Lort Smith Partnership With Pets At Home

[Smudgie 0]

I thought this was quite interesting.

 

We checked out a new local pet shop and were surprised to see a lot of information about Lort Smith animal hospital. And instead of having kittens and puppies for sale, they had a very small number (only about 2 or 3) for adoption from Lort Smith. The pet shop didn't make any money from the sale of the animals as they were simply a "venue" for Lort Smith, which required potential purchasers to have an interview about adopting their pet and would not permit impulse buying.

 

My son bought a budgie there and they wouldn't just sell it to him. They wanted to know what kind of care it was receiving and what he was going to feed it, whether he planned to breed etc and it was quite a time consuming process as they were obviously making sure he was going to be a responsible pet owner.

 

From their "Q&A" about the partnership with Lort Smith they say

 

Will Pets at Home be selling other animals apart from cats and dogs?

 

Yes. Pets at Home do presently have small animals, birds, fish and hermit crabs for sale. However, Pets at Home is very aware that animals cannot be seen as a “product” and with this in mind: the standard of housing and care is extremely high; breeders supplying the animals are known and assessed; animals are strictly sold as pets and not for breeding - staff are trained to consider potential buyers and if they feel a particular person isn’t suitable they are turned away, and every new owner is given advice and fact sheets on how to best care for their new pet - including the responsibility not to breed.

 

http://www.petsathome.com.au/questions

 

They gave our son some great "fact sheets" about budgies and they encourage people to phone back at any time with questions. They also have a vet on the premises and the staff all have qualifications in animal husbandry.

 

I was quite in awe of the huge aviary that the budgies were kept in and I have to say it was hard not to spend a lot of money in there because they have the most awesome toys and accessories (my son spent his birthday money on some very delicious looking seed and mineral bells!)

 

I hope it's okay to post this here. It's truly not an advertisement but I was more interested in the partnership between the stores and Lort Smith because I have the absolutely utmost respect for that organisation after the fantastic way they cared for my son's budgies over the past couple of weeks.

[jwancia 0]

I agree that Pets at Home looks good from the outside but they are a big co-orporation that care more about their image than the care of their animals. They originated over in the UK. Now dont get me wrong they dont abuse animals or anything like that- BUT they dont know quite as much as you thought. They are not all "educated" staff - most are from non-professional animal back grounds.

Those staff that WERE employed and had alot of knowlege, eventually were "let go"- a downside of a large corporate corporation.

 

There is however a shop down the road (Fantastic Pets, Narre-Warren. Formerly Narre Pets and Produce) that do have very knowlegable staff. They are a family owned and run company (the children of the owners are now running the place) that care very much about the health of the animals and their care. They may not be a "clean cut" looking as pets at home- but they are a produce store - im sure you guys understand. Many of the people there breed birds and have a passion for them. The owner himself breeds red tailed black cockatoos.

 

Anyways.... I highly recomend Fantastic Pets in Narre-Warren. Its Next door to bunnings just off the highway.

 

Let me know what you think ;D

[**Liv** 0]

I am so pleased you had a great experience

There are so many HORRIBLE pet shop stories, it is really nice to hear something positive for change

[Sailorwolf 0]

It is a bit stink that the few people who have created puppy mills and breed their pets irresponsibly have ruined it for those that breed them responsibly. I don't see anything wrong in breeding an animal if you are committed and care for them well. It is almost like they are demonising breeding animals. Once you buy the animal it is "yours" to do what you want with it. It is sad they see breeding as bad. They should instead discern between responsible breeders and irresponsible breeders.

Edited September 18, 2008 by Sailorwolf

[Angelic Vampyre 0]

I think even the best pet shops can have good and bad. My Local Pet Shop Burwood Birds and Pets I LOVE. Jock and Ivan are a great resourse but there are a few young people there that i just don't talk to cause I know they don't know as much as some of the other staff. Having said that I have been in there and had other people tell me how bad the pet store is blah blah blah so really it is also a personal opinion.

[jwancia 0]

yes well put angelic.

 

By The Way where is that store? (in burwood i presume) but where? I havent heard of it before and i am from that area.

CHeers

[Angelic Vampyre 0]

yes well put angelic.

 

By The Way where is that store? (in burwood i presume) but where? I havent heard of it before and i am from that area.

CHeers

 

 

If you go to the corner where toorak road and warrigal rd cross it is just down the road from that. Right near the westpac bank.

[Smudgie 0]

I agree that Pets at Home looks good from the outside but they are a big co-orporation that care more about their image than the care of their animals. They originated over in the UK. Now dont get me wrong they dont abuse animals or anything like that- BUT they dont know quite as much as you thought. They are not all "educated" staff - most are from non-professional animal back grounds.

Those staff that WERE employed and had alot of knowlege, eventually were "let go"- a downside of a large corporate corporation.

 

I totally realise that they are a big company and their image is important.

 

However I was very impressed with their shop and the fact that Lort Smith (which is an exceptionally reputable organisation) has endorsed them.

 

I'm not quite sure where you got the idea that I thought the staff are "educated" I certainly don't expect them to have a degree in animal husbandry to work in a pet shop, but definitely - the staff we dealt with were very knowledgeable about the animals we enquired about.

 

Yes I'm aware that it's a large operation. But the point of my post is that Lort Smith has opened up a partnership with Pets At Home and whether or not the commercial operation is a money making endeavour or not - I absolutely DO trust Lort Smith and I thought it was a good thing so post here.

 

Sorry if I posted the wrong thing.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Smudgie

[JimmyBanks 0]

no need to apologise smudgie... you liked the shop and thought they were good. Its all about a matter of opinion... if I'm in the neighbourhood I'll check them out... Thanks for the tip.

[Guest whit3tig3y]

It is a bit stink that the few people who have created puppy mills and breed their pets irresponsibly have ruined it for those that breed them responsibly. I don't see anything wrong in breeding an animal if you are committed and care for them well. It is almost like they are demonising breeding animals. Once you buy the animal it is "yours" to do what you want with it. It is sad they see breeding as bad. They should instead discern between responsible breeders and irresponsible breeders.

 

 

When I bought my cats I got them from an animal shelter. The cats themselves were free as they had just been abandoned there. BUT, the vet did charge me $110 for them as it is a requirement of purchase that you pay to have them desexed. You can get them, take them home etc, but when they're old enough you take them back and they desex them, already paid for. You could always not take them back, but then you really paid $110 for your kitten.

 

I can understand why they do this. Places like Lort Smith, animal shelters and other organisations alike, they take in the unwanted and abandoned kittens, puppies, all sorts of animals. What happens is one buys a kitten, that person then thinks how wonderful it would be to have lots of kittens and ends up breeding that cat. Then when they realise its not as great as it sounds, then these kittens are unwanted. Sometimes abandoned, sometimes dumped with family and friends who don't really want them and are only taking them because they feel they should to help out their friend. And these animals sometimes don't get the lives they deserve. And alot of them will end up in an animal shelter or dumped.

 

While its sad that these things go on, alot of the time its for the better. Now on the other hand, if you have a history of breeding an animal, and safely homing it or keeping it and can prove this (ie if you have birds you show them your avery, the birds in good health etc), i'm pretty sure these people can't really say no.

[jwancia 0]

NO NO NO, Dont appologise! sorry i came across that way. I hear your side of the story too

:budgiedance: