Petland review: terrible experience! 25

I work at Petland currently, and have for about 4 months now. I'm 17 years old, and it is my first real job. I can also assure you, the things complained about in this Petland are NOT happening at mine. My front animals are very well taken care of, as we clean every inch of the petters (new bedding, glass wiped and disinfected, fresh food and water, cleansed toys, etc) EVERY morning. We have this thing called C.A.P. at my Petland, which we had to memorize (along with other things) to even be able to work there. It means Customer Service, Animal Husbandry, and Presentation. Animal husbandry is the most important in my store, because our animals come BEFORE our customers. We do NOT sell animals to anyone we don't think will take care of them. I had a family of about 6 come in wanting to buy a hamster for this lady's child's birthday present. I would not sell them the hamster because they wanted to go the cheap way and buy the absolute bare minimums, and even wanted to put the hamster in a critter carrier (actually made for keeping crickets) instead of a hamster cage because the cage was more expensive than the small plastic box. I told them that they could run to walmart and buy a cheaper cage, but until then, I was not selling a hamster to them. Yes, working at Petland IS competitive. It IS a sales job, not a maintenance job. Granted, it is very difficult to sell animals to anyone who doesn't have the full intention of buying anything as they walk through the doors. But that is how you make more money there. At my Petland, if you don't sell a lot, you don't get as many hours as people who sell more. That to me is kind of ###, but I mean, that's fine, I'll look for a new job soon. It's hard to sell puppies during the week on only 5 hours a week. Anyways, our ferrets only bite out of play, and they don't even bite. They nibble. There is one that does like to actually bite, and even drew blood on a customer before. I warned him before he touched it, and he picked it up anyway. THAT is why people are stupid for touching things that don't want to be messed with. However, I didn't tell him he was stupid, I offered a bandaid. We have signs that say they may bite, too. People ask me all the time "Do they bite?". All the time my answer is "I cannot guarantee that they won't, but I've only seen them bite when they're scared or stressed." People need to handle our front animals at their own risk. And yes, we have had hamsters and rats die from wet tail. We absolutely do NOT sell hamsters or rats without selling them wet tail drops, otherwise we get complaints and yelled at because their pet came up with wet tail and died. We put the wet tail prevention drops in ALL the rodents water upon every time we give them fresh water.
Onto our puppies. We do NOT get our puppies from puppy mills. We have specific breeders that are even shown through pictures on a TV screen on the wall, as well as documentation. 99% of our puppies come to the store in good health. You cannot honestly believe, however, that through the 90 something puppies we have in the store at one time, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM are going to be in PERFECT condition. We have at least 4 Chihuahua's that have skull conditions right now and we do not pull them out to play with children, we do not send them home to a house with children, or bigger dogs. We have a sick Great Dane right now that one of our Kennel Techs takes home with her a lot of the time to watch over her. And upon sending a puppy home, we tell the new owner anything that the puppy has wrong with them or may cause issues later on with them, so that the owner knows what they are getting into. If we don't tell them that, WE get in trouble and have full liability for that. We don't try to cheat you and sell you ### puppies. As far as attitudes go, I don't treat my customers like ### even if they're treating me like ###. I've had customers tell me that everything I was telling them was ### and I don't know anything about it and they can get better deals on puppies elsewhere. Sometimes, yes, I will be sarcastic with them, but I would never yell at them or say they're stupid or anything, to their face that is. I might come to the Kennel and rant a little, but who wouldn't? Just today, a lady came in asking about our chocolate colored schnauzer. She wanted to know the price right off the bat without even playing with him yet, and that is against our policy. To know the price of a puppy at my Petland, you must play with the puppy, and let us explain everything we send them home with first. We build value to let you know that when we shoot you a price, you're not JUST "buying a dog". You're buying a family member that needs constant love and attention and we give you everything you need to start out with a happy, healthy puppy. Anyways, I asked her, "Oh, are you aware of everything we sell our puppies with?" She said no. So I said, "Here, let me take him out and I'll explain everything while you play with him for a bit." She agreed, however it took me a couple tries to get her into a room. She had little emotion on her face and when I told her to sanitize her hands before playing with the puppy, she just looked at me. I asked her again, politely, and she continued to look at me. After a couple seconds she put her hands under the sanitizer bottle and looked at me to squirt the sanitizer in her hands for her... lol I played along and did so. But she then looked at me and seriously goes "I have to do all of this just for asking one question?" And I said yes, because we don't sell just a puppy, blah blah blah, I tried explaining all that to her and she interrupts me and says, "I'm not buying the dog. I just want to know the price so I can put it on my list while I go look around other places and compare prices." And I said, "If you're not seriously interested in this puppy, it is a waste of both of our time for me to explain everything to you." She nodded her head and said "I guess I'll never know."
That is something that annoys us as pet counselors. The people that come in thinking we can just tell them a price without touching the puppy. If that were something we could do, we'd have the prices written on the windows. If we did that, everyone would see how expensive the puppy was, not care to listen to us explain WHY they are expensive, and not even want to play with the puppy in fear they'll fall in love and break their bank. If that happened, NONE of our puppies would be as socialized as they are and will not do well going home.
I've read a lot of your guys's comments about Petland and a lot of you are "F.O.S.", lol. That has never been a term used at my Petland. All of my coworkers treat people with respect and even when we get yelled at by angry customers, we keep smiles on our faces. But in all seriousness, our animals are not abused, they never have been. If you buy, let's say a hamster, or a ferret, or a bunny, or whatever, and it died in your care a couple days after. That's not our responsibility. Our animals do just fine in the store and all of a sudden they leave the store and they're just dead? Don't come at us yelling because of your negligence. Being a pet counselor is extremely competitive and yes, we are going to try to sell you things. We are SALESPEOPLE. It's our job lol. You guys as customers need to know what you're getting into when you're buying animals. Like someone said before, do not ever think of it as buying property. It's not property. They are living creatures that need constant attention and care. If at any time you think to yourself "I don't know about this, " DO NOT BUY IT. And, also, don't take us too seriously lol. We like to joke around with people. Like, my coworkers and I sometimes if someone comes up and asks to play with a puppy, we say "No." And they're like "Really...?" And then of course we get the puppy out and let them play, but we build relationships with our customers as well. We get them laughing, get them to enjoy their time and come back. One person came in and asked why our puppies water had a pink tint (it's actually a probiotic powder) and my manager replies with "Vodka." And of course she laughed and we told her what it actually was and it was fine. She came back. Plus, I'm not one of those naggy pet counselors that just shove puppies in your face and beg you to take them home. If you're not ready for a puppy, you're not ready. I'm not going to try and send you home with a puppy that you cannot afford to take care of. That's bad on my part, not yours. So usually if someone tells me no, I'll leave them alone. But anyways, this is just my Petland. All Petlands are different. All Petlands have different people with different personalities and different policies and whatever. But mine is great, as far as the animals go. I'm looking for a new job though because I think I'm getting cheated out of my commission, but I'm not going to get into that. I think I'm done here lol.

Does petland drug test new hires?

i've bought 2 dogs from a petland and one from the GEORGETOWN, TX store!

everyone there is friendly and upfront. whether or not, they employees are on commission, or hourly wage, they don't shove puppies down your throat, which is a good thing. keep in mind, their not vets; just kids trying to make some money. the manager, Lauren... i've only seen her a few times, lounging around. if she submerges from the back, don't bother asking her anything; she will just refer you to an employee. it seems the employees might actually know more than her and take their job more seriously.

the puppy i purchased at the georgetown, tx location had ZERO, i repeat: ZERO health issues when taken to the vet within the required 7 day purchase period. almost 1 year old, she has yet to get sick once, or have any issues what so ever.

i think the people ### here, that buy pets with problems, must have bought a sick pet to begin with. the employees aren't vets, they have no idea what kennel cough smells like, or symptoms of sick/dying pets. use your own judgement. if you can see the dogs ribs and its lethargic, don't buy it and say its "Petland's fault!" seriously. use common sense.

we have lost two yorkshires we bought at pet land. the first one died about 9 months later the other on just recently, lived for less than a year both dogs with aotopsy report enlarge hearts. we well never do business with pet land ever there attitude was rude very disrespectible the employees there where just kept saying how they are not accountable for any animals they sale once purchased. our warranty was good and we had our aotopsy reports.we have learned from this we doing more before we ever purchased before we buy any more any animals.we well do like buying a car have it check first so that we dont get stuck with a lemon.our children cried there eyes out and wanted to sleep out side where the dogs are in there resting place.

i have lost two yorkshires terriers i bought at petland the the second one past away 9 months after purchase the second 1 yr later.both dogs had enlarge hearts .pet land was very rude when we confronted we showed autopsuy report they acted as if they are not accountable even though who ever the breeders are or where ever pet land got the dogs from they need to be told pet land said or told us we are not resonsible for any breeding or nothing to do with the owners or breeding.any way we well never do business with pet land ever.and we learned more and now than before.

I went there to get a hamster about a week ago, and the whole time I was trying to pick out one of their dwarfs, the sales guy was shoving an american bulldog puppy in my arms. All he did was get me upset that I couldn't afford the 2, 000 for the thing. Then they have the nerve to tell me I could make payments and finance him. A puppy! All I wanted was a lil hamster, I already have a pomeranian, and a ferret, I wasn't looking for a dog, just a hamster. They kept pulling me away from the hamsters to the puppies the kittens anything that was expensive. After an hour of argueing that I really couldn't afford a dog that I specifially came in for a hamster the employee pointed me to his manager saying I was yelling at him when he was only showing me the puppy I wanted to see. Then the manager had the nerve to start pushing me on puppies herself! I got her to listen to me and she apologized for her employees behavior and helped me get a hamster and rang me out. All the while telling the stupid kid that was trying to get me to buy the puppy, "it's okay, you tried" "Maybe she doesn't like dogs" I was standing right there! The only good out of that visit was my hamster Pablo.

Here is all im going to say. I work in the Kennel and my job is to take care of the puppies and kittens. I've worked here for 3 years now, so i know my stuff. i will honestly say, these puppies do in fact come from puppy mills. I dont care what the owners or employees tell you. I have worked with over 6 different brokers and they have all given me very sick puppies at some time. Im not going to stay on this issue, you can do your own research on the internet. Just look up Hunt, R2 Farms, Top Notch, Conrads, and there are many more. Hunt is the main broker that Petland uses, the store i work at does not anymore. I will also inform everyone who reads this, that one of the people above was wrong about our kittens. Our kittens are mainly domestic kittens, which come from people who dont want their own cats kittens. so we will take them for you and sell them for a profit. we DO NOT pay the person any money for the cats, we take them off your hands for FREE. i will also say that some of our puppies are bred from some corporate employees who breed their dogs. Petland does offer microchipping, vaccinations, vet care, and more... BUT we buy these puppies from the brokers for about $200-$500. so we do not need to sell them for $1800- $4500, which we do depending on the breed, color, and if they are AKC registered. if you want to buy from a petstore or complain about one, look things up first to see whats going on. I enjoy working with puppies and like my job, but the people i work with make it a horrible place to work at. but it is also my choice to stay. Also, BREEDERS may also sell puppy mill dogs so BE CAREFUL if you use a breeder. sometimes they are owners of puppy mills but sell some of their top puppies at their homes away from their puppy mill site. and some of these people are also state registered. if you want my honest opinion, about 50% of our dogs go home sick, most of our dogs come in sick from the brokers but we dont always catch it because it can take up to 14 days, some go home the next day. Out of the puppies we sell, about 5% die, 20% or so have serious life threatening sicknesses and have to be treated right away at a vet office. If you break PetLands health warranty, your stuck with the whole vet bill. SO BRING YOUR DOG TO OUR VET SO THAT DOESNT HAPPEN TO YOU! Now that you know, be careful when you buy.

I work at a Petland. I will assure you at my store none of this is happening. We treat our customers with respect. As a pet counselor I connect with many customers and help them in any way I can. Everyday we get people coming in to play with puppies. We don't use the term F.O.S. If someone wants to see a puppy we get it out! Being honest 90% of the dogs I pull out don't get sold to the customer. We call it the "puppy fix". I don't mind answering questions about the puppies to people who aren't even interested in it. Because it's my job. I'll be honest puppies do get sick at my work. But we have everything the puppy needs to get better and if we don't it gets sent to the vet. And for the people who complain about the puppy prices: When you want a nice car where do you go? BMW dealership? Infinity dealership? If you want a cheap car where do you go? Carmax? When you walk into Petland we have nice dogs at high prices. (THE DOG COMES WITH EVERYTHING YOU NEED.) If you wanna complain about prices GO TO A SHELTER. I'm sick of people complaining. Again, our dogs come with everything you need. THAT'S WHY THEY ARE EXPENSIVE. You would be spending the same amount buying everything for the dog. Every customer that says they bought a dog from us I ask, "How's the dog? Is it healthy?" I always get a positive answer. So please before you start judging all Petlands know that NOT ALL PETLANDS ARE LIKE THIS ONE. And for the ferrets biting?! Idk about the other store but when new ferrets come in they are BABIES. Baby ferrets teeth, just like human babies, just like puppies. IT'S NORMAL.

and you more than likely got turned down from getting a puppy from the spca for a legit reason... anyone who loves animals and can proove they can properly care for an animal can adopt one from any shelter... the people at petland are in it for the money they dont care about finding animals good homes... notice how shelters do background checks, hold your pet for 24 hours and make sure the animal is spayed or neutered and then lets you take the pet home... only when they know you are 100 percent the perfect person to adopt the animal... Im pretty positive petland let you take your pet home right then and there and I would be surprised if they did any type of background check on you... your puppy came from a puppy mill as do all pet store puppies... dont let the sales people fool you... yeah so your puppy is one in a million thats healthy... what about your puppys litter mates? or his parents? face it... his parents are probably squished in a kennel with 10 to 12 other dogs, covered in feces and matted fur, have no human contcact, have spent their entire lives in a wire cage, are starving not only for food but for human attention and love, are infested with fleas, probably have serious parasites and wormes, are more than likely carrying the parvo disease... should i go on? my point is dont ever buy a puppy from a pet store cause in the end you are supporting puppy mills... and that puppy you bought left room for one more new sick dog to be sold in the kennel your dog was in at petland

all petland puppies come from puppy mills... all pet store puppies come from puppy mills and some kittens from kitten mills... my motto is dont buy adopt :) those animals in the shelters need homes and they are just as sweet and just as beautiful as any animal in a pet store... the one difference is they are healthy and not sick and dying

I understand that not everyone has positive experiences at Petland, but me and my Fiancee actually just purchased a 9 week old (now 10) Shiba Inu from the Petland in Cicero. The people there are always friendly, and I have always enjoyed communicating with the employees, since they tend to come into my job for lunch quite often. Yuffie, our Shiba, has actually been quite the happy, healthy little puppy. And at the first sign of any potential illness (which there was a scare, but the puppy returned negative), Petland employees called us to let us know. We used the vet they recommended and the woman was extremely professional, she explained that the puppy was all in all in good shape, she needed a few immunizations but that's no big surprise given her age. The only real problem we have had was an issue with her lack of appetite, which the vet prescribed us to feed her baby food and give her a medication to harden up her stool since she was being a picky eater (While a lot of you will probably discount me, this is in fact true, since I spend a lot of time with my dog and I've owned many before her.) If everyone is so worried, then maybe you should look at the positive side instead of the negative side. Not everyone can get a dog from the SPCA, as much as we would love to. The one in our area refused us adoption because one reference didn't answer a phone call, and then proceeded to tell us we were denied for at least a year since we were turned down the first time. Petland, like previously mentioned, doesn't consist of people who are all the same. While I dislike the owner, I do in fact LOVE the employees, these ladies and gentlemen are extremely dedicated to their dogs, and love speaking to potential pet owners while these people play with the puppies to ensure they are placed in a caring forever home. Petland is willing to pay all of our required vet bills due to the illness scare and also part of her wellness check-up. I understand that puppy mills are a great concern, and Hunte corp. isn't a very good group to buy puppies from, but puppy mills will always be around so long as people view dogs as property, not family. If anything, it is unfortunate to hear the circumstances of what has happened to some of the ill puppies purchased, however, if you read the contracts you are signing BEFORE you sign them, and you listen to the pet counselors who go through everything with you, you learn the specifics of the contract. And just like anything else, there is always a risk when you buy something, be it animal or vehicle or house. Things aren't always going to work out as planned. Our petland actually has a policy where if you find out that you cannot care for the puppy you can bring it back within 48 hours and they will try to replace the puppy in a stable environment, however it is frowned upon because if you can't support a dog within that time span you shouldn't be BUYING it in the first place, as it is disorienting to the animal. Also, if (god forbid) something happens later down the road, the go out of their way to post flyers and notify people who are potentially interested in the pet so that it DOESN'T have to go to an animal shelter. In the contract (ONCE AGAIN) it even says:: 1.) You can keep the dog and they will pay vet bills UP TO the cost of the animal, 2.) You can exchange the dog so that they can get required care at no cost to you or 3.) the dog can be returned and refunded. The way it looks, a lot of people complaining about the dogs seem to have not read what they were signing, because if it was that much of an issue they would be prepared to take the risk when they signed off, not go out of their way to badmouth a company that has drafted the contract you put your signature to. I firmly believe that you need to be ready for any risk and getting a puppy is the same as having a child. If its sick you care for it, not worry about what money you're spending. When the vet told me the potential funds required if my puppy was sick, I signed it and said "I don't care the cost, get my dog healthy.". Keep in mind, my puppy at 10 weeks is only 4.11 pounds, so she's a relative lightweight, and if she gets sick she gets EXTREMELY ill. However, she is NOT sick, and I know for a fact that the employees try to maintain HIGH STANDARDS of care for these puppies. Any ill puppies go straight to the emergency animal hospital and are covered until they get better and then brought to loving forever homes, and before you all go on tangents saying I'm an employee or a franchisee, I'm not. I took the risk and researched what I was getting into before I agreed to get into it. Same as any RESPONSIBLE pet owner should. My puppy runs about $2800 at her age from a registered breeder, and she has the SAME POTENTIAL OF ILLNESS as any petland puppy. So honestly, before you guys start talking about things, read the fine print, it would solve a lot of problems.

Cali,
Maybe you haven't seen the "mothers" of the puppies you've bought from Petland. How would you like to start pushing out kids from the first time you started your period and every possible time after that until that until you couldn't have any more, then you'd be discarded/destroyed. Further imagine you're in a tiny cage with no human contact. Should you come across another human you probably wouldn't be able to talk to them since your vocal chords have been cut, oh yeah and you probably have no teeth and find it extremely hard to eat due to neglectful hygiene. So if all this sounds good to you then you should be able to sleep well knowing you bought (OR SOLD) a "puppy mill" dog from Petland. Ever heard of Hunte Industry? They sell Puppy Mill dogs to Petland. The issue is not that the pups aren't cute. Of course all puppies are cute, that doesn't mean you have to perpetuate the torture of other dogs that produce them. What did you represent in the manufacture portion of the "Pet Industry" Clearly you have never been in research if you believe Puppy Mills don't exist. Or maybe you're just a franchisee of Petland, you did make that point that they are franchises, which I already knew.
Here's a few PUPPY MILL sites since you have had trouble find any. I know Hunte is one "Christian" operated puppy mills as they have been filmed at Petland stores in Texas under the cover of night of course delivering Puppy Mill Puppies. I'm sure they've been fined more than once
http://prisonersofgreed.org/
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/puppy_mills/
Try a Bing or Google, they are UNFORTUNATELY ALL OVER THE PLACE!

Here's some undercover video of the "Christian" Hunte Company and the way they tread their "livestock"

http://www.caps-web.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=169&Itemid=207&report_id=154

PLEASE WAKE UP!

Sounds like some angry employees just wanting to get even with their former employees. Not all Petlands are bad. They are a franchise chain of stores. I looked up the term "Puppy Mill" and it does not exist. With the warranitys Petland has on their pets, I don't think they could afford to buy from sub standard breeders they you all say are "Puppy Mills". They would go out of business.

As a former Manufactuers Rep in the Pet Industry, I covered the whole state of Florida. The so called Mom & Pop stores were dirty, animals not being taken care of and their quality of pets were below standard. My Petland customers stores were clean, animals well taken care of and their staff was very friendly. I myself have purchased in the past 3 Petland puppies and I have also rescued 2 others from shelters. The bottom line all animals need a home no matter where they come from!

THIS explains the negative experience a friend and I had about a week ago. We were just looking around, and the owner, Lauren, had an awful attitude about her the whole time. Sour looks on her face, watching people suspiciously like they would steal her hamsters, all of that. My friend was trying to pet a macaw and one employee had already warned her to be careful when Lauren came up and said, "oh, NO. That is a BIG bird. Just leave him alone. I need to protect my animals, " or something along those lines. My anger build-up to that point was about to explode so I walked across the parking lot to the PetSmart to buy the dog toy I needed. I was so frustrated that I wanted to complain. So we went back in to ask for her name, and instead of just telling us, she asked my friend, "Why, do you want to complain?" When we responded in the affirmative, she started ranting and being sarcastic with us and it was just AWFUL. I don't even want to recount all of it because it upset me so badly. Upon arriving back home, I sent a lengthy complaint to the Petland corporate office, and what did they do? Apologize to me and then FORWARDED THE COMPLAINT TO LAUREN. Complaining does no good if the complaint only goes to the person you have a problem with! 40 minutes later, I got an email informing me that my friend and I are banned from Petland and will be reported at trespassing if we ever set foot in there again...as if I'd want to. Just stay far away. That woman and that suck-up man working there now are F.O.S. Oh, and if you look around on the web, there are lots of stories about what happened to people who bought their puppies...who come from puppy mills, by the way.

I'd just like to add that Petland (and most other petstores in this country) get their dogs from puppy mills. If they tell you they don't, they are lying. The only reason they can say that they don't is because the puppies are actually sold to them by an intermediary (a broker) who buys from the puppy mills.

If you are unfamiliar with puppy mills, please visit the website stoppupymills.org and get educated. These disgusting places abuse and neglect the parent dogs. They don't care about breeding healthy animals or animals with stable temperments. They only care how many puppies they can churn out for profit. These puppies are sold sick and underage and most of the time have fake papers to go with them. BEWARE of any dogs registered as CKC (Continental Kennel Club) as this is a puppy mill registry.

Plus, if you are paying some outragous price for a so-called DESIGNER dog, you are getting scammed. I see hundreds of 'yorki-poos' and 'labradoodles' in shelters and rescue every day and you don't have to pay freakin 1500 dollars for one. I love mutts, I own two of them (both rescues). One is a Chihuahua / Dachsund mix and the other is a Beagle mix. The Chi mix cost me 65 dollars at the local SPCA and she is the smartest, most well-adjusted dog I've ever owned. She's won numerous obedience competitions and was a demo dog for my own obedience classes. My Beagle mix competes in canine frisbee and is better behaved than most people's kids (he was FREE by the way).

Paying big bucks for a dog does not mean quality. Petland (and other petstores) sell sick dogs to unsuspecting customers. And the customers provide money that goes right back into the millers pockets so they can continue the cycle of abuse.

If you want a dog, go to a shelter or rescue. Don't breed or buy while shelter pets die. Thanks!

Just because one Petland has a crappy owner doesn't mean they all do. I shop at the Petland in Pensacola and their animals are well taken care of and healthy. Ive purchased 3 dogs from them, all perfect healthy babies. The employees are very nice and help me any time I need annything. Maybe you should quit being so judgemental. And realize that ALL petland's aren't the same.

I think it depends on what store you are visiting. Some are way different from each other. My mother works at our local Petland store, and I help out there sometimes, and I know that that doesn't happen in our store. There are a couple emlpoyees who have the wrong idea about how things are supposed to be done, but one was recently fired because of that additude. I know several of the kennel workers, and I also take the puppies out on walks sometimes. All of the puppies are in fine health. Different stores are just different in the way they work.

I too work at petland. I am a kennel tech and work in the back with the puppies. The work is very hard, and I get paid very little for all the things I have to do! I am thinking of quitting because I can't stand to see some of the sick puppies be taken back to the breeders and not sold. I don't even know what happens to those puppies that go back! It is very sad, when I got the job I was super excited. But on my second day of working there I too was shocked, these puppies are coming in constantly, endless lives die. I hate puppy mills and breeders because of the fact that there are so many puppies in animal shelters that couldve been saved if these pet stores wouldnt sell puppies! I really am thinking of quitting because I have too much of a conscious, although I really need the money, I need to quit. I can always find another job where I don't have to witness all of this sadness.

i worked for petland of dalton georgia since it opened by franchise owners in Nov 2006, not all the employees are jerks! I loved the animals and the customers most of the co-workers there do! there are a few that are lazy and won't help and are out right rude !all of this stores puppies come from the hunte corp. except the pound rescues! petland corp. complained about us rescueing these few dogs cause NO PROFIT FOR THEM! the kennel manager there and the kennel staff are awesome but unfortunately they are not god and they can't save all the sick "parvo" dogs that come in from "hunte" beleive it or not the rescues from the local shelter are much healthier the vet Dr Felker cares she spays an neutures them gives them vacc. an rabies! hooray for Dr. Felker! the store changed owner ship in Nov. of 2008 the franchise owners were awesome and honestly cared about these animals and did not support the hunte corp ! Corp. Petland took over an it was doing pretty good still for awhile they put aman over the store from corp. and he was shapeing it up then he was pulled out and now it's gone to hell! all pupies are from HUNTE! I want every one in Dalton Ga. and the surrounding area to Know there is another pet store in the walnut square mall it's a mom n pop store maybe have 3-4 dogs local breedrs prced fair they groom there prices on merchandise is below petlands prices they are not payed commission so they will not try to send the entire store home with you! haha check it out if you ever need pet supplies if they don't have it they will get it! they breed there own reptiles! any way i just want the world to know there is no future in dalton petland!

I just want to make a brief comment about all of the above comments:
don't blame the pet stores. Blame yourself.

There are good pet owners who see their pets as family... And then there are bad pet owners who see their pets as property.

Because pets can be seen as property, pet owners have allowed pets to become a commodity and corporations have exploited that.
You don't see child adoption stores popping up everywhere, do you? That's because people don't see children as property.

In order to get these pets to the consumers at the cheapest price, pet stores have become inhumane. If pet stores treated their 'wares' like pets, you would pay much, much more. And people who see pets as property don't want to pay a lot.

I'm not going to go into specifics, but I worked at a big box pet store at a time when it wasn't just about the numbers. I frequently took animals home with me for the night so that when their family them to their forever home, the transition wouldn't be as hard. I would constantly carry rabbits or ferrets around with me, and I made sure that all our parrots and cockatiels were hand fed.

And when it comes to puppies...not everyone can adopt from a shelter. Not everyone wants to. If you're looking for a specific breed, you will sometimes have trouble getting one from a breed-specific rescue. One of my best friends is an Australian Shepard from a rescue. We were told he was healthy as can be...but he wasn't. The first year we spent over $2, 000 in vet bills to combat an infected dog bite on his back (given to him by another dog while he was at the rescue). Six years later, I fell in love with a West Highland White Terrier at a pet store. She was fighting an infection too, and they wouldn't have let me bring her home except that I worked there and there was no way I was going to let her pass me by. They paid for everything: the meds, the doctor's visits. Things I could have never afforded just because they knew she had the best chance of survival if she had a loving family. And she's as healthy as ever.
I guess the bottom line is: buyer beware...you have to know what you are getting into. Ask to see a contract before you even interact with the puppy. Ask as many questions as you can think of. Ask for references or names of customers who were satisfied with their puppies. And never, never, never buy on impulse.

I am not surprised at your experience and I am sorry for it. My boyfriend and I are angry at Petland, especially reading so many complaints about it. About a month and a half ago, we bought a baby bearded dragon from Petland, who we named Reptar. We brought him home and gave him everything a beardie needs. Our setup for him could not have been more perfect. We were a little worried because we read so much online about how babies should be eating alot of crickets, yet ours only ate a bit of veggies and about 2 or 3 crickets a day, which is way below the minimum. Either way, he was active and awake almost all of the time. About 2 weeks after we got him, we went back to Petland and bought another one of the babies they had, so that our first one would not be lonely. We named him Yoshi. Only four days later, Yoshi died. It was horrible to see this little beardie die the way he did, he seemed like he was suffering a tremendous amount. We grew so attached to them so fast. Once Yoshi died, Reptar was still behaving the same way, still active but did not eat as much as he should have from what we read online and in a bearded dragon book we bought. We went back to Petland about getting our money back. By the way, they only have a one week guarantee on bearded dragons, which is absolutely ridiculous. Anyway, the manager had gotten 2 new baby ones, but they had just practically hatched and we did not want to have such little ones. He told us that if they got bigger and did not die they would call us within the next few months and give us one of them. All of this without getting our money back or anything, we were just expected to wait 2 or 3 months until they called us back. About a week after this, we decided we did not want to wait for those and we bought another baby beardie at a shop that was not mainstream and all of the animals seemed incredibly healthy, you know like if the people actually cared about keeping them alive and well. This was about 3 weeks ago. Turns out, our baby Reptar died 4 days ago, he experienced the same exact symptoms as Yoshi, but he took alot longer to die. We took such good care of him, giving him baby food and antibiotics. We ended up going to the vet about a week after Yoshi died because Reptar stopped eating completely and got very skinny. When the vet saw Reptar and heard the story about Yoshi, she immediately said that she did not like Petland or other stores like it because the breeders did not care about the animals and these stores did not give them the care they needed. Our own vet told us that. After spending hundreds of dollars going to the vet three times and giving him medicine, he died too. This is just ridiculous that customers who actually care so much about their pets have to spend money they will never get back just because places like these do not care about their animals or get them from breeders that just breed animals that are related. Our vet told us both diseases Yoshi and Reptar had were probably hereditary and it is possible that their lungs/stomachs could not develop properly(those were their main problems).

P.S. Arby, the beardie that we got at the small pet shop is doing incredible. He eats alot, has already grown almost 2 inches in 2 weeks and is very active and alert.

one of their parrots ate my bracelet

This is my story, and 100% true. I have the legal docs to prove it.
The problems with Petland are widespread. I live in Tennessee, and the situation I had with the Petland here was a nightmare.
I bought a female puppy from them for $1200.00, the next day I had to rush her to the vet (yes, THEIR vet) where she died within 15 mins of arriving.
Their vet assured me that I had done nothing wrong, and encouraged me to contact the owners and let them know what had happened, and they would make it right. He said he would contact them as well.
The Petland is owned by a husband and wife couple. Their vet told me to speak to the wife, as he had little or no dealings with the husband, as he wasn't very active in the business.
Unfortunately, the lady was unavailable to speak with me, she was "too busy" so we were forced to deal with the man who sold us the puppy, and what do you know! He was the owner and the lady's husband. Imagine that.
After we started to explain what had happened, he got extremely pissed off and started yelling at me that I killed the puppy, and there was nothing that he could do about it.
My husband lost his temper and shouted right back in his face, and then we were asked to go back into a private office with this jerk.
When we got back there, he apologized but said the only thing he could do would be to sell me a replacement puppy at half price. I was dumbstruck, I couldn't believe it. I stood there with tears running down my face listening to him announce that he still had one of our puppy's litter brothers available. At this point he excuses himself and returns with the male puppy, which he promptly shoved into my arms.
Of course, the puppy starts licking my face and I cry all the harder, trying my best to calm down without feeling nauseous.
Now, jerk owner engages my husband in conversation, saying things like, "Look at them. That's what she needs." Like buying a replacement pup is all it will take to calm me down.
Needless to say, my poor pushover husband hands the jerk his credit card, and we get charged another $600 for this puppy!
We leave the store and go home.
Two hours later we are back at the vet (THEIR VET AGAIN) with the boy puppy, he was throwing up BLOOD and having BLOODY diaherria. The vet ran some tests and the pup tested POSITIVE for Corona Virus. The vet said the puppy needed IV's and round the clock care, and that probably the female puppy had it as well.
TWO DAYS later the vet calls us and informs us the puppy is dead.
The owners of Petland refused to reimburse us for the first dog, the second replacement dog, or the vet bills we incurred as a result. Even though THEIR OWN vet said that the puppies were sick with corona virus before we bought them.
So we got a lawyer (who is also a friend and a dog lover) and prepared for legal action. Needless to say, the case was settled out of court about two weeks later, for the amount we were owed. For some reason at that point the jerk owner started calling us incessantly, alternately threatening and telling us we would have to pick up the check in person.
Our lawyer got a good laugh out of that. We did no such thing. That a**hole had to bring the check for the money to our lawyer.

I will never in my life ever step foot in a Petland or any pet store like it again.

Oh my goodness.. I always had my hunches about petland but i never knew they were *that* bad. Thank God I didn't get hired when I applied.

I was thinking about buying a ferret from petland before I read this, but you have to be really careful with a ferrets temperament and training it not to nip from a young age.. I'm definately going to buy from a private breeder or a petsmart instead.

Thanks for the info.

I read what this lady said and she is right, i also work there my self and just a month ago i walked, cause my husband went over seas and i had let them know i cant work past 4:00 cause i have 4 kids and they had got in to sports, well just befor that i had got a puppy from them, so when i told them i couldnt work i was told they are going to with hold my check till my dog was payed off, well that dog i had my check with held for was put to sleep today 2-2-08 she was so sick they couldnt even help her, so not only did i have to go with out a check i payed for a sick dog, shes was only 12 weesk old, dr are doing test on her but as some of you know leaurn hides from things like this, the reason i walked was the states manger jumped all over me saying bad thing to me cause he had to work on the times i couldnt, i was told i see my wife for 5 mins a night, i would give a millon to se my husband for 5 mins a night but i see him in 14 months. as to how customers are treated this lady hit it ont he nose. its petlands way or no way, i own my own busyness and i sell millon dollar home if i treated my poeple the way they do i would preay they would turn me in to someone. there was a man who bought a 7,000. cat that died, the owners of petland wouldnt even talk to him, they made me which i couldnt dare to tellt his man NO THEY WONT PAY IT CAUSE YOU DIDNT GO TO THERE VET. thats crappppppppp. so i hope that if anyone has had problems they post cause i would love to get a few of those i had to deal with come forward cause something needs to be done, these poor animals need our help. as to lic, they dont comes from USD, in the time iworked there i know of 2 times them buy dogs of of people who just come in so that USD is a big fat lie. I HOPE WE CAN GET THIS TAKEN CARE OF, IF YOU DO HAVE A PET THAT YOU LOST CAUSE OF THIS PLACES PLEASE CONTACT ME.