Pet Store and Pet Ownership Horrors

[From The Uncanny Valley]

I live in a shitty little town in a shitty little state. And in that shitty little town is a shitty little mall. One day I went into that mall, and was window shopping. Well, I notice a pet store. I like animals and decide to take a look.

It was horrible. Big dogs in tiny cages, they were filthy and whimpering, they didn't cover the metal bottom of the cage on the top level so it was cutting their feet.

Nasty shit. It got closed down recently, I think, though.

Was it a Debbie's Petland, perchance?

 

[Checkered Spotlight]

Was it a Debbie's Petland, perchance?

No, not that I remember. It was something like "Family Pets" or something? A very, very generic name that I can't remember.

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

No, not that I remember. It was something like "Family Pets" or something? A very, very generic name that I can't remember.

That sounds familiar too.

 

[Checkered Spotlight]

That sounds familiar too.

Maybe it's like I said and just a generic "brand" name? Sort of like the many variations on Stop 'n' Go, I guess. It's nonspecific enough that it could be anywhere.

Either that or we live in the same area and I never knew it.

It just breaks my heart to see animals treated like that. They're living things too. They may not be able to speak to us with words but you shouldn't cram them into little spaces like that and let them die.

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

Luckily nearly all mall pet stores in my area have been shut down for years.

 

[Overcast]

I like how this thread went from animals living in horrible conditions to mostly stories about people's pets eating poop or messing with other animals.

Not that I mind.

 

[MW 002]

So I have another horse industry horror story to share

A few years ago I worked at a large scale breeding farm which was pretty much what I'd call a foal-mill. They bred hundreds of horses every year and would auction off a lot of the yearlings to unspecified places.

Anyways so we had a HUGE outbreak of rotavirus, for those who don't know what it is: http://www.aaep.org/info/rotaviral-diarrhea from although it may not sound like a huge deal, it killed a good handful of foals one year mainly from staff ignorance/management incompetence. Also due to the lack of bio security practices, the virus ended up spreading way further than it should have.

Something about watching newborns die on a near daily basis really fucked me up- to the point that I was becoming severely depressed working there. Didn't help that there was a huge staff turnover rate, since many of them leave due to being unable to handle getting screamed at by the barn manager on a daily basis.

I ended up quitting after being forced to grab a mare refusing to leave her dead foal's side; with chain and all because the foals death was not quite registered to the Mama Mare. Just seeing her run around the paddock and screaming hysterically was among one of the more heartbreaking parts of the job.

 

[LagoonaBlue]

So I have another horse industry horror story to share

A few years ago I worked at a large scale breeding farm which was pretty much what I'd call a foal-mill. They bred hundreds of horses every year and would auction off a lot of the yearlings to unspecified places.

Anyways so we had a HUGE outbreak of rotavirus, for those who don't know what it is: http://www.aaep.org/info/rotaviral-diarrhea from although it may not sound like a huge deal, it killed a good handful of foals one year mainly from staff ignorance/management incompetence. Also due to the lack of bio security practices, the virus ended up spreading way further than it should have.

Something about watching newborns die on a near daily basis really fucked me up- to the point that I was becoming severely depressed working there. Didn't help that there was a huge staff turnover rate, since many of them leave due to being unable to handle getting screamed at by the barn manager on a daily basis.

I ended up quitting after being forced to grab a mare refusing to leave her dead foal's side; with chain and all because the foals death was not quite registered to the Mama Mare. Just seeing her run around the paddock and screaming hysterically was among one of the more heartbreaking parts of the job.

As a former horse owner that gave me feels.

Anyway, on topic - not long after my mum got her current dog (a jack russell/schnauzer mix) the dog ate a wasp. AFAIK it was the first time she'd seen a wasp - from what I remember someone had left a window open and it flew into the kitchen only for the dog to eat it. It stung her on the inside of her mouth and left her in a lot of discomfort. It also made her drowsy and my mum was panicking, thinking she was going to lose the dog. She called up the vets and explained what happened, and I cannot remember the advice they gave her other than that she was to give the dog antihistamines.

Luckily she recovered.

 

[omori]

Some years ago my family adopted a minipoodle mix from some friends. They in turn had rescued the little thing from a family that had bought her from a breeder and gave her to their daughter. Said daughter had a baby and all of the family's attention went from their new puppy to the baby, leading up to having the dog put away in the bathroom for most of the day. She's six now, very nervous at times, and absolutely dislikes being behind closed doors particularly bathrooms even if its for something temporary like baths.

 

[MW 002]

-Another horse story-

The employer I mentioned earlier also had a tendency to tranq all of her horses for just about everything because she saw it as a replacement for training.

 

[Magique]

I think I'll vent here.

There's someone in my town that loves putting his dog outside when it's -35 celcius. The dog stays all night there and I heard him doing thoses noice of pain. When I told him ( please, your dog is hurting when you leave him outside like that. ), he's saying: '' But he's happy when he sees me in the morning.'' '' Dog can take that kind of cold. Don't tell me what to do. ''

Just fuck.

 

[Urban Superstition]

...What?
Of course he's happy to see him in the morning after being left outside in the freezing cold.
I don't understand the thought processes of some people.

 

[Lalala]

So I have a friend, let's just call her....Dumbfuck. Now Dumbfuck lives in a house where the back garden can't be more than 5 feet from a children's playground. Dumbfuck also likes to be 'unique' so she decided to buy a tarantula, specifically a Red Kneed Mexican and a female no less, despite me and a bud warning her they have a long life span. For about a year all is well, she of course gets others to help feed it and clean it's tank cos she doesnt want to but hell it's healthy and she likes to look at it.
Enter Dumbfuck getting knocked up. She decides that having a tarantula around wouldn't be safe with a baby, a misinformed but nonetheless mature decision. So does she sell it or try to rehome it?
Ohhh no. 8 months before the baby is even due Dumbfuck releases the T into her back garden mere feet away from a kiddy park. That poor thing was either immediately eaten, wandered into the park and squished or wandered into the park, bit someone and THEN was squished.
But hey she's gonna have a baby so hey, a new pet to show off.
(Sorry found out about this earlier today and I am beyond pissed off, would have gladly taken her in but when I went to my friend's garden I couldn't find her )

 

[Bugaboo]

So I have a friend, let's just call her....Dumbfuck. Now Dumbfuck lives in a house where the back garden can't be more than 5 feet from a children's playground. Dumbfuck also likes to be 'unique' so she decided to buy a tarantula, specifically a Red Kneed Mexican and a female no less, despite me and a bud warning her they have a long life span. For about a year all is well, she of course gets others to help feed it and clean it's tank cos she doesnt want to but hell it's healthy and she likes to look at it.
Enter Dumbfuck getting knocked up. She decides that having a tarantula around wouldn't be safe with a baby, a misinformed but nonetheless mature decision. So does she sell it or try to rehome it?
Ohhh no. 8 months before the baby is even due Dumbfuck releases the T into her back garden mere feet away from a kiddy park. That poor thing was either immediately eaten, wandered into the park and squished or wandered into the park, bit someone and THEN was squished.
But hey she's gonna have a baby so hey, a new pet to show off.
(Sorry found out about this earlier today and I am beyond pissed off, would have gladly taken her in but when I went to my friend's garden I couldn't find her )

Female Mexican Red Knees can live up to 30 years, also if you buy a spider and you won't fucking feed it or touch it you have no business owning a spjder. Mexican Red Knees are also one of the most docile tarantula species and are not dangerous to humans (not taranutla can kill a human, even a child)
I see a lot of cases of retards buying tarantulas to be cool and not because they have an appreciation for the animal

 

[Lalala]

Female Mexican Red Knees can live up to 30 years, also if you buy a spider and you won't fucking feed it or touch it you have no business owning a spjder. Mexican Red Knees are also one of the most docile tarantula species and are not dangerous to humans (not taranutla can kill a human, even a child)
I see a lot of cases of exceptional individuals buying tarantulas to be cool and not because they have an appreciation for the animal

Believe it or not it was actually a relief when she got a Red Knee, she originally had her sights set on something like a Cobalt Blue or an Antilles Pink Toe (have you guessed it yet? Yep her 'research' was pretty much to google 'colourful tarantula') at least Red Knees are docile enough that if it got out it wasn't gonna dart away forever or take a chunk out of her although now I kinda wish she had bought a Blue if only so when it was released it would turn back around and munch her toes before running off.

 

[trashpanda]

There is a Petco I use to poke my head in because they had more ferret accessories than Petsmart. The condition of the store use to be decent but in the past year it's like the whole staff just said "fuck it."

You can almost smell the ammonia from animal urine outside the store.

The ferrets have diarrhoea from still eating Marshall mush despite being old enough to eat solids. They also have fleas. All the small mammals they sell do, actually.

They even neglect the feeder insects. In March I found "crickets to go" boxes that had literally been sitting there since December (they had the shipping date on them). The crickets that they bag were near death and lethargic.

Needless to say, I stick to Petsmart for feeder insects and the internet for other pet needs.

 

[toulouse]

So around closing a few days ago, I had a dad come in with his kid and their little dog, like a shih-tzu or something. The dog looked terrible. His eyes were closed and kind of crusty, his nose was dry, labored breathing, and every so often he whimpered like he was in pain. Kid is near tears and said he'd been like this all day, that he wouldn't eat or drink or move. It was awful.

The dad asked if I knew what was wrong with the dog. I said no, but this dog needs to go to the vet urgently. There's some emergency vet clinics in the area, and I offer to give them some addresses. Dad says no, asks for an employee that would know how to help the dog. I tell him none of us are vets, and this dog needs to see one right away.

Dad brushes me off and wanders over to our first aid section, picks out a bottle of dog aspirin and figures that's good enough, I guess, so he buys it and goes on his merry way.

I really hope they eventually took him to the vet.

 

[omori]

Damn I just remembered the time my mom almost killed the dog we took in because of her stubbornness. Might be a bit long cause it pisses me off to this day.

One morning we wake up and Daisy is vomiting every half hour at a near constant rate; she's shivery and ahe refuses to eat or drink between, shit was fucking frightening and I could tell she needed to see a vet right away. So I tell my mom.

She goes on about how the dog might have a stomach bug and how it'll go away and if she really needs to see a vet we'll take her the next day and heads out to work despite me insisting that this isnt something that seems like it should be put off. I end up staying home to look after her.

Sure enough during the day she gets worse. She's spewing like no little dog her size should, she's extremely lethargic, and I'm wrapping my her up in a blanket in my arms ignoring her throwing up on me because her body temperature has dropped severely. I call my mom at her work and tell her to stop pussyfooting cause this dog is gonna fucking die over her stubborness to pay for a vet check up.

So she gets off early and we finally take the dog to the vet. It turns out that Daisy ingested some cleaning solution that my mom had standing around and that if we put off taking her in a few hours more she would've been dead from dehydration alone. She stayed there for a couple of days to get her stomach pumped and stabilized.

This was about four years ago. Little girl's a ok now but I get on my mom whenever i feel like there's something seriously up woth our pets.

 

[Chubby_Penguin]

One of our previous neighbors (back when I was a kid) would leave their dog outside all the time. We'd hear it barking and howling at night. It had a dog house and presumably was fed, but that was all the attention it got.

I know it was one of those cases where the kids begged for a dog and promise to take care of it because when they first got him I was the kids washing him up outside and playing. As soon as they got bored of him the dog was left alone. I think my dad tried talking to them once but was brushed off.

 

[Rabbit Bones]

Went to petco yesterday and there was a tortoise in the turtle display. I had to explain to them the difference between a tortoise and a turtle I almost bought the poor thing for fear of its life.