We have often said that pet stores are not a good source to get pets. This is from the experience that they don't always know their stuff, and they carry and often recommend products that can be harmful to our pets' health.

The real trouble is that pet stores purchase their pets from breeders who are not interested in the home the pet gets - they are interested in the income or the "cool" factor that they have such a hobby. Pet stores and their breeder suppliers want the looks that get a buyer interested, but should realize they are gambling with the animal's health and longevity. Pet stores often do not look into the living conditions or genetics/pedigree planning of the breeder's operation, and some may find it cheaper and easier to do it badly in-house. Animals are rarely born one-at-a-time, so while one or two babies in the litter are sellable, what happens to the rest?

So what's a pet store to do? Where else are people going to get pets? A store can still be involved when it:

1. •helps shelters place rescue animals by participating in an adoption program,
   

2. •acts as a shelter with due vet care for surrendered animals,
   

3. •posts ads for members of the public who need to rehome their pets (but not advertise to find sires or dams, or to sell intentional litters),
   

4. •refers customers to registered breeders who are in turn evaluated with strong criteria rather than take the animals in-house,
   

5. •refuses to breed or sell live "feeder" animals and educates those who ask for live feeders why this is a bad practice, and
   

6. •if it procures only substitute products and, barring that, can document that its frozen feeders were killed as humanely as possible.
   

This is a store that helps perpetuate humane responsibility, with all its costs and rewards. It is honestly a happy place for animals.

A pet shop that doesn't carry animals can carry a wider variety of stock, which it must move to be profitable. It should be supported by its local clientele.

If, however, a store is not taking responsibility according to these guidelines, it is participating in a black-market, cruel economy that necessarily takes place hidden, behind closed doors, and whitewashed by our political system’s lack of will to regulate.