Who's responsible?

The customer is at fault. Assigning blame anywhere else is simply the "pass the buck/not ME!" crap that contributes greatly to what's wrong with our world.

If you buy a set of pots and pans, do you blame Wal Mart when the food you cook sucks?

Besides.... how long does it take to learn very basic animal husbandry? While that question is obviously rhetorical, the answer is also obviously "way longer than you're going to talk to the clerk in a pet store."

You are not talking about a book, a candy bar, or a new TV. You are talking about a living, breathing animal that will depend on you 110% for EVERYTHING. It is totally the person who buys the animal who has the responsibility to see that it is properly cared for.

There is NO excuse to let an animal die because you REFUSE to learn. The animal didnt die in a day. There are vets out there. The FIRST thing anyone should do with a new pet is take it to a GOOD vet. If you can't afford a vet visit you cant afford the pet.

It is great when the "pet people" at the huge pet stores know a lot about the animals they are selling. However not only can most not remember what the person told them in that 3 min conversation they blow it off (usually to save money). I have NO symphany for impulse buyers who get ANY kind of animal! THEY and THEY ALONE agree to take and care for that animal.

For example a google search of ball pyhon care gave me 101000 in .12 seconds. You don't have to read all 101000 pages but even if you read for one or two hours and start seeing the same information you should be able to get a clue.

Steping down. Sorry but this is a hot topic for me. I have seen so many abused animals and hear "I didn't know" and say did you EVER call a vet? and 90% of the time the answer is NO. If they where sick they would RUN to a doctor

I voted the store management. I do agree that the sales associate and the customer are also to blame but it comes down to hiring untrained employees.

I have worked in pet stores. One of them was a small chain the other a huge national chain. The huge chain, I was greatly disappointed. It comes down to politics and BS as far a I am concerned. Corporate does have a hand in these issues but only so far as their policies are concerned. Corporate does not hire, train, or supervise the employees. The store management does. Often enough the store managers don't know hardly anything about the animals sold in the store, or even the use of the products they sell. Their focus is dealing with people and following protocol and policy.

In the small chain I worked at, you had to be qualified to work in the fish or reptile rooms. You could not assist customers in those areas if you had no experience, you HAD to get a manager or an experienced employee. Everybody started out as a cashier and was only allowed on the floor if they really knew anything about pets and they provided great training, meetings, worksheets, encouraged the employees to read the books they carried etc. They would not sell exotics to people that did not know what they were doing. If an animal got sold to an idiot, it was the sales associates fault to a degree, but it is also up to the manager on duty to step in and make sure everything is allright.

The customer, yes I agree that you should never obtain a living creature without any idea of how to care for it.. but this is not limited to reptiles in any way shape or form! 90% of people that own dogs and cats know nothing of animal behavior, nutritional needs, training, etc. and wind up with ill behaved and dangerous animals because of their lack of research or being misinformed.

These sorts of things will continue to happen so long as the animals are made available to the people that want them. By responsible breeders screening buyers and through forums like this we can hopefully reduce how often it happens, but as long as those pet stores and those backyard breeders and puppymills are still in business, animals will suffer needlessly.

Individuals need to be responsible for themselves. I don't mind a store clerk asking someone if they know what's required for that animal or handing them a caresheet, but it's ultimately the consumer's responsibility to do right by the animal since he or she is the one deigning to care for it.

I think the costimer is at fault. He should of been a responsible pet owner and done research before buying and pet. I own several herps for a long time and I still do research to see if anyone has any better techniques or ideas.

This poll was designed with the assumption that everyone gets their animals from a petstore. I understand for the layman, this is most often the case, but its still a blank statement.

That said, I would like to say that, with 9 yrs of pet store employment experience (one being a nat'l chain) nearly everyone listed on the poll is responsible to some degree. It's true; the big wigs at the corporate HQ care about nothing but money. Store managers care only about keeping their jobs and making sure their underlings do theirs, and 90% of the time, the sales associates only care about their meager paycheck. Some sales clerks may care a little about the livestock, but usually, there is one of two obstacles in the way:

1.) they simply are ignorant of proper care, and if not properly trained by management (which is rare), they seldom take it upon themselves to do some research. This is very sad within itself, as we live in a society where most people hate reading. Unless its required for a job or school, no one likes to read voluntarily. I suppose it just simply equals "work" in their minds. This phenomena is what I commonly refer to as the "dumbing" of America.

2.) in the rare cases where you have a sales clerk who knows his stuff and genuinely cares about the animals and not the next buck, he finds himself in a position where he might have to confront his superiors. Most people choose to be robots and keep getting that paycheck (when you have bills to pay, you have to pick your battles carefully...I can't really blame most of these individuals.

So, it can easily be said that there's room for improvement with everyone involved, but I do have to say that out of the four, it is the customer's (pet owners) responsibility. This isn't like buying a microwave or a dvd player. A new pet owner is responsible for that animal's life, and this includes knowing what you're getting into. We live in an age where tons of information is literally at our fingertips. There's no excuse for not doing your homework before investing in a pet (this goes with my general concerns with people not doing research).

Also, part of the problem is that people do not know how to research. First and foremost, you cannot be dependant on a singular source of information (i.e. a petstore clerk). You have to confirm it with other sources, whether its a book, magazine article, another person, or websites. I always tell people to find 6-7 sources and average out the info. If something is repeated 3-4 times, its probably correct.

From a petstore's perspective, I can see where the store is liable if a customer is told false information and acts on it (thats just business), but I still think people should do a little more homework before making the commitment to have an animal's life in their hands.

I think its the store chain ..management where ever to give their employees a correct basic knowledge of pet care of the pets they sell to the public.., Its the customers responsibilty to get more in depth understanding of a pet prior to purchase. look at the efforts that go into buying a car or a computer or refridgerator for that matter..Any one who has the inclination to buy a pet from a general pet store surely should know that they need further research and understanding. With the internet so easily accesible it takes just a matter of moments to research any animal on this planet. All animals can get sick..from stress and changes thats why its soo important to learn how to make their transition as stress free as possible to help keep them healthy. the store cant be held responsible for a customers negligence .

(I'm going to do my best here....the nyquil is kicking in)

I confess...I was an mis-informed, uneducated impulse buyer of a bp! I've learned a lot but not nearly enough, yet.

In my case, I think everybody involved is/was to blame...

--I didn't do enough research and feel horrible about it!
We started off researching corn snakes but at the last minute changed our mind to a bp because that is what my son really wanted.

--The rep really should know more about what s/he is selling
I realize now that the rep didn't have a clue what he was doing/saying but pretended he knew all there was to know about bps
When we made our final decision we told the rep to go ahead and set us up with whatever we need. He even agreed to setup the tank so all we had to do was add water once we got it home. Basically we said "here is a credit card, hook us up". It wasn't until I found bp.net that I realized the set up was all wrong. But, he mimicked the tank in the store. This is where I blame the manager.

Management should be responsible for providing proper care to the animals prior to the sale. I'm guessing the rep followed in store care and procedures.

Corporate should care just as much about the animals they sell as they do the money they bring in. Sell better, healthier animals, educate customers, make more money. Is it that hard?

My sister is the type who will get an animal (dog, cat, lizards, whatever) and not do a bit of research. Her son's all have lizards and the last time I was there none of them had water or hides. I've even gone as far as doing research for them and begged them to give the lizards their proper care. But, my sister doesn't care, couldn't be bothered and probably won't spend the money for proper husbandry.

In the last 7 years she has had as many dogs and 3 or 4 cats, most of which were bought at pet stores for big bucks. With an exception of the two dogs and one cat she still has, she has given them all away after only a year at most. Even if the pet shop provided the necessary information on the breed doesn't mean that the owner will follow it. My sister is now considering on getting rid of her King Charles mix and Chow because her husband is going through Chemo. I pray to God that she doesn't get another! We can't afford to rescue any more of her pets!

Sorry to ramble on!

I will do whatever I can NOT to be like my sister! Unfortunately I started off on the wrong foot but have since spent HOURS upon HOURS on the internet to learn all I possibly can about Foster! I want only the best for her and will give her the best or find a better home for her if it has to come to that.

It would be great if there were laws protecting pets against poor owners before they actually purchased them!

We don't need any more laws. I talked this over with my roommate and he did change my mind a bit. I still think the custome is responsible. HOWEVER, now I believe that there should be good information that goes along with any pet purchase. Even something simple as a handout that describes the proper type of care. It doesn't have to be fancy one page. Like my roommate said "people belive clerks because they hold a type of authority. They expect them to know what they are talking about" I have to agree. If you go to a pet store and ask a question you ASSUME that the person you are talking to knows his/her information.

On the other hand I don't belive in blind trust either. If you say "set me up" and you get a bad set up. Then the clerk is responsible for a short time. However it is up to you to do some follow up.

The manager and the chain stores need to be more aware of what goes into that bottom line. My roommate pointed out "store clerks just parrot information" so if the corprate says "sell them x" that is what they will do. Especially since most clerks are young. If they don't know what type of care x needs there should be a ready source of information (a cheat sheet) on the type of care X animal needs.

It would take little money to make a list of websites or online resorces or books. If an animal came with a care sheet and then gave you other references then there would be absoutly NO excues.

On a side note: anyone who gets an animal SHOULD be responsible but that is not always the case. We live in a throw away culture. Don't want it anymore give it away or kill it. I just saw an add on craigslist "free b/p" oh by the way it has a RI AND MITES but no big deal. if someone won't take it I will just kill it. How very sad is that. I thought for .000009 seconds of getting it and then came around. There is NO way I would introduce something like that into my house, but Ifeel so sorry for the little b/p. :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by akaangela

On the other hand I don't belive in blind trust either. If you say "set me up" and you get a bad set up. Then the clerk is responsible for a short time. However it is up to you to do some follow up.
:(

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I agree with you 100% and that is exactly what I've done since bringing our bp home. However, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who will take the clerks word and follow it to a T. Those are the ones I'm the most concerned about.

I have learned so much from bp.net in the last several weeks since getting our bp. If it wasn't for you guys, I don't think our little girl would be around today, sadly enough. I say this because the information that I received so was sooo bad! I can't think of anything that they said that was actually true or worth a darn.

I'm not putting the blame off on anybody, but I do think that the store has some responsibility to either verbally provide basic care instructions or by handing the new owner a caresheet with useful information.