who do I call to report a pet store?

I went into the pet store today that I never go into because they sell puppies. I hate how the puppies stand on wire. I asked once and the guy said he tried giving them carpet squares but they pee on them. The puppies actually seem to be in fairly good condition besides that, though.

What caught my eye this time was the birds. I was looking at the finches and the healthy-looking ones are few and far between. In the past, they have had mice in appalling condition - mites crawling all over them, half of them pregnant and the other half raising babies. I even had the store guy take a dead pinky out of a cage once. Their bunnies look okay (or they did today) but they sell them to people telling them they like to be alone and they can live in a cage and eat hay and don't need much beyond that.

Anyway, it's the birds that are bugging me right now and I want to call someone who can go inspect them. Who would that be??

 

Have you called Animal Control? They may not be the ones to take care of the problem but they should be able to give you the information you need.

 

call animal control, yesterday I watched miami police and there was a poor dead dog in the window, they called animal control, the place had been cited 50 times! and had 50 dogs in cages :cry: :cry: some without water who knows for ho w long

So I think you report it to animal control, I think the least is they have to investigate.

honeybear

 

Sometimes it might get faster results to get a local TV station to do an investigative report. THat pet store will face a lot of heat if it becomes a news story.

 

Do you have a local SPCA? They could be another option..

 

Thanks everyone! I worry that if a store can have been cited 50 times and still be in business - what's the point?! And where can you go to find out if a store has been cited?

I think I will look into an investigative news thingy like Dukesdad suggested. I went into another store (totally unrelated to the first store - they are independent stores) and the birds were hardly any better there. They also had so many rabbits smooshed into one cage they could barely move. And their puppies were all standing on wire as well. Maybe I could get a local TV station interested in exposing the stores who deal in animals.

 

You can also call the USDA and the health department, which will probably get you quicker results than the SPCA or animal control. Check with your local and state governments to see what kind of licensing pet stores are required to have, and report to any agencies that oversee those licenses.

You can also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

 

Never thought of the going to the press, great idea. I had thought of the Better business Bureau but they wouldnt act on it they would just send you a form to fill out and return and list the business.

 

I hope they go down! I hate stores like that. The wire bottom cage reminds of one time, we had a long hair chi. When he was about 3-6 months (I forget) , my mom was in the kitchen and heard a yelp, and the puppy had broken its leg, she took it to the vet, got it fixed, but bc he was so little, the vet wanted to keep him overnight, so the vet put him in a cage with a wire bottom, before my mom left the building she heard the same yelp again, he had fallen through and broke his other leg. Those cages are dangerous, no animal should be put in them.