Do you think selling pets in a pet store should be illegal?

i think no it should not be illegal as long as there buying there animals from breeders that treat there animals well and are knowledgeable but if they are buying from a place that overcrowds animals and treats them like items not living things then yes it should be.

Vets supported the sale of pets through petshops because restrictions and guidelines could be enforced through the shops, whereas if the petshops close down then the puppymills will still be selling directly to people, without the legal restrictions places on petshops. Legally petshops can be required to desex, vaccinate and microchip all animals before sale. I think that's the law everywhere in Australia and I know for sure that it is in Victoria. The next steps in the plan are to institute minimum space requirements for the animals there, and to encourage 'adoption centres' from shelters such as the Lort Smith Animal hospital rather than sales from breeders. You can't just fix the world to make it suit your views overnight. You can gradually introduce more rules that improve the welfare of the animals and at the same time allow the pet shops to keep running.

If big chain pet stores trained their employees properly and gave them the much-needed information of different fish instead of just hiring Joe Blows off the street, they wouldn't have the reputation they do.

In NY you need a license if you sell more than 9 dogs or cats in a year. I spend 4-6 hours at the local humane society each and every week (for years) taking care of unwanted cats, ferrets, chinchillas and dogs. Right now we have a pit bull who is still very full of milk. Around Christmas, we saw her and her pups on an eBay classified ad. The pups were a month old and these jerks were done with her and dumped her about 5 miles away from home. The pups were too young to leave their mother. The sellers were dirt bags. Wasn't hard to figure them out, so now they have a court date.

In my state, if you sell without a license you are basically in trouble. We do not sell dogs and cats. We don't sell small mammals or birds. We sell fish and reptiles. We do everything we can do to educate consumers. It is a legal industry. It can be done with or without morality. There are people who break the law. I fully support prosecuting these people. Organization s up here in the liberal north east take puppy mill victims from conservative red states because in those states 3 out of 4 animals that enter a shelter will be euthanized generally in 72 hours. There is a big difference in attitudes between our state and about 40 others. I have driven cargo vans packed with dogs and cats saved from the gas chamber from states such as Alabama, Nebraska and Iowa. One group in this area has an old rental van that I have driven several times. Last week to moderate Pennsylvania to pick up 20 cats. The shelter has severe financial cuts and donations are down. We take 5 of the cats and the owner of the van took the other 15. Problem solved until April when "kitten season" starts in full swing. We'll be back. We'll go other places.

We are in a crisis in this country. Too many scammers looking to make a fast buck, because 10-15 lbs pitbull puppies are darn cute, but untrained and neglected 80 lbs adult pitbulls will make your life miserable. People have no idea what they are getting into. Kind of the same situation with Bala Sharks and other freshwater tankbusters.

I can't believe how much our society cares so much about animal rights. What about people who have children? Because they can breed, doesn't make them fit parents. There are more laws governing animal care than human children. Laws, laws, laws!!!! God forbid you kick a dog in public, they will arrest you on the spot, but yet, hit a kid, you will get looks and maybe someone will say something to you. Our society relies too much on governmental rules. If you can't put on your seat belt when you drive your car, so be it. But thanks to all the idiotic people, we have the laws...

Don't blame the pet stores for abused animals. That's like blaming the grocery stores for making us fat. Our population is highly educated compared to the rest of the world, but we need laws to keep the "no common sense" population alive.

Walmart yes. Its not a pet store and should not be selling fish. However with other pet stores it would be far easier to update their care guide lines and require them to more know more about the animals. Also Petco does not sell cats and dogs they adopt them out through shelters.

On the other hand it is also the owner responsibility to do research on their future pets BEFORE buying a pet. That would cut down on impulse buying as well. Making everything illegal will not solve the problems. Only proper education will solve it.

petco actually makes an attempt to do this, they don't sell dogs or cats

however they decided to sell other small animals and fish

and over time have paid less and less to keep competent people in the stores to help customers.

So by now they and petsmart/walmart are famous for bad advice, selling cheap crappy products and having sick fish and small animals.

Breeders can be no better; remember, money is the bottom line, and it's impossible to make money breeding animals etc. without cutting every corner you can. .

welcome to civilization , miss flower

Apart from dogs, cats which should not be sold in pet stores. Also rabbits,hedge hogs etc. The animal shelters are full of anumals needing homes. Breeders are avaiable for those wanting pure breds. Stay away from breeders that offer mulitple breeds unless you do your research. Exotic bird sales like large parrots live long lives in sometimes miserable conditions. Bird rescues are every common now. The only thing the seems practical are tropical fish. They can be very expensive and owners tend to be more careful. Good luck with your project. Just a note. I hope it doesn't offend but the Amish are known for operating puppy mills. Just another crop. Not all Amish though.

No, making things illegal is usually not the best answer. Requiring education and an application may be the best route. People are required to get licenses for driving cars and motorcycles, permits for fishing and hunting, why not for owning a pet? Fill out an application, prove you can take care of this animal should it need medical attention, prove you have the space for it, prove you have the knowledge to care for it. Then require a course (like drivers Ed or shooting school etc) and give breed specific literature and training tips to the qualified owners. This will also, inevitably, make people better parents in the long run. A puppy is a great practice run for a baby. But illegal? No