A very sad and outrageous day at Pecto in Palmdale CA

ramsin32 · #1 08/21/2002, 02:43 PM

hello to all my reef fellows,

Something really bothers me everytime I go to Petco saltwater section. I see saltwater fish dying or about to die form ink and such.

This really bothers me that the profit of (which in this Pecto is probably a loss) the store outweights the animal rights of these speechless creatures.

Just as an example a few weeks ago in Petco store in Plamdale Ca, some ignorant associate opened the fresh water and you can imagine... atleast 100 fish died... it is outrageous to me...
I have decided not to buy anything saltwater fish from Petco, but this doesnt seem to enough. If we as their potencial costomers boycott the store, the atrocity might be stopped.

I wanted to find people who are tired of this abuse, maybe we can do something about it.

Sincerely,
Ramsin

dustint · #2 08/21/2002, 03:55 PM

Petco in Atlanta is just as bad. For a while I was going in to save the corals they actually tried to keep. You have dead fish in every single tank. These guys are just careless and sick. I hope they go out of business soon. Petsmart did the right thing by not even trying saltwater. I too have boycott Petco.

goodman770 · #3 08/21/2002, 04:07 PM

The Petco in Atlanta now no longer has saltwater fish. Not sure why, they had decent prices. I agree though that these people do not have the knowledge to take care of a hermit crab. I did buy a snake from there and asked when it last ate. All I got was a blank sideways look...sort of like when you confuse a dog. I told them to just get the snake...It had a better chance at my place than in the store...
Bill

Pomacanthus1 · #4 08/21/2002, 04:26 PM

Another batch of Petco horror stories.

My Petco store is okay i guess, none of the fish are dead, and it's pretty rare to see a sick one. They all look really tired, and their colors are usually faded.

I have never and will never buy any live stock from any Petco store though.

toptank · #5 08/21/2002, 10:35 PM

I have seen that locally as well. We all need to write their Home office and express of dislikes.

Barry

toptank · #6 08/21/2002, 10:50 PM

After I posted my previous post I went to http://petco.com and sent them a note stating the above concerns.

Jabrams · #7 08/21/2002, 11:01 PM

what goverment agency governs these shops?

toptank · #8 08/21/2002, 11:04 PM

Not sure there is one, but there should be !

Alexis · #9 08/21/2002, 11:30 PM

Take a look at this article regarding the petco's in San Francisco

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...9/MN193239.DTL

eses · #10 08/21/2002, 11:55 PM

FWIW the store in Lynnwood Washington is pretty tight. They don't get in as good of stock as any of the online retailers, and they don't handle much in LPS/SPS corals, but they have a good fish section and selection.

The store in Everett Washington, just north of the Lynnwood one also flushed their SW system with FW. I stopped by there one day and all of the fish were gasping, those that weren't were dead, the hydrometer was floating up at 1.00 and one of their "associates" was frantically dumping cups of salt into their sump system. Idiots. I'm glad I'm not a principal in that company, it isn't going to be around in the long run.

ChrisN8201 · #11 08/22/2002, 12:43 AM

Well I do bash PetCo at times but the one near my house isn't overly bad, I mean Orchid and Arabian Pseudochromis for $29.99, can't beat that anywhere by a long shot. Their salt quality isn't too shabby either. Got some of the better marine products as well.

Now the one down the highway 30 min away is just atrocious! Floating dead fish and unfiltered turtle tanks is just too far. One thing I notice is that most all PetCos are pretty empty. Also questions whether I wanna work there but I need the money and its not far, at least while I'm there you can be assured everythings going to be taken care of.

ramsin32 · #12 08/22/2002, 03:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by toptank
I have seen that locally as well. We all need to write their Home office and express of dislikes.

Barry

I did write a letter too, but there has to be organization that would protect animals from abuse isnt it

Sorry I have been away, I am changing from Pacbell to directtvdsl so i am gonna have dial up for a while.

ramsin32 · #13 08/22/2002, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Alexis
Take a look at this article regarding the petco's in San Francisco

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...9/MN193239.DTL

Alexis the article is outrageous, I just cant not believe it. It is insane that we as citizen are allowing company suchas Petco spread out like leaches by hiring the blood sucking lawyers.
I dont know what to say....

SushiGirl · #14 08/22/2002, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by goodman770
All I got was a blank sideways look...sort of like when you confuse a dog.

ROFLMAO...what an apt way to describe that look!!!

anthony0812 · #15 08/22/2002, 12:30 PM

This is what i heard form an emplyee workiing at Petco in my area, Irvine, CA. The emplyee is actually very knowledgable about salt water and reef, as he is a reefer himself. The information he told me shocked me: the store owner told him to keep the salinity of all salt water tank no more than 1.019, if he ever finds the salinity higher than that he will fire the emplyee, and another thing is that they dose very heavily on Copper, to prevent ick? i really don't understand, but then he will tell the custmers its ok to empty the bag with the fish in their tank after floading and acclimate for 20 minutes.
i too, have boycott Petco!!

SurfsUP · #16 08/22/2002, 12:53 PM

The one by my house takes care of their saltwater. I think it is because of one employee who is always there that takes care of them. But the other emplyees don't know squat.

The worse happen the other day when I stopped by this local shop and it was sold to another lady owner. I saw some cool little kole tangs and asked how much they were cause none of the tanks had labels for the fish and prices. Her response was "what kole tang"

when she was looking right at it. She knew nothing about tropical fish!! I couldn't believe that someone with no knowledge of tropical fish would buy a tropical fish store. The good thing was she wanted to learn and started to ask me all these questions about tropical fish and what their names were.

Elmo18 · #17 08/22/2002, 01:02 PM

Hi all. The reliability of PetCo all depends on the "Aquatic Specialist". I used to visit the PetCo near the University District, who actually had decent looking corals and saltwater fish. The Aquatic Specialist there was also a reefer. He knew what he was doing (i.e. testing water quality, etc, putting sick fish that arrives in a different separate container for observation and treatment). Actually, he ended up finding a partner and opening his own store, his name is Darryll and his store name if you're ever in Seattle is "Below Sea Level".

However, my other experiences with other nearby PetCos, has never been this appreciable. Most of their clownfishes are crammed to a cubby, and their fins are usually tattered. I believe they receive their clownfish shipments from ORA. Some stores will either have corals or no corals available. This all depends, again, on the "Aquatic Specialist".

Just my opinion,

Elmo

goodman770 · #18 08/22/2002, 01:09 PM

This lack of care and understanding is also so stupid. How hard is it to keep a respectable salinity level? How hard is it to put a sign up "We treat with copper, don't put our water in your tank"? And really, how hard is it to take care of a basic salt water tank. I've worked at a LFS, and I used to tell people that for the most part...the only difference is you have to put salt in when you do your water change. And within reason, that's it. A damsel is more intelligent, beautiful, and hardy than 90% of the fresh water fish out there. Sometimes corporate stuff just baffles me. There is good profit to be made in selling salt water fish and products and it doesn't have to be this way. It's not rocket science, duh.
While I applaud petco for trying the salt water thing, it fails miserably in taking the time to do it right. I'm with everyone though, no more.
Bill

Wolverine · #19 08/22/2002, 01:11 PM

The midwest rep of Petco told us that they're planning on not putting saltwater sections into any new Petco's in that region, and that they're probably going to slowly scale back saltwater in those that do have them. (this rep buys his stuff from a store in Omaha). The reason is that this has been the least lucrative part of the store; in many cases the saltwater livestock has been losing money for them. I like to think that this is in part due to people here spreading the word and refusing to buy there.

I personally don't buy anything at Petco; that includes livestock, fish or dog food, etc. I won't until they stop selling saltwater animals.

Dave

Twist N Go · #20 08/23/2002, 12:14 AM

yeah, unfortunatly I've heard bad things about that Petco in Palmdale. here in Victorville a Petco just opened up about two weeks ago, I havn't had a chance to check it out yet but I'll keep you posted

Wilafur · #21 08/23/2002, 01:12 AM

i am pretty darn sure the reason why the petco in irvine keeps the salinity at 1.019 and doses heavily on copper is to maintain the appearance of healthy fish, as parasites do not flourish under such environments.

sneaky sneaky!

wolverine, i am sure petco is losing $$ on saltwater fish due to the fact that their maintenance regimen kills the fish before they can sell it. hehehe

pcmankey · #22 08/23/2002, 01:16 AM

My first fish and others--all living--are from Petco, and even though I know a lot of their stores have people taking care that don't have a clue, I think we should take a look around and in the mirror as well, because us hobbyists are hardly innocent. And I don't mean with only taking care of the animals, I also mean shipping them to their deaths, power outages, and neighbors taken care while were on vacation. There is a large mortality associated with skilled hobbyists whether you buy from Petco or the most advanced aquarium store.

billyblue · #23 08/23/2002, 02:23 AM

I just gotta pipe in...

We don't need another gov't agency! Especially not to regulate a specialty store. I work for the U.S. gov't, but come on... "they" tend to break most everything they touch... especially when it comes to the economy.

More gov't bad. More stores good.

Even if the stores are horrible and killing livestock in droves, in the long run I think we'll see major gains... The more commonplace this hobby becomes, the better off it will be for everybody (including the livestock).

algaefarmer · #24 08/23/2002, 05:10 AM

Forgive me if this sounds a bit cold but here it goes. Someone said "This really bothers me that the profit of the store outweighs the animal rights of these speechless creatures." You are kidding me, right? Where were all of the Petco bashers when the members of Greenpeace were being hit with a high powered water hose as they were trying to climb aboard a ship full of illegally cut timber? (saw it on tv last week, on some tabloid news show) Yes, Petco is in business to make money. No, they are not trying to kill animals on purpose. The only reason that everyone has a Petco story is because there are several within a short drive from your house. With over 500 stores they must be doing something right. When is the last time you entered the pet store in your local mall. Pretty disgusting, huh? But nobody wants to talk about that, no lets pick on the big chain store. For every Petco that you complain about, I will bet that there are at least two local fish stores that are just as bad or worse. I am so tired of hearing of stories about some manager telling their employees to mishandle the livestock. How dare you take some story from a pimple faced kid that is more worried about what he is going to do on friday night at face value! That kid is more interested in telling a cool story then learning about what he is talking about. Sometimes the kid bagging your fish may not know the difference between an angel and a butterfly. Finding a 'fish specialist' is not as easy as it sounds, but they are trying. Petco is aware of the problems that are occuring and they are taking steps to solve the problem. But some things just take time. I have seen the fish as they come from the wholesaler, and it is not pretty. Just keeping a couple of those fish alive is a big accomplishment. I can hear all of you LFS employees already. Please don't get me really started. Back away from Petco, and go to your local mall and picket the store with twenty kittens in that small cage rolling in their feces. My momma once said "Son, if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem." Algaefarmer is stepping off of his soap box now.

goodman770 · #25 08/23/2002, 07:32 AM

Sure...actually let's boycott everything. I'm going to stop eating...who is with me?
I think MY problem with Petco is that they are a chain that has the money and resources to do things right but fail to. Plenty of LFS hire knowlegable people yet everyone in the store I went to had 1/2 a clue. Again, this isn't rocket science to keep a salinity level and maybe have codes for "friendly" or "less friendly" fish. Sure there are pet stores everywhere not doing a good job, but a LFS has far less money and backing to do things right yet somehow things turn out better. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all...I think that's all we are saying. Of course there are casualties in the pet industry...it's the nature of the beast. I think we all realize this, but what WE trying and what this forum is for, is to give these pets the best care possible. If you're on here reading this, chances are you give a hoot about your animals. So if we say collectively that we are not going to go somewhere, there is a reason. Hopefully letters and communication will rectify this, but don't complain by trying to do one good deed that we are doing the wrong thing. One of my personal reasons is because there employees are CLUELESS about animals. There are a lot of things Petco employees could be ignorant about, pets should not be one of them.
Oh yea, comparing a dead goldfish to Greenpeace is a little overboard don't you think?
Bill