Hi. I work at PetSmart as a cashier and no I'm not required to sell anything. I do inform people that hamsters n Guinea pigs need larger cages when they ask. I do educate them on what treats food etc are healthy and which aren't. My store and everyone in it cares greatly for animals, I'm pretty sure everyone has several pets. I recently asked my boss how do I manage my conscience while selling bad products and she told me that nothing in our store is life threatening to pets. (Part two coming)
cont.: Everything has been proven safe for animals, even tho some products may have a risk of a health issue. It’s no different than Walmart selling Dr Pepper and Doritos. And I’m not sure hat video you saw but our back room is nothing like that. When we have sick animals, we quarantine them and nurse them back to health. We work closely with the vet in our store (Banfield) to ensure the health of our animals. People are quick to judge but not everything is what it seems.
Hey, thanks for your message - and sorry for the late reply, I am pretty busy atm!
It’s great to hear from the point of view of someone who works there - and it’s great that you don’t have to sell everything!
But a look at google tells me that PetSmart sells hamster balls, which are indeed pretty dangerous. I also doubt that you’re only selling treats without sugar/honey or any other additional sweetener. Yes, you said that some products may have a risk of a health issue but in my opinion it’s something completely different if you’re buying unhealthy stuff for yourself, knowing that it’s not good or if you’re buying it for a living that’s completely depending on you and has no choice but eating what you’re giving them.
Also personally I do not think that it’s okay to sell something which may be a risk of a health issue. And I don’t think that it’s okay to tell people that guinea pigs and hamsters need bigger cages only if they ask. That sounds like you’re selling cages that aren’t properly sized most of the time. And there are way too many which are ridiculous small and even though they’re not life threatening, the pets definitely don’t have a good life in them.
It’s great that ill animals are nursed back to health at PetSmart! But like I originally said, it could be worse where I live because that’s not what’s happening in germany. It’s just not profitable to give an animals that’s sold for 10 € medicine that’s 30 € and to pay an expensive vet for them, the pet shops wouldn’t make money that way. I don’t even know if pet shops here always have a vet, so it may just be worse where I am and I am sorry if I underestimated the competence of american pet shops. I just hope the anon reads this ask too :)
But also the anon asked for my personal opinion and since I am extremely against everything that could even be potentially harmful to animals I decided to strongly dissuade from working in a pet shop. And I know that many people don’t share my opinion but when I am asked for it, I am happy to give all the information I have though they may not apply to everywhere :)
