There are still some reputable petstores out there. Unfortunately, they usually go under quickly, or just barely survive. The one store here (it's actually purely an aquatics store) is VERY reputable. One-man-show, he owns and operates, and he does it purely because it's what he enjoys doing. He does not refuse a sale, however, he does refuse to sell the big-time fish that are generally impulse buys that usually end up with horror stories. He will order those fish in (piranhas, oscars, red devils, etc) if you special order them and he knows you, but, otherwise, you have to get them somewhere else. I had at one point started the planning of a petstore (would still love to do it) and flunked out of it because petstores are based on impulse buys, and the ones that stick around are the ones with puppies from puppy mills and exotic reptiles and such that are all sold based on idiotic customers and impulse buys.

Do I personally make impulse buys? Yes, I'll admit, I can be impulsive. I see an exotic animal, I go home and sit on the computer for a little while and figure out why I can't have it. If I find no reason, I think about if I can actually care for it for the duration of its life, if we have the space for it, etc. If I simply cannot find a flaw, and hubby says it's ok, then I usually end up with a new pet. Yes, we've got a zoo running here, we've got BP's, a corn, rats, mice, a bunch of fish, a cat and two dogs, but, if I bought pets without researching and using my head, I'm sure we would have a bunch of pouched rats, sugar gliders, chinchillas, ferrets, more dogs, fish that got entirely too big for our place, tortoises, turtles, iguanas, parrots, etc, etc.