chequepoint
New Member
Running a pet store isn't for people who love animals.
Here is a very basic example. You have a Veiled Chameleon that sells for around $75 at most retail operations (Internet is always cheaper, but you have to factor in shipping, etc. so most retail stores around here get 40-50 more than you could online). In reality you paid 25 dollars for the animal. It has a problem, and has to go to the vet. The vet visit would be $100. So, do you take the 25 dollar tax write off and euthanize the animal in your rodent freezer, leave it dying on display until you can pass it off on an unsuspecting customer at a sale price and make $25, or take it to the vet and completely lose your shirt.
Everyone says they would do differently if they ran a pet store, but you'll notice those people don't stay in business very long. The only way to effectively run a pet store is as a business, not a charity. That isn't an excuse to be unethical, or cruel, but there has to be a realization that animals will die in your care every week. You have to sell products that you make a good margin on, even if they aren't the best, and at the end of the day you do what it takes to keep your lights on and the paychecks clearing for your employees.
The reason I'm not a vet is because you HAVE to be able to turn away a dying animal if they owner doesn't have money to pay you, or you'll go out of business.
I absolutely believe this to be true. This is what happens when the government tries to regulate something that they can't possibly keep up on. I have watched customers in stores complain of the exact same thing, I'm sure one of them was motivated to call the humane society and report them for keeping the animal in such "Cruel" conditions. Try explaining to a person that a snake would rather be in a small dark box than a big display aquarium in a high traffic store.. they will not believe you. They get angry, call the aspca on you, and then mail another check to peta without realizing that peta wants to take their pets away.
The solution is slow. Hundreds of thousands of animals will die cruel deaths in miami warehouses. Most pet stores thrive on the business generated by customers killing animals, and then wanting another one. In 2008 the US pet trade was a 43.2 billion dollar industry, with reptiles being kept in 4.7 million households. Forums like this don't even begin to reach or represent the number of people keeping these animals out there. Local herp clubs are the most positive tool we have to accomplish change. Organized groups of reptile enthusiasts supporting the good stores and educating each other at a regional level will force the big box retailers to compete on quality instead of price.
Here is a very basic example. You have a Veiled Chameleon that sells for around $75 at most retail operations (Internet is always cheaper, but you have to factor in shipping, etc. so most retail stores around here get 40-50 more than you could online). In reality you paid 25 dollars for the animal. It has a problem, and has to go to the vet. The vet visit would be $100. So, do you take the 25 dollar tax write off and euthanize the animal in your rodent freezer, leave it dying on display until you can pass it off on an unsuspecting customer at a sale price and make $25, or take it to the vet and completely lose your shirt.
Everyone says they would do differently if they ran a pet store, but you'll notice those people don't stay in business very long. The only way to effectively run a pet store is as a business, not a charity. That isn't an excuse to be unethical, or cruel, but there has to be a realization that animals will die in your care every week. You have to sell products that you make a good margin on, even if they aren't the best, and at the end of the day you do what it takes to keep your lights on and the paychecks clearing for your employees.
The reason I'm not a vet is because you HAVE to be able to turn away a dying animal if they owner doesn't have money to pay you, or you'll go out of business.
I absolutely believe this to be true. This is what happens when the government tries to regulate something that they can't possibly keep up on. I have watched customers in stores complain of the exact same thing, I'm sure one of them was motivated to call the humane society and report them for keeping the animal in such "Cruel" conditions. Try explaining to a person that a snake would rather be in a small dark box than a big display aquarium in a high traffic store.. they will not believe you. They get angry, call the aspca on you, and then mail another check to peta without realizing that peta wants to take their pets away.
The solution is slow. Hundreds of thousands of animals will die cruel deaths in miami warehouses. Most pet stores thrive on the business generated by customers killing animals, and then wanting another one. In 2008 the US pet trade was a 43.2 billion dollar industry, with reptiles being kept in 4.7 million households. Forums like this don't even begin to reach or represent the number of people keeping these animals out there. Local herp clubs are the most positive tool we have to accomplish change. Organized groups of reptile enthusiasts supporting the good stores and educating each other at a regional level will force the big box retailers to compete on quality instead of price.
