not all PAH have an adoption centre. Mine has, as some of you may know cos you go to the same one. The one at my in-laws' doesn't.
I think of 6 GPs I have seen there, all were genuine rescues. 2 of them were monster-big and had to be! I had not thought about that but will keep an eye out in the future. :(
 
I agree Tracy, St Helens Pets at home is really good they have a guy there who really knows his stuff. Pudsey came from the adoption centre because of his allergy to woodshavings, I am allergic to so we were well matched! :)

All the animals taken in by the adoption centre as far as I can tell are from customers or found to be ill from the shop. But this is just one shop it should be across the board and not to just get rid of extra stock. :)
 
Unfortunately I don't agree with the concept at all. It's nonsense. Have a read of this article on social cause marketing - http://www.guineapighome.com/Pet_Trade/p2_articleid/3. Basically it tugs at the heartstrings of the public that the pet shop are doing such a "good" thing and in doing so pulls in more customers.

Unfortunately the story of them using the "adoption" section to sell off the unsellables is very common in my area (there are about 5 within an hour of me). My local shop even had a pen of rabbits that one week said "we're too old to be sold in the bunny village" and the same rabbits had a sign that said "unwanted by previous owner" a week later.

It might also interest people to hear that if an adoptable goes on to have a litter of babies, the litter of babies go in with the sale stock, not the adoptables.

To me it's a bit like putting an elastoplast on a broken leg. Only in the case of P@H they're breaking your leg at one end of the store and putting it back together with an elastoplast at the other rolleyes
 
Ahh bless Pudsey! It sounds like a match made in heaven. x)
All I can do is speak for the stores near to me and I think they're doing a good job.
 
I adopted my two newest girls from the adoption centre.
The guy who helped me was very helpful and knowledgeable, and even when I said I was experienced with pigs still insisted on giving me lots of information.

They were very thin when I got them, but are now fattening up nicely. I think they were taken back to the store when the previous owners got bored!
 
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