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I work in one, though I'm behind-the-scenes and don't get to work with the animals directly most days. Pet store quality varies highly depending on the individual(s) who run it, the employees, and their policies. A decent pet store keeps its animals in decent-sized enclosures/tanks/cages with suitable cohabitants (if any at all), makes sure all are healthy before selling them, and even provides guarantees on their health for a while. They feed proper food and have staff that knows the animal they're selling. Even if there are a few people who are new and not so animal-smart yet, there should at minimum be supervisors who know plenty about the animals. If no one seems to have a good amount of knowledge about them, how are they caring for htem, and why are they selling them?

I'd be wary if the same people handling the fish are the same ones doing the small pets/reptiles, etc., unless they truly and honestly do know about all of them. Also, try to avoid pet shops that sell cats/dogs. Chances are that they came from "mill" breeders - breeders who focus on profit and therefore slack in the overall care of the animals. Plenty of puppy mill breeding dogs never see the outside of their cage. There are numerous pet stores out there who only adopt out dogs and cats brought from local shelters.

I know our store is fairly picky so far preventing animal stealing goes - when I bought my brother's leopard gecko, they put him in his traveling box, but I had to sign a contract that I understood the proper care of the animal, pay for the animal, then take the receipt back to the reptile room as proof that I paid for him to actually get him.

So far as functioning goes, a typical pet store receives animals in basically one of two ways. Most commonly, of course, if from breeders. Everything from goldfish to guinea pigs to canaries to domestic-bred snakes comes from someone who raises the animal. Chances are that the store works with the same breeders long-term. If you get, say, a fish from one store, properly care for it, and it dies, and a new fish you get from the same place does the same thing....unless you're doing something incorrectly, I'd vote not to buy animals from that store anymore. Chances are that they're getting them from a bad breeder and/or aren't caring for them well enough once they arrive. The second way they might get an animal is through a customer surrender. Some stores (like the one I work) allow customers who can no longer care for an animal to bring it in, hopefully to find it a new home (though we have a resident snake who was not sold and lives permanently at the store). I know with our store, the biggest issue of buying a customer-surrendered animal is that we do not guarantee its health, as we have no knowledge of its past history. While it's probably not a goo idea for an owner new to an animals type to get a creature that's likely been through some poor care, giving the pets an opportunity for a new home is much better than it living somewhere with an owner who doesn't want to/can't care for it properly. Our store has taken in customer-surrendered fish, small pets, and reptiles. I have heard that we no longer accept customer rabbits, though, as the young ones we get in are too susceptible to any germs/issues the ones surrendered carry without symptoms themselves.

Every employee who works with the animals on the job should be trained at least the basics of the animal's care and behavior. Anyone who normally doesn't work with the animals who has to (for example, when I take reptile photos fro their information tags) should have someone who knows the animals well with them. Generally, the supervisors should be pretty darned knowledgeable in their field - they can't be watching over a department and not know the animals they're helping with! Employees should be able to answer customer questions or, if not, be willing and able to refer the customer to someone who does.

A pet store's pets should be obviously healthy if they are for sale. New or sick animals should be quarantined and monitored, not sold until their health is established. Our reptile room doesn't sell an animal until they know it's eating, and I've seen little baby captive-raised clownfish in the back employees-only quarantine tanks until they were old enough to be sold (which, by the way, is a ridiculously cute thing to see).

As tempting as it is, pet store employees are sometimes encouraged not to pet/touch customer pets. As ridiculous as it seems (and however little that rule may be followed sometimes), it prevent someone from reaching down and petting an animal that might bite or otherwise react negatively, which causes a whole onslaught of legal issues regarding the animals/employees safety, when last rabies shots were given, etc. I have to admit that this is probably the least followed rule in the business, as someone working at a pet store obviously has the tendency to fawn over just about any non-human animals that comes into the store. At the very least, the employee should ask permission and gauge the animal's behavior before touching.

The hardest parts of the pet store business are the customers, and, unfortunately, death. Like any store, pet stores have some customers who are better than others. Some know their animals and want exactly the responsibility they're getting into. Others seem to not care or don't realize how difficult or unsuited for them a specific animal would be. Some are just plain rude and seem determined to get a certain animal for all the wrong reasons. An employee who thinks a customer might be in over his/her head should try to steer them in the direction of a more suitable pet, or at least give them plenty of information so that they know what they're in for. A customer who seems to have a bad track record of animal care (say, has brought back an animal or two that have evidence of being mistreated) should not be allowed to purchase animals in the future. Caresheets should be provided for new animal owners, too.

As for the death part, some animals, like fish, have a naturally high mortality rate. While you shouldn't see dead fish floating randomly in a pet store's tanks, fish produce lots of eggs and offspring for good reason - they don't all survive, even with talented breeders/caretakers. Not all the animals will live, and some will develop problems that will require medical care or euthanasia. It's saddening and difficult, but it's an unavoidable part of being around animals. even the resident creatures can't live forever. The death or illness of living things is something that most other retail stores do not encounter and can be heartbreaking, particularly if you grow fond of that animal.

If you're an animal lover working in a pet store, too, be prepared to take a few new family members home. Being around the animals develops special bonds with them and teaches you about species you hadn't dealt with before. I got interested in rabbits after creating their caresheet for them/hearing a fellow employee talk about hers (we now have multiple rabbits) and have also brought home many Betta fish and a leopard gecko from my store. There always seems to be someone there who would do so very well home with you.... it's dangerous! =D

That is very interesting things about pet stores.

Near the fairly large town area I live by out of all the pet stores there is only one or two that have healthy, well cared for pets. I know rats, mice, and fish live close together but I've seen quite a few where about 100 or so mice live in a 10 gallon fish tank. Some of the mice even looked like they were mangled and dieing. It makes me very sad and angry to see people do that to them. But a lot don't care because they're feeder animals.

The fish at Wal-Mart are poorly taken care of in my area. There a tons of dead one foating around slowly being eaten by it's own kind. I don't like it at all.

Durring easter baby bunnies are weened at an early age and then sold to people as eater bunnies, a lot of the time kids get tired of then and send then to a resque or released to the wild. But because they are domesticated and don't know what is good or bad to eat they die or get eaten by other animals. Also the bunnies may die from not being with their mother for as long as they need and aren't taken care of properly.

Quite a few pet stores specialise in "exotic " pets , scary thing is I've very rarely seen any who do a pre purchase screening or even stock BOOKS on the animal in question. It's extremely sad to see as many of these animals die because of poor care due to lack of knowledge of these animals. Am currently planning on adopting a gambian pouched rat where the owner kept it in a tiny mesh floor cage on SHAVINGS bedding sad we all know what shavings do to any rattie. Tis sad.

I dont really support pet stores cause I dont belive that the animals should b in cages and also there a lot of pets that need rescuing in refuges

oh but the petshops from where im from they keep them in cages all day and some without even water and the cages r so small they cant even strech