[Gpdd] [MISC] Problems with Petsmart

[DebJonSara at aol.com]

Libby

I'm writing this with tears streaming down my face, and I'm sure you'll have 
had a lot more piggy slaves in tears reading that terribly sad account of the 
dead and poorly piggies at Petsmart. It seems so ironic that in the same 
digest there are tales of beloved piggies that have everything and others who die 
almost unnoticed and unloved. Surely there must be something you can do in 
terms of petitions/boycotting/ reporting to animal welfare and so on. Here in 
rural France I am used to having to observe cruelty to animals, but in America - 
well, I just would expect better.

I hope there is some way you can get the store prosecuted. But can I also 
point out - someone had taken those little babies there and abandonned them at 
the store to be sold. I would never, ever allow one of my piggies to have babies 
unless I intended to keep them all. I do think piggie slaves have to take 
some responsibility here. Baby guinea pigs are some of the most precious, 
wonderful little creatures one could ever wish to meet, and it's understandable that 
slaves would wish to breed their own. But I do strongly feel we should all 
resist the temptation to do just that unless we intend to keep the offspring or 
know some kind, responsible slaves that will take them in and give them the 
loving, caring homes they deserve. Taking unwanted babies to places like Petsmart 
is not a responsible action - even if they are not ill. The very idea that 
someone left unwell babies there ... well, it doesn't bear thinking about. I am 
still haunted by the thought of poor little Lilac about whom George's dad told 
us not so long ago. I was too upset by that thread to respond to it - I must 
admit, had I seen that little mite, I would have bought it and taken it to the 
vet straight away, just as you intended to do with those you found, Libby. 
That's more or less how I ended up with 45 guinea pigs earlier this year.

I know we can't change this cruel world. But each of us should do what we 
can. We don't have Petsmart here in France, but if we did, I would write to them 
and quote your story and tell them I was going to boycott their stores. But I 
would also keep an eye on the guinea pig display at your local store, and if I 
saw a sick piggie there again I'd get it to a vet and make sure the vet's 
diagnosis was reported to your local animal welfare organisation. It would be 
good if it could get into the papers. 

I realise animal shelters in the US and Britain are full of unwanted guinea 
pigs. They don't even have such shelters here. As regular members may remember, 
I know of a local breeder who sells her excess stock to be fed to crocodiles. 
I tried to buy her out but she wouldn't agree to it, and there's nothing 
illegal in what she's doing, although it does make me weep. some things we can't 
change. But I would hope the US was streets ahead of France in terms of animal 
welfare - there has got to be something you can do. 

The one thing all we "gpdd-ers" can do is resolve, right here and now (if we 
haven't already, and I know I'm mainly preaching to the converted here) is 
NEVER to breed a single guinea pig for whom a loving, caring home has not been 
earmarked before conception - and to persuade as many non-gpdd-ers as we can to 
resolve likewise. Let's make sure no one who reads this ever abandons a guinea 
pig to Goodness knows what fate at a pet store.

Sorry to rant - sometimes it's too hard just to read on.

Condolences to all who have lost piggies - your stories always make me cry, 
but at least your piggies were loved. The deaths of those who never had the 
opportunity to experience such love seem somehow much more tragic.

Debbie (and her 13 "Dolly Mixtures")