Expanding To Full Aquaria / Marine

[SuperColey1]

surely its partly upto the person keeping fish to research their stuff before they purchase a pet.

I totally agree but there are a lot of people who see first, read later and then find to their dismay that they've made a mistake. I have bought fish and the 'salesman didn't even ask me what size tank(s) I had.

If you buy a car that doesn't fit in your garage you can take it back without hurting the car's feelings or distressing it in anyway. Live animals should be sold under different circumstances than material objects, that's all I'm saying.

Bring on a government white paper that puts fish up there with dogs and cats

 

[oddball_lover]

Hi all,

I've just been discussing this in the Marine section! The one I visited was at P@H in Crayford, i'm guessing that's the one? Unless there's another one around the country somewhere?

P@H and Marines thread

 

[thefirethief]

Its definately up to the individual to do their research, but its also the shops responsibility to at least inform the customer that they need to do this research. Like I said in another topic....

....surely the solution is to point all clueless customers to the book section and advise them to spend a few quid on a basic book first. Either that or print up a simple one page guide on cycling and basic filtration and explain how different fish require different setups and wtaer paremeters. 10p a go. Im patenting that.

The thing that worries me is what appears to be standard stock in aquarium shops when the fish clearly require specialised care and/or huge set ups. Im talking about most plecos, pacus, oscars.... you get the idea.

 

[R1ch13]

I personally hate pets at home !

Noone knows what there doing in my Ayr branch ! Oooo i hate it

I was buying a pleco and everything in that tank looked great but what does the retard guy go and do....

Fills the bag up with water from a tank that had a tiger barb in it that was barely recognizable because of theseverity of its white spot !

I was furious ,cmon im 16 i dont get the chance to buy fish very often and when i do i am overjoyed !

I plainly pointed it out to him and said no im not taking it !

And whats does he go and do with the bag of water goes and pours in to the tank that was full of lovely healthy looking plecos !

Next week there wer no plecos left in thats tank and there was plainly to many to be sold in 7 days around 40 - 50 maybe !

Richie

 

[andywg]

Bring on a government white paper that puts fish up there with dogs and cats

There already is one working its way through regarding the welfare of animals (I seem to recall it was discussed by the Lords a session or two ago). It treats all vertebrates the same.

However, I don't think there is a law that the person selling you the dog or cat has to quiz you about your experience and how you will keep them. I know that there is talk of wanting to educate owners of large dog breeds to prevent attacks, but nothing is set in stone.

I for one would hate to see the government try and legislate a problem away which is basically borne of ignorance on the part of the purchaser.

 

[sharkbaitwoohaha]

i agree with you supercoley1. about the white paper.
it just annoys me when people make generalisation about PAH. lots of things they do annoy me though. but its not really fair to say as some do that all the staff are rubbish

 

[SuperColey1]

[/quote]
There already is one working its way through regarding the welfare of animals (I seem to recall it was discussed by the Lords a session or two ago). It treats all vertebrates the same.

However, I don't think there is a law that the person selling you the dog or cat has to quiz you about your experience and how you will keep them. I know that there is talk of wanting to educate owners of large dog breeds to prevent attacks, but nothing is set in stone.

I for one would hate to see the government try and legislate a problem away which is basically borne of ignorance on the part of the purchaser.
[/quote]

I am most probably wrong but I though that when they stopped letting petshops sell dogs and cats that they did a sort of licenced breeders only sort of thing (I know that there are the usual suspects who have puppies and sell them in the classifieds, but the rescue kennels take your name, address and visit random houses to make sure that they are suitable for the dog/cat they have taken. (They came to my Mum and Dads.)

I don't mind being put right if I'm wrong. I do make assumptions a lot. (A fault I've had for a long time) DOH

 

[oddball_lover]

I am most probably wrong but I though that when they stopped letting petshops sell dogs and cats that they did a sort of licenced breeders only sort of thing (I know that there are the usual suspects who have puppies and sell them in the classifieds, but the rescue kennels take your name, address and visit random houses to make sure that they are suitable for the dog/cat they have taken. (They came to my Mum and Dads.)

I don't mind being put right if I'm wrong. I do make assumptions a lot. (A fault I've had for a long time) DOH

Pet shops are still able to sell dogs and cats in this country - they just need to get a license. But not many shops actually still do this, simply because it's not readily accepted as 'ethical' practice nowadays.

'Hobby' breeders (the average breeder you see advertising in the local paper/freeads) don't need a license - however, a breeder breeding specifically to supply a pet shop requires a pet shop license which means they are subjected to inspections etc. from the council.

 

[SuperColey1]

Thanks for enlightening me. One more subject I won't make an assumption on.

 

[willroo]

Hello all i've just registered with this forum.

I've just bought a full set up from pets at home at a reduced price. I thought the advise i got was good, as i asked for same advise in dedicated aquaria stores. They also said that if i took a sample of the water after set up they would test it to see if any other treatment was needed

 

[MonsterFish]

Its unfair to comment on the entire PetsAtHome chain in general other than to say that they could probably offer greater support in training staff and ensuring all their stores look after their fish to an acceptable degree.

Thre are probably stores who are lucky enough to have good fishkeepers on staff and who accordingly have a good aquatic section.

I however have only ever been in one, here in Coleraine NI, and i found the level of knowledge and training of the staff who were expected to catch/bag etc. the fish to be appalling. On every visit I have made I have had to point out diseases such as whitespot to the staff and hope that they acted on it and all there tanks are infested with snails.

They are however cheap for some foods, medications, equipment etc. but the fact that some will remark on how poorly the fish are kept but yet avail of the cheap offers on other things surprises me.
I believe it is unethical to give money to the store when you know that their fish are being handled in a less than acceptable manner.

The question of ethics is a personal one however, this is just my opinion

 

[Underwurlde]

@MosterFish Very well put!

Andy

 

[oddball_lover]

Just to re-iterate what I have said on the marine section of the forum - i've visited the new marines section in P@H in Crayford, and it seemed very good.

The staff also seemed well trained, well qualified, and they have a good freshwater selection also.

 

[Disco]

All pet shops in the UK must have and display a pet shop license in order for them to sell livestock. These are issued by the local authority. Each authority has its own inspectors some of these are vets some are health and safety officers and some use specific staff for the job. Many of these people will not have specific training in all or any areas but are still expected to judge if the shop is fit to sell the livestock on there license. Large groups of shops like Pets @ Home, Maidenhead Aquatics and Garden Centre chains will often have there own standards and procedures set which stores must maintain and follow where as small independent shops or people selling from illegal unlicensed premises do not. This at least ensures some standards are maintained. Unfortunately for Pets at Home there staff turn over as with most of the retail industry is high and this makes training all staff to the highest level on all areas of pet care impossible, vets spend 7 years at university and many still don't no much about fish care.

Many anti animal pet groups such as animal aid are and the RSPCA (these two groups share many of the same board members) would like to see a stop to all pet keeping. Some of the more extreame anti's would rather see your fish dead than in captivity and would happily kill them for you. Animal aid have recently claimed that it is because of there pressure that Wyvale garden centre no longer sell there own animals and fish. If other large companys were to bow to such pressure it would possibly lead to a dimise in pet keeping in the UK and aid there drive towards a ban.

As fishkeepers and petkeepers I believe that we should be suppoting our aquatic shops and working with them to deliver higher standards in order that there will be shops in the future to purchase our fish from. This may mean that we have to pay high prices as consumers eventually in order that our local fish shops can afford to employ the best staff available instead of your average student on minimum wage. Stores which are lucky enough to atain a stable team of staff will ultimatley develope a better standard of service and quality of livestock. I also believe it is also our responsibilty to ensure we know about the livestock we are purchasing as it is for the shop assistant to know about what he/she is selling.

I hope that all makes some sense!

 

[sharkbaitwoohaha]

true. makes a lot of sense