Who's responsible?

[MATT FISHER REPTILES]

good point. some times no advice is better than bad advice.

[PythonWallace]

I think it's the consumer who is most at fault. Anyone who buys an animal should know the care and requirements before making the purchase. Too many people make impulse purchases and either don't really care how to properly care for the animal, or they don't want to spend the money to give the animal the proper husbandry. Most of the time you can't learn everything you need to know by having a 2 minute conversation with the breeder/salesperson, even if they know what they are talking about, but nobody should assume that a petstore employee will even know what every animal they sell requires. If you are going to buy a pet, you should do your research and set up the enclosure before bringing an animal home. If you don't have a computer (you probably can't afford a pet w/ your broke @$$) you can go to the local library or Borders and read a book. With the few impulse puchases I've made, I've never made it home with the animal without a good book on the care of the specific specie and all the correct enclosure, food and accesories it requires. As soon as it's settled in I hit the forums and start reading and asking questions. I want all my animals to thrive. Anything less is just being irresponsible.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Ultimately the customer; when buying an animal researches should not be limited to what a pet store employee says.

[Spaniard]

Some stats on how many people actually have access to the internet for those interested.

http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/pr/pr_040318.pdf

3 our 4 people have internet access according to this report.

I voted consumer, because anything that requires care to survive should be researched thoroughly before accepting that responsibility.

[Laooda]

That was a hard choice between the customer, and the corporate office... Let's not forget that the majority of us here, if not ALL are obviously "animal people"... If a customer that has little, if any creature skills wonders into a pet store, and sees a beardie... and decides that they want it... and with all good intentions listens to an employee and takes all they say to heart... well, if the info was wrong, I would blame the store. Not the employee, and not the manager... because with big box chain stores... the management and employees are "trained" by the corporation... I THINK the majority of the time, especially with reptiles.. they go off what they are told, and the care sheets that are provided... Anyhoo... I voted cooperate... Now if a somewhat knowledgeable animal person purchases a critter, there is more of a chance that they have animal buddies that they'll discuss their new pet with, care etc... they, I would think would already know that sights like this one exist, etc.... Can I just vote all of the above!??!

[Allie]

I have to say the customer. I think that anyone that is purchasing a living thing needs to know how to care for it properly BEFORE it comes home. You wouldn't bring a baby unless you had the things they needed already at home and knew how to care for him or her and I treat my pets the same way.

As a very new snake owner we didn't make the decision to own an unfamilar pet quickly or without extensive research. Now I did make some changes to our tank after Mugsy came home but it was minor tweaking not a complete setup. We knew what we were doing, what to look for dealing with illness, where we were going to get food and when we were going to feed him which was coordinated with the existing schedule set by the breeder. I did the same thing when we got our birds too.

[icygirl]

Let's not forget that the majority of us here, if not ALL are obviously "animal people"...

Remember, these customers aren't whatever stereotypical image you have in your head of a "non-animal person buying an animal". These people could be someone you respect - could be your aunt, or your mom or dad, or your neighbor. Often times they honestly have no malicious intent regarding the animals they're buying.

My first reptile was a beardie from Petco. I hate to say this but it WAS an impulse buy, as I had been thinking about buying a reptile but had not decided on what I wanted to do exactly. But after I bought it with the supplies sold to me by an associate, I ran home and read online for hours and hours and hours about beardies, desperate to give my little boy as perfect a habitat as I could manage. Week after week I perfected my tank, my lights, and my feeding routine. That beardie was in fact my gateway into the herping world. I quickly learned lots of fascinating stuff about lizards and reptiles in general and soon added a small anole tank to my collection.

I'm not sure why, but some non-animal people, even after buying an animal, STAY non-animal people. In other words, even though they bought the animal, they don't bother doing any more research than what they learned at the store. A lot of times, this happens when parents buy for their kids because "my son/daughter really, really wants it" instead of "WE really, really want it."

So is it the fault of the customer for his indifference about his new animal, or the people who sold it to him (at some level in the company) because they failed to prevent the situation from happening? Hmm...

[Laooda]

Remember, these customers aren't whatever stereotypical image you have in your head of a "non-animal person buying an animal". These people could be someone you respect - could be your aunt, or your mom or dad, or your neighbor. Often times they honestly have no malicious intent regarding the animals they're buying.

"and with all good intentions listens to an employee and takes all they say to heart..."

I think you misunderstood me... I wasn't implying that a new owner had any indifference or malice towards their new purchase.

I think that ideally, an educated staff coupled with a customer that is willing to self educate is the best scenario. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

[Brimstone111888]

Remember, these customers aren't whatever stereotypical image you have in your head of a "non-animal person buying an animal". These people could be someone you respect - could be your aunt, or your mom or dad, or your neighbor. Often times they honestly have no malicious intent regarding the animals they're buying.

They could be my aunt, mom or dad and I would still consider it their ignorance for not researching ahead of time. It is common knownledge that pet store employees make somewhere around minimum wage or a tiny bit higher. That means they are usually low quality workers.

"Ignorance has no boundries"

[nixer]

i cant vote because the corect answer is all of the above!