[Gpdd] [MISC] Pet Stores

[Lydia Boland]

Hi Larissa.  My reason for not buying animals from pet
stores is because there are so many animals being
euthanized in animals shelters every day.  Not just
dogs and cats but rabbits, guinea pigs, reptiles,
roosters, goats, rats, birds, and many, many more
types of animals.  When a pet store sells an animal
they are almost always not concerned about the animal
or the animal's welfare but profit.  The same can be
said for most breeders.  Not all, but most.  So if you
are a breeder who cares about your animals, great. 
You don't need to educate me about breeding.  There is
still an overpopulation problem and in an ideal world
there would only be responsible breeders and
responsible pet owners and healthy animals would not
be euthanized by the millions each year.  But that
isn't the case in this non ideal world.  Many of the
animals that wind up in shelters and rescues came from
pet stores and breeders.  If I don't buy an animal or
supplies from a store that sells animals then I don't
support them and what they do (sell animals).  If I
adopt from a shelter or rescue group then I am not
contributing to the overpopulation problem.  I'm not
saying that pet store animals don't deserve good homes
and don't sometimes need to be rescued from their
situation.  But I can't save the world and someone
else will buy that animal in the pet store.  And if no
one does then maybe it won't be profitable for them to
sell the animals and they will stop.  One can hope at
least.
As for bunny mail lists, there are quite a bunch. 
Some are specific to where you live and therefore have
a lower volume.  Others have people from all over the
world but have a much higher volume.  Most of the ones
I know of don't allow discussions of breeding ever. 
Email me privately and let me know what kind of email
group you are looking for and I can direct you in the
right location.
For those of you who breed and buy from pet stores,
that is your personal decision.  I would never
personally attack you and I hope that you won't do
that to me.  I expressed my personal opinion because a
question was asked about why people specifically avoid
buying from pet stores.  I answered.  If someone asked
why people breed and like to buy pure bred guinea
pigs, I wouldn't have been able to answer their
question.

Lydia

--- larrwr at localnet.com wrote:
> Larisa and the Pig Brothers here.  I have noticed
> that some folks on the
> GPDD will not buy guinea pigs from pet stores or buy
> food from pet stores
> that sell animals.  I was wondering why?  Maybe I am
> alittle ignorant.  I
> live in the country, and the only pet store in town
> doesn't sell animals. 
> I got my piggies from a shelter because it warms my
> heart to think that I
> am "rescuing" what someone else doesn't want.  I
> have been to pet stores
> that have guinea pigs and they seemed o.k.
> I was just wondering!
> 
> Also, I see that alot of GPDD members have rabbits. 
> I have 2 rabbits
> myself (rescued from a shelter).  Does anyone know
> of any websites that
> have message boards or something similar to the
> GPDD?  I would love to
> talk to rabbit people too!
> Larisa and the Pig Brothers
> (busy chit-chatting with their rabbit neighbors)
> 
> 
> 
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