You have to keep in mind that many stores, pet and other alike, are incompetant and don't stand up to the normal standards they're asked to. In my hometown, Petsmart is in much better shape than Petco...partly because petco is so incredibly old there. Here, Petsmart is HORRIBLE, and our petco does pretty well with having animal specialists who know a ton about the animals in their department, and taking good care of them. I think for any store, it all depends on the individual location, because I've seen a ton of variance. It has alot to do with management and who they hire...some people care about animals and some are just in it to make money and get the opportunity to touch the animals.