Quote Originally Posted by MedusasOwl
More and more I'm of the opinion that pet stores should be supply and information centers, and put people in contact with breeders and shelters when they want an actual animal (feeders would count as supply tho, I think). I think that'd be doing a lot of herps and other critters a huge favor, and lead to more educated owners.
Isn't that how Petco and PetSmart started out? Back in the day, it was abuse against dogs and cats in petstores that was the outrage...so those giants made a line of petstores that would't sell dogs and cats and just be there for supplies and information...as you say. But it didn't take long at all for them to start getting into selling "small animals"....which they sell a LOT of nowadays. And of course where there are humans taking care of lots of animals, there are bound to be areas of neglect and abuse.

Anyhow...sounds nice on paper, but there are all sorts of pitfalls, such as: They don't have to sell dogs in order to sell dog-collars. But 99% of the reptile and other small-critter stuff they sell is because people come in and see the the cuteness of the animals and impulse-buy...and of course have to then buy the supplies to keep the animals and then return to the store periodically to buy more. If the animals themselves weren't in the store, MOST people would never even conisder buying any of that stuff.