CCR Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 This is just a short account of my experiences with Petco and if any of it is useful for what you are trying to accomplish please contact me before using it. My education is in fish health and I was part of a team of researchers that worked closely with 2 Petco stores for about 6 months. Our goal was to try and provide them with documented evidence of what was killing every order of saltwater fish they received and in return we were given permission to run our own molecular tests on the fish for our research. What follows is not intended to be a slam on Petco. They were kind enough to allow us to use the fish for our research. In short' date=' management including at the store level and corporate level, do know of the problem but have done little to correct it. They rely heavily on the advice of a Petco veterinarian who knows nothing about fish health to come up with solutions to fix the problem. They also will not, due to potential worker health problems, use any sort of chemical to treat disease outbreaks. The other problem Petco faces is the supplier of their fish. The supplier(s) treats Petco as the dumping grounds for their diseased fish, so in a sense the problem starts at the supplier and then is magnified by Petco's lack of proper husbandry. In Petco's defense, many of the diseased fish (freshwater mostly) they receive would never recover even in one of our tanks as they are infected with incurable diseases. Again this is just my experience with Petco, please take what you can out of it. Finally in my personal opinion Petco will not change their policies unless pressure comes from a legislative entity. Their are plenty of Petco stores who never make profit off their saltwater fish but continue to carry them even thou a good majority die before being sold. As one manager told me "its not the profit on the wet products they are so worried about its the profit on the dry products". Go figure. I know they have a business to run but we all know how valuable (I’m not talking monetary value) these fish and invertebrates are, it’s a shame they do not.[/quote'] And again I have to say. The only way I see a change is the suppliers. I wonder if the salt CO. would like being associated with sick/ mistreated animals. Hay there product is in the store's that are having these problems!!! eek. I have to wonder if there goods/ product is one of the causes?.Get it. It's the pocket book that will get a better responce. Yes, letters to P-co but copies of them to the suppliers from all the Reefers out there. There would be change. MONEY IS TIGHT ALL AROUND. THINK THEY WON'T LISTEN? I DO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I'd be against spending any club resources on "educating" any of the big box pet companies. Petco/PetSmart has a good understanding of their business and do the things they do because it makes them the most money in the long run. They get boatloads of petitions (not just from the fish folks, also from bird hobbiests, crab hobbiests and probably stuffed-toy hobbiests too) and ignore them all; check how many petitions, letter writing campaigns, etc. have been launched from RC alone then check the results. Zip. Zilch. Zero. I'll bet a shiny American nickel that more fish die between collection and delivery to hobbyist tanks through the 'good' stores than through the big box stores. Sure, a higher percentage probably die through Petco/Petsmart but I'll bet a higher quantity die through the hobbiest channel. If you want to save fish, pressure the collectors and distributors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 The reason I wrote this letter is because it was suggested. I don't buy SW goods at Petco and I tell people to educate themselves and then look at what they see and make a decision. (all I get there is crickets when I have to) If the club isn't behind doing this then drop the letter and forget it. It doesn't bother me one bit. No feelings hurt here. Like I say I do not buy items there and I feel I am making my opinion heard. Petco may never feel it but I feel better trying to do the right thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Petco is my fav.(nutty) All of this is pretty pointless....as long as all these Petco supporters keep purchasing these things from them they will keep stocking and killing it. (flame) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCR Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Petco is my fav.(nutty) All of this is pretty pointless....as long as all these Petco supporters keep purchasing these things from them they will keep stocking and killing it. (flame) I feel I totally wasted my time and now this is a page and a half back......again, in a matter of hours. Do you realize what your doing is causing?? And for me, being involved with companies and corporations for over 33 years. So sorry you think this is all "pretty pointless" If I felt this was the direction of this thread I would have stayed out in the first place. my God. take a stance. Unless pretty pointless is your stance. Ya think you could of said it several pages earlier when you where posting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 dude chill.....it was a joke. I did take a stand. Against petco treating their animals with disregard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 and I say again this is pointless....nothing is going to come of this. Do you think Petco actually cares? Come on man. As long as people buy their stuff no matter the condition they will continue to sell it, and kill it. I shop petco for specific items....non of which are alive. Not even feeders. I used to buy them from there, till I lost 9 of my fish in one feeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCR Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 and I say again this is pointless....nothing is going to come of this. Do you think Petco actually cares? Come on man. As long as people buy their stuff no matter the condition they will continue to sell it' date=' and kill it. I shop petco for specific items....non of which are alive. Not even feeders. I used to buy them from there, till I lost 9 of my fish in one feeding.[/quote'] Then stay out of this thread if you feel it is pointless. Thank God JFK didn't think the missile crisis was pointless or Dr. King either. If you don't want to participate, then don't. The masses do have power together over the meek. we do try and offer each other a hand, a stand and a betterment to the hobby and animals lives we are in charge of. It is part of nearly every club I know of. "As long as people buy their stuff no matter the condition they will continue to sell it, and kill it." You make a statement like this and call it quits as it is pointless to try, you say. "I shop petco for specific items" Hmmmmmmm like items that have names on them. Suppliers who count on the large chains selling there goods, getting an organized barrage of letters, statements, Internet comments rallies ads and so forth from the very people that buy there items. Have YOU even tried before you even said Your welcome to add something constructive. But if it is pointless, please don't add anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankIt Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Petco Has anyone ever thought about taking this to the state level? An idea is that the club could organize a representative to contact local legislation, senators, congrass, whoever will listen and get the ball rolling there..... Impart tougher strickter policies on the holding and sale of saltwater fish. Maybe you have to have a special lisence or something. And this would include annual inspection by TRAINED knowledgable parties. Everyone knows good and well that most if not all of what petco sells is wild caught. It has to be collected, held, shipped, held, distributed, held, probly distributed again to the stores...... What has to be decided is how far this needs to go? Yes petco, walmart, petsmart, big box stores should not be allowed to carry live animals unless they are going to properly care for them. Maybe we can get a petition going involve RC and any other group interesed! Any make it illegal for any but privatly owned and operated store to sell aquarium fish/coral/inverts. Then the distributors are just going to start selling the sick fish to the smaller independant stores. I fell that where we really need to hit is to get legislation in order to better regulate the fish trade better in general, all aspects of it! Lets start with Oregon and branch out from there. If we can get this going then we can pass the word onto other groups in other states and eventually get livestock sales banned at all big box store nation wide. This is going to happen it just needs to be started, once it gets going I really think a lot of good changes could be made to better things. People also need to think about things like how many wild caught fish are in your tank??? How much did you pay for them because I can tell you one thing many of the fish you own are going to be harder and harder to get and the price is going to climb ever higher. Are people ready for this because it will really mean a lot of changes that people may not be ready for good and bad............................................................................................................................... Just my 2 pieces I will pass my soap box now, whos up? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I agree with CCR - this is NOT pointless. Pointless would be sitting back and doing nothing. Every 4 years i go cast my vote, knowing that my ONE vote will not change who will be president...but what if millions of other votes are the same as mine? Guess what...my one vote is NOT pointless. Pointless would be to live in a country where you could NOT voice your opinion on a company that does wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 Please don't think I was saying it is pointless! I was just stating that if the club didn't want to use the 'rough draft' I came up with. That was fine. But I was not saying I wouldn't help better this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCR Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Please don't think I was saying it is pointless! I was just stating that if the club didn't want to use the 'rough draft' I came up with. That was fine. But I was not saying I wouldn't help better this situation. Not you! You started a great letter.. I really think we "the reefing world" can make a difference!!!!! I would just hate to see it dropped. I'm trying to put some plan together/and or help to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I don't know about the rest of you but I personally can't find a reason to go to Petco for anything. The improper handling of the fish department is just a starting point. I find that I can get supplies for my dogs and cat at local shops for a better price, better service and usually from someone with better knowledge. I realize that some Petco employees know what they are talking about but most do not. I prefer my money going to the local shops. I think if everyone would take some time to look around at some local shops Petco would have to change or go under. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 There have to be watchdog groups like PETA or someone we can get into this. PETA? Have you heard about PETA's last campaign/demand? (laugh) http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24889846-952,00.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Umm OK? I think........ Maybe not...... [language filter] now I'm confused! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I used PETA as an example. There have to be some kinds of reef watch dog groups out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 yeah... I just couldn't resist posting that article link when I saw it. Even though PETA is an extremist group, they have done some good in helping change some Petco animal policies. http://www.peta.org/feat/petcoagreement/default.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishiefish Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 that is just too funny, who are they kidding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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