Pets At Home Store Review 2

Today I took a trip into town to visit the East Grinstead Pets at Home. To read about my previous visit and review of the Crawley branch (In which I state some problems with P@H nationally) please click here.

Date of visit - 01/06/2014

Time of visit - 2:30-3:30pm

When I arrived I was greeted by an immaculately kept store, there was no litter or stock strewn across the floor. Most of the products were well stocked up.

I had a look at the leaflet rack and it was almost full, apart from Syrian hamsters. I approached a nearby colleague and asked whether there were any more out the back. She giggled and went to get some. She came back with a pile and stocked it back up, handing me one too.

Pets At Home are well stocked up on wood shavings and I couldn't see any Carefresh anywhere or another suitable alternative for those with allergies. They also sell scented wood shavings which can be irritable for the hamster. Upon closer inspection, some of what I thought were shavings were actually sawdust. On the back it states suitable for hamsters, but in their own leaflet on Syrian hamster care, it states "Do not use sawdust as it can make hamsters ill". Hamsters cannot use sawdust as it is too fine and can be inhaled, so yet again they are going against their own advice, and policy where 'pets come first'.

The sign below does not make sense, as hamsters have been domesticated for generations. The hamsters they sell are not wild hamsters. They like places to hide from potential predators, not because they burrow in the wild. 

I walked past a woman who had about 6 young syrians in a small cage with a 6 inch wheel with very little wood shavings. I had then realised that she actually could have been a breeder for the store. I hovered and when she saw I was looking I went in closer hoping for a conversation. I said "Sorry to be nosy, they are so gorgeous!" She just looked impatient and didn't respond, like she wanted rid of them and to go home quickly. This concerned me. The colleague then came back to her and like a lot of the staff members I had seen, refused to pick them up properly. She first tried the 'grab from behind' approach (Which is not advised before the hamster is tame, as this is how they are picked up by predators.) and couldn't get hold of it. She then got a log bridge from one of the shelves and let the hamster climb on, and when I came back to the hamster displays later I saw they had already been put out to sell.

I asked a different colleague a small tester question, "Do you have chinchilla sand for hamsters?" he responded "You mean chinchilla dust?", "No, chinchilla sand for hamsters", which seemed to confuse him. He then took me to the hamster litter and started looking for the sand. They didn't have any stocked in and I couldn't find a space for them on the shelf. He said "We usually get a delivery in on Mondays". While he didn't understand what I was after, I was pleased that he didn't hand me the dust and claim it is safe for hamsters, however i would have been more impressed had he informed me that the dust is harmful.

Like the Crawley store, they didn't stock a single cage suitable for Syrian hamsters. There was also a mix up with the measurement labels, as one cage said 38cm in length, but one that was much smaller was labelled as 40cm. Their cages for rabbits were actually the base size of my hamster cage. The image below shows the measurements of their largest hamster cage.

For the same price as the very poor cage in the image below, you could get an Alaska or Barney online, which meets the 75cm x 40cm general minimum guideline. This was one of their larger hamster cages in store...

The worst part of my visit came towards the end. This was the big one. I approached a third employee and said to him "I wonder if you could give me some advice please, I was wondering what the best bedding is for hamsters". He took me over to the nesting material and it was obvious straight away that he was bluffing his way through this sale. He pointed to the paper flakes and said "They are good", then pointed to Safebed paper wool (Which is plant fibres, not paper) and said "That one is good too". I said "What about this cotton bedding, is that one any good?" and he said "Yeah it's good like the others. They can take how much they need. Just if they go toilet on it it can be hard to clean out." I bit my tongue so I didn't start explaining the hazards and my disappointment that their training doesn't involve this, and thanked him for his help. After he'd gone, I decided to get the only one he hadn't advised which was actually the most suitable for a hamster.

In the adoption center, they had a folder with images and details of the rescue animals. I turned to a roborovski and read that they had to have their leg amputated. I was then horrified to see fluffy bedding in the image with the hamster.

There was a woman that came in with her daughter who wanted a guinea pig. She was out the store within 5 minutes with the animal. I hovered nearby when the child was holding the piggie to see whether the colleague would properly test the customer to ensure it's going to the right home, she said "Do you have a cage and stuff?" She said "Yeah, yeah." with no further queries after that.

The **disturbing** images below were shown to me by someone who visited the Newton Abbot store. Not only is there no stimulation or enrichment whatsoever, there are smears of what looks like blood on the side. 

I find it exceedingly disappointing that despite genuine concerns towards this company, they show no desire to improve or pay attention to modern research. They continue to sell products that are considered harmful, or that appeal to children instead of practical for the welfare and life of the animal itself. 

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Pets At Home Store Review

For years I've been a regular customer at four Pets At Home stores. My two most local branches are the East Grinstead and Crawley stores, and here I underwent a secret trip to the Crawley branch to review their standards and see first hand whether they live up to basic welfare guidelines. 

Date of visit - 30/05/2014

Time of visit - 12:00-1:00pm

When I first walked in I went upstairs to the neatly kept cat food section and vet area. There was nobody on reception so I presumed they were shut, though I thought it was strange as it was midday, during half term. I read a sign that had a price list for cats, dogs and rabbits. I couldn't help but wonder why there were no prices for other animals. 

The above sign bothered me, as not only are Chinese hamsters not considered a dwarf hamster, but the three species of dwarf hamster are Winter White, Campbells and Roborovski. Pets At Home sell a hamster called a Russian hamster, which is a hybrid. It's sold as though it's some kind of special rare species.

Another thing I found bothersome is that under each of the hamster signs they state 'for older children'. Making all the mothers with nagging kids give in to the "Awww, can I have one? It's cute" before doing proper research. The Syrian hamster is also listed as "Fun for older children" as though it's expected to do a song and dance to entertain us.

A woman with a young girl was looking at the Chinese hamsters with a member of staff. She told the staff member that her daughters Chinese hamster keeps screeching at her and she wants to buy them a 'friend'. The store colleague should have at this point told her that Chinese hamsters are generally considered solitary animals like the Syrian, and should be housed alone. Their sign simply states that the females can be aggressive. The colleague was telling the customer that males fight and females should live in pairs, not only going against her own employers policy, but completely wrong anyway. The customer was the one who said "I might need to get another cage if they start to fight" so I breathed a sigh of relief. 

My relief turned to horror when the colleague picked up the Chinese hamster by her tail! I was horrified and my partner had to walk away out of disgust. I stood shell shocked as my anxiety kicked in. She put the hamster (Who hadn't nipped, the staff member just seemed to not want to touch them) in the wheel on its side and tried to look through the bottom to determine the hamsters gender. After a good few minutes she said "I think it's a boy". Another few minutes of looking and she said "No I think it's a girl". Lets just let them find out for certain when the customers female gets pregnant, or they end up killing each other, eh?

None of the cages in Pets At Home are actually suitable for a Syrian hamster. The largest cage they had in store was the Bristol, which was tucked out the way on the floor by a staff door. This was the largest cage and at 58cm x 35cm, it still doesn't meet the 75cm x 40cm minimum for proper hamster welfare. Their cage shelves were mainly empty and I couldn't see any Hamster Heaven cages or a space for them on the shelf. After doing further research, I have seen that it is only available online. This was previously the only hamster cage that was suitable for a Syrian, yet they have removed it from stores. Bizarre.

There were live locusts jumping around the shop and when my partner informed a member of staff, they simply told him that it happens a lot and they don't pick them up until they close at the end of the day. 

The staff all seemed flustered and after the woman bought the Chinese hamster there were no staff members working the shop floor, just two on the tills. The shop seemed chaotic, as though multiple colleagues had called in sick that day. Boxes and products were scattered everywhere and a roll pallet completely blocked one of the aisles. 

The leaflet rack was almost empty and there were no information on any species of hamster. The staff member didn't seem to ask the customer any questions regarding the care of her Chinese hamster, whether she had the correct nesting material or what cage she had. It seems the colleagues really are trained to push for sales, not ensure the animal is going to have a suitable home.

After a long successful campaign to remove the Rotastak fluffy bedding from stores nationally, highlighting the dangers and eventually receiving cooperation from the company, I was very disappointed to see they had replaced it with three other brands of fluffy bedding. These three took up the whole of the top shelf, with paper bedding tucked underneath. There was another shelf for paper bedding to the right of these three, but the shelf was empty.

The far right it deceiving as it says 'Paper wool'. It is torn into strips and looks a bit like paper, but it is in fact made from pant fibres, and is the same material as the rotastak fluff. I think it is ridiculous that they have got rid of a harmful product only to essentially order in the same thing with different packaging.

 

The female Syrian hamster was kept in a tiny tank with a 6" wheel. The wheel is far too small, even at this age. There is also no information on this, or guidelines that hamsters need a big enough wheel to prevent their backs arching. I have seen signs in other pet shops that state they need a big enough wheel to prevent spinal problems, they should think about this too, and not sell ones that are unsuitable for even Roborovskis. They do stock two larger wheels that are suitable for Syrians, but they are advertised as rat wheels so it is too easy for the customers to purchase a small one that could potentially cause harm. 

Overall I left with a sour taste in my mouth. Not only had I not enjoyed the shopping experience, but I was disappointed to see the standard of cage generally seems to be overlooked by people like the RSPCA. Money really does make the world go round for some.

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