Angry at Petco

[mustang]

you may have found an officer that doesn't know any better, but not all animal control officers know a lot about reptiles. best to talk with animal control and see if they have anyone that knows about reptile care.... some of us animal control officers DO know about care and do enforce cruelty laws on stores.

I am one of them that does know...and will enforce cruelty laws on any animals that are treated improperly....but, a BIG part of our job is education....a lot of these people have no clue about caring for critters....

and yet theryre selling them...i showed a lady (the manager at petco) a flathead snake i caught (my first snake it is a tantilla i believe thats the correct spelling) she said it was a garter snake...how the heck can u mix them up that BADLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! but when its just me in there i give the staff a good lecture sometimes(once) the other times i point out the mistake verbally and walk away...

[ConcinusMan]

a flathead garter snake? The only time I've seen one of those is when it was dead on the road! LoL.

[ssssnakeluvr]

and yet theryre selling them...i showed a lady (the manager at petco) a flathead snake i caught (my first snake it is a tantilla i believe thats the correct spelling) she said it was a garter snake...how the heck can u mix them up that BADLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! but when its just me in there i give the staff a good lecture sometimes(once) the other times i point out the mistake verbally and walk away...

well....I can't speak for areas I don't work in....most of the petcos here are decent....I still don't buy herps from them...can find better stuff on here!! and have yet to find any garters other than the occasional albino checkered here... lots of these stores hire kids out of high schoolwith no knowledge...
very hard to confuse a garter and a flathead snake....I found a couple of them in Kansas....one baby....very small!

[ConcinusMan]

My recent acquisition "Jewels" the 3 foot(+) Pueblan milk finally shed her skin last night and so I went to petco to purchase an adult live mouse which she enthusiastically devoured. It's been quite a while since I went there, and man, did they have some georgous snakes in there! Again, the enclosures were immaculate and clean, and the animals very healthy.

[mustang]

well....I can't speak for areas I don't work in....most of the petcos here are decent....I still don't buy herps from them...can find better stuff on here!! and have yet to find any garters other than the occasional albino checkered here... lots of these stores hire kids out of high schoolwith no knowledge...
very hard to confuse a garter and a flathead snake....I found a couple of them in Kansas....one baby....very small!

they dont get bigger than i think 8 in....oh they wont hire anone under 18 here...instead they hire more stupid older people. DOSNT APPLY TO ANY OF YOU!

[ssssnakeluvr]

[quote=mustang;121613]they dont get bigger than i think 8 in....quote]

I haven't seen one that big....caught a very young one....was not even 3 in long!

[ConcinusMan]

Seere121

OK, something seriously went wrong there^^^

Anyway, staying on topic, I was hoping that the above user (original poster) would reveal what local petco had the atrocity. More time that passes, the less likely that anything can be done. Snakes will removed/discarded I'm sure. I was hoping to bombard them with calls but hey, probably too late.

[Millinex]

Petco is an interesting store. I've encountered some who simply don't care about anything going on with the animals, the conditions, what they are selling. I have on the other hand found stores with employees who are very open and accepting to improvement, criticism, and improving the store. At one point they where telling me why they don't carry certain animals, such as iguanas, monitors and whatnot, because it isn't responsible practice and such.
Don't be so quick to hate on petco as a whole

[ConcinusMan]

Well, the corporation is still ultimately responsible. It has their name on it. Seems like a pretty widespread problem, and there's definitely a lot of people complaining about it. It's been that way as far back as I can remember. All the stores in my area cleaned up their act years ago. I have only seen stores stop selling certain small animals(that were making profit) because laws changed. That line he gave you is probably a bunch of hooey. Petco still sells monitors here.(tegus) It's not responsible practice to sell gigantic spiders, or pythons (that can reach 30 feet) either but they didn't stop until laws changed.

But anyway, corporate is obviously not in the dark about the issue. There's numerous web page results on google about the issue, right along with their own site. But without specific, well-written complaints, they are in the dark as to where to focus the changes. If more people would do this instead of wasting their efforts on deaf, powerless people, it could make a difference:

Contact PETCO
If you would like to report problem you observe at a PETCO store, e-mail details, including PETCO store number, address, and the names of the employees you spoke with to:
Brian K. Devine CEO/CFO
Chief Executive Officer
PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc.
9125 Rehco Road
San Diego, CA 92121
Toll-free Phone: (888) 583-6044 x3046
Fax: (858) 677-3033
E-mail: briand@petco.com

James M. Myers, Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc.
9125 Rehco Road
San Diego, CA 92121
Phone: (858) 677-3005
E-mail: jamesm@petco.com

Other Corporate Contacts
PETCO Customer Satisfaction
Toll-free Phone: (888) 409-4567
Toll-free Fax: (800) 571-2952
E-mail: customersatisfaction@petco.com
(Note: This e-mail address returns an auto-response and messages may not be read.)

Arthur Lewis, Director of Livestock Management E-mail: arthurl@petco.com
Craig Parsons, Small Animals Buyer
E-mail: craigp@petco.com

Sally Stork, Vice President of Store Operations
E-mail: sallys@petco.com
Shawn Underwood, Communications Representative
Phone: (858) 909-4662
E-mail: shawnu@petco.com

Share Your Experiences & Observations
When submitting a complaint about a PETCO store, please include the store location (address helps), date and time you visited the store, names of employees you spoke with, the specific conditions you found objectionable, your full name, and any action taken, if any, by you or a store employee.

[mustang]

Petco is an interesting store. I've encountered some who simply don't care about anything going on with the animals, the conditions, what they are selling. I have on the other hand found stores with employees who are very open and accepting to improvement, criticism, and improving the store. At one point they where telling me why they don't carry certain animals, such as iguanas, monitors and whatnot, because it isn't responsible practice and such.
Don't be so quick to hate on petco as a whole

i agree for SOME its irresponsalbe but for others whom are knowledgable its compleatly ok