# Pets At Home's new VIP rabbits!



## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Pets At Home are trailing selling VIP rabbits, that is baby rabbits bred in Spain that have already been vaccinated, micro-chipped & neutered at 4-5 weeks of age. There is a petition to get them to end this trail, as many see that too young to neuter a rabbit, & then to ship them off to the UK will only put them under even more stress. PAH's current suppliers are bad enough, without this! 

Heres the petition site Animals Petition: Pets at Home: Stop Pets At Home Selling VIP rabbits. | Change.org


----------



## Mrs dirtydozen (Sep 5, 2008)

why r they vip?? just coz they have had the chop etc ???


----------



## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Cos it sounds good! :bash: I've signed! :2thumb:


----------



## PPVallhunds (May 23, 2010)

They have apperantly stopped the trile
Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund News: PAH VIP trial
VIP Rabbits at PAH

I can see why they would want to go it but to do it that young cant be good, its been documented that early neutering in dogs can lead to problems later on. I dont see why they just dont give a voucher along with the baby rabbits to have they spayed at there own vets for a reduced fee, or start selling older rabits that have been done.


----------



## connor 1213 (Apr 6, 2009)

Another [email protected]@k up by pets at home...

What a surprise...


----------



## 1930sam (Sep 12, 2011)

Jeez, who is employed by pets at home to come up with these stupid ideas. 


Signed.


----------



## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

What will they come up with next? How much are they selling these rabbits for? It is probably more than their average not VIP rabbits!


----------



## 1930sam (Sep 12, 2011)

Just an idea but [email protected] have that (IMO reasonably good) vet company associated with them. Why doesn't every rabbit come with a voucher for free vaccines and neutering?


----------



## Junior13reptilez (Oct 17, 2010)

1930sam said:


> Just an idea but [email protected] have that (IMO reasonably good) vet company associated with them. Why doesn't every rabbit come with a voucher for free vaccines and neutering?


As that would probably cost more than the rabbit itself.


----------



## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

Is it illegal to do that here? Is that why they come from Spain?
It does sound too young but it also sounds like they are trying to address a problem we have where unknowledgable people breed rabbits...Although, not selling rabbits and advising everyone goes to a rescue to rehome would be better, but they're not going to do that are they :whistling2:
I know some rescues neauture kittens (cats) at 8 weeks now, before they go to a new home because there are too many unwanted kittens being born. They have not found any ill-effects of doing so.


----------



## 1930sam (Sep 12, 2011)

Junior13reptilez said:


> As that would probably cost more than the rabbit itself.


Exactly


----------



## 5plusmany (Sep 29, 2011)

Its a tricky one isn't it? Gotta say though I'm surprised they still bother selling rabbits. My local petstore doesn't any more as they often take weeks or even months to sell. Plus if you look on preloved (ignoring the byb's) there are plenty of quality bunnies from BRC breeders. I just dont get the impression rabbits are that popular any more....?


----------



## 1930sam (Sep 12, 2011)

I think (hope) people realise how expensive a rabbit actually is. Maybe this puts them of or maybe it makes them more prepared to look for a breeder. 

As well as more aware that they can get purebreds from breeders and get a much better quality of after care.


----------



## BigHomer (Apr 21, 2012)

They were an absolute*bargain* at £100. We saw them a few days ago when we went in to buy food for the beast (Homer the cat). They were absolutely tiny compared to the rabbits they usually have in, I actually thought that they were some dwarf breed at first. 
I am glad to see that this has stopped. A large chain like this doing this just makes it seem acceptable to people who don't know any better.


----------



## 1930sam (Sep 12, 2011)

BigHomer said:


> They were an absolute*bargain* at £100. We saw them a few days ago when we went in to buy food for the beast (Homer the cat). They were absolutely tiny compared to the rabbits they usually have in, I actually thought that they were some dwarf breed at first.
> I am glad to see that this has stopped. A large chain like this doing this just makes it seem acceptable to people who don't know any better.


Im really surprised to hear that they were a small breed, I would of thought they would of been the chunkier bunnies. I couldn't imagine an 8 week old dwarf being very easy to neuter.


----------



## Hammyhogbun (May 19, 2011)

They are selling them for £140 i know someone who was talking to a peson who worked in [email protected] the other day she was snooping for info about them. this was after workers were told they were not allowed to talk to anyone about these vips.

The company in spain have there own website and surprise surprise the day the crap hit the fan for them there english part of the website went live.

I wonder if they have tested how long they are going to live and if they will have any problems before sending them over here. me thinks not


----------



## BigHomer (Apr 21, 2012)

1930sam said:


> Im really surprised to hear that they were a small breed, I would of thought they would of been the chunkier bunnies. I couldn't imagine an 8 week old dwarf being very easy to neuter.


I *thought* that they were dwarf when I saw them as they are far smaller than the rabbits they usually get in and I saw the price and thought they must be something special. :lol2: After reading the info I saw that they had been neutered and had had injections or came with a voucher for the 2nd set (I can't remember which it was.)
I assume that they are standard sized rabbits, just younger than their usual stock. By usual stock I don't mean rabbits that have been there for a month, i mean the rabbits that will have just come in. We go in regularly, from what I have noticed, the rabbits seem to sell quickly as there are always different ones in the pens.


----------



## sammy1969 (Jul 21, 2007)

What will they do next I wonder 
Signed


----------



## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

1930sam said:


> Jeez, who is employed by pets at home to come up with these stupid ideas.
> 
> 
> Signed.


The same people that decided to address the 'problem' of avian influenza virus by dosing them with an oral antibiotic daily for as long as they are in the store! :bash:


----------



## Lenor (Jul 24, 2009)

Whilst neutering at rabbit at 4-5 weeks sounds scarily young to me (and very difficult!), I can see why they are doing it. Sadly rescues the world over have found that you can hand out all the vouchers you like for discount or even free neutering, and put neutering into the contracts, people just don't do it. Hence many rescues now performing neuters on puppies and kittens at 8 weeks or so (still more a stateside thing that UK at the moment, but it will go the same way here). As people consistently prove they can't be trusted to neuter their pets even when it's all paid for and sorted for them, the rescues are having to find ways to get it done before they go. And baby animals are more adoptable. so it has to be done while they're babies so people still adopt them. Alright [email protected] are selling these not adopting them out, but same principle applies. Rabbits are massively overbred generally these days and clogging up rescues everywhere, so trying to do something about it is a very good idea in my book. Not sure why they should have to be shipped from spain that seems hugely stressful. I wouldn't be a fan of neutering that young but when you consider how few people ever get their rabbits neutered or even vaccinated.... makes you see why people are trying to find a solution to it.


----------



## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Zoo-Man said:


> The same people that decided to address the 'problem' of avian influenza virus by dosing them with an oral antibiotic daily for as long as they are in the store! :bash:


:gasp:


----------



## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

Hammyhogbun said:


> They are selling them for £140 i know someone who was talking to a peson who worked in [email protected] the other day she was snooping for info about them. this was after workers were told they were not allowed to talk to anyone about these vips.
> 
> The company in spain have there own website and surprise surprise the day the crap hit the fan for them there english part of the website went live.
> 
> I wonder if they have tested how long they are going to live and if they will have any problems before sending them over here. me thinks not


Thats more expensive than my bun cost to buy, spay and vaccinate x2 from their adoption part of my local store! They give a neuter voucher for companion care with adoption buns, you can choose how much to donate to their charitable fund. Not sure if they give the voucher with other rabbits they sell now, they didn't when i worked for them 

They could promote rabbits from local rescues that have already had this all done. 




Zoo-Man said:


> The same people that decided to address the 'problem' of avian influenza virus by dosing them with an oral antibiotic daily for as long as they are in the store! :bash:


I didn't think any of the stores still sold birds  i'd like to think not


----------



## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

samurai said:


> Thats more expensive than my bun cost to buy, spay and vaccinate x2 from their adoption part of my local store! They give a neuter voucher for companion care with adoption buns, you can choose how much to donate to their charitable fund. Not sure if they give the voucher with other rabbits they sell now, they didn't when i worked for them
> 
> They could promote rabbits from local rescues that have already had this all done.
> 
> ...


They don't, thankfully.


----------



## x Sarah x (Nov 16, 2007)

Lenor said:


> Whilst neutering at rabbit at 4-5 weeks sounds scarily young to me (and very difficult!), I can see why they are doing it. Sadly rescues the world over have found that you can hand out all the vouchers you like for discount or even free neutering, and put neutering into the contracts, people just don't do it. Hence many rescues now performing neuters on puppies and kittens at 8 weeks or so (still more a stateside thing that UK at the moment, but it will go the same way here). As people consistently prove they can't be trusted to neuter their pets even when it's all paid for and sorted for them, the rescues are having to find ways to get it done before they go. And baby animals are more adoptable. so it has to be done while they're babies so people still adopt them. Alright [email protected] are selling these not adopting them out, but same principle applies. Rabbits are massively overbred generally these days and clogging up rescues everywhere, so trying to do something about it is a very good idea in my book. Not sure why they should have to be shipped from spain that seems hugely stressful. I wouldn't be a fan of neutering that young but when you consider how few people ever get their rabbits neutered or even vaccinated.... makes you see why people are trying to find a solution to it.


I know what your trying to say but i don't think its the case.
Pets at home are one of the main causes of unwanted litters, they should stop selling altogether if they really wanna make a difference.

However i think by doing this, they are simply covering their own backsides because none of them seem able to accurately sex young rabbits, at least by selling neutered animals they stop complaints of people being sold pregnant animals.

How they think its a GOOD idea is beyond me though.


----------



## Lenor (Jul 24, 2009)

x Sarah x said:


> I know what your trying to say but i don't think its the case.
> Pets at home are one of the main causes of unwanted litters, they should stop selling altogether if they really wanna make a difference.
> 
> However i think by doing this, they are simply covering their own backsides because none of them seem able to accurately sex young rabbits, at least by selling neutered animals they stop complaints of people being sold pregnant animals.
> ...


No I would definitely agree with you there, I'd love it if people weren't able to just keep buying over-bred bunnies from [email protected] on a whim. Sadly I can't see them stopping the sale of livestock in there stores for a long long time....


----------



## Esarosa (Jul 13, 2007)

x Sarah x said:


> I know what your trying to say but i don't think its the case.
> Pets at home are one of the main causes of unwanted litters, they should stop selling altogether if they really wanna make a difference.
> 
> However i think by doing this, they are simply covering their own backsides because *none of them seem able to accurately sex young rabbits,* at least by selling neutered animals they stop complaints of people being sold pregnant animals.
> ...



I'm still in shock at a store I went to a few years ago now. They had a boy rat, for those who've seen a rat you know how obvious it is that they're a boy, in with the girls. When I pointed it out the assistant told me something along the lines of 'it's not a boy, it's just a lump but it's harmless'. at which point I asked what he thought his supervisor would think, to advertising a rat as 'not a boy, just having a lump'. And off he scuttled. Flaming imbeciles. 

One PAH store had no water (for the rats) in the middle of summer another day I went, and when I pointed this out, was told that they get water and food in a morning before the store opens. When I pointed out, the water had run out as had the food and that wasn't good enough, they looked at me like I was stupid and was missing the point. Sure by all means sell dehydrated animals :bash:

Same visit as the one where the rats had no water in summer, and they'd had stick insects escape, and none of the staff would pick them up and just left them wandering around at risk of getting trod on, so I had to pick them up. I haven't been in since they started selling reptiles. I don't know if they sell tortoises, but if they do I think I'd have a nervous breakdown.


----------



## x Sarah x (Nov 16, 2007)

Well i recently applied for a job at my local [email protected] and went for an interview...i got turned away for being Over qualified, as did a few other people i know around the country. I think that says it all really.

They're reputation is built around their training courses, so what they want is uneducated people that they can train up, who won't question their ability or argue about the welfare for their animals. They want people who will do as their told be believe what they're taught.

If your smart enough you can play dumb, i wish i had tbh.
You do get some good people in there who've done just that, and they know their stuff. Just not enough of them about sadly...

Their interview process did not even involve an interview, all you did was say what pets you had first, then you have to talk about a random subject such as 'What is you favourite holiday destination' for 1 minute without stopping. and then last of all you play some games that involve building a Rotastack hamster cage in 15 minutes and making up a television commercial.

They don't want to know if you have any qualifications or what your experience is with animals or even if you have any GCSE's etc. its not on the application form and there's no interview to find out, they actually go by their silly games as to who gets to go onto a practice day in store and later be employed.


----------



## storm (Jul 23, 2007)

x Sarah x said:


> Well i recently applied for a job at my local [email protected] and went for an interview...i got turned away for being Over qualified, as did a few other people i know around the country. I think that says it all really.
> 
> They're reputation is built around their training courses, so what they want is uneducated people that they can train up, who won't question their ability or argue about the welfare for their animals. They want people who will do as their told be believe what they're taught.
> 
> ...


likewise, i was also told that i was over qualified... they want people that they can mould to how they want and wont question them in respect to their husbandry practice. 

we only sell bunnies in our shop that have been sourced from ethical breeders, that dont overbreed etc, but to do this means the price is slightly higher than PAH.. sadly people seem to be more concerned with the cost than the welfare  x


----------



## 5plusmany (Sep 29, 2011)

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. Plus any PAH store I've ever been in seems to only employ 14yr olds. Presumably as the minimum wage is lower:whistling2:
Got to admit I like the variety of the products they sell but as for livestock well..they won't be pulled up on bad husbandry or misselling cos they are such a big company.Big company = big payments to mr.taxman= do what you bloomin well like pah :bash:


----------



## Kare (Mar 9, 2010)

storm said:


> likewise, i was also told that i was over qualified... they want people that they can mould to how they want and wont question them in respect to their husbandry practice.
> 
> we only sell bunnies in our shop that have been sourced from ethical breeders, that dont overbreed etc, but to do this means the price is slightly higher than PAH.. sadly people seem to be more concerned with the cost than the welfare  x


TBH I find most good breeders I have brought from have been CHEAPER than PAH. I am surprised you are not able to do them as cheap or cheaper, after all surely the profit would come on the products sold with the animals and return custom.


----------



## 1930sam (Sep 12, 2011)

Kare said:


> TBH I find most good breeders I have brought from have been CHEAPER than PAH. I am surprised you are not able to do them as cheap or cheaper, after all surely the profit would come on the products sold with the animals and return custom.


Ive found it depends on the breeder, some go down the line of thinking that if someone pays more they will treat the bunny better. Ive paid much less than the [email protected] price and slightly more.


----------



## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

When I worked there, I took over the bird & fish sections, as they were being neglected due to lack of knowledge or interest by the store team. I made huge improvements off my own back, made my own educational materials, etc for customers, but was told by the area manager to remove them, as it wasn't comapny policy. :bash: I had a couple of meetings with the head of livestock at Head Office, to no avail. My ideas, suggestions & recommendations were pushed aside, & I was looked at as if to say "who are you to tell us what we should be doing".


----------



## Kare (Mar 9, 2010)

Zoo-Man said:


> When I worked there, I took over the bird & fish sections, as they were being neglected due to lack of knowledge or interest by the store team. I made huge improvements off my own back, made my own educational materials, etc for customers, but was told by the area manager to remove them, as it wasn't comapny policy. :bash: I had a couple of meetings with the head of livestock at Head Office, to no avail. My ideas, suggestions & recommendations were pushed aside, & I was looked at as if to say "who are you to tell us what we should be doing".


I had the same, they had an ideas pot to put your suggestions on and possibly win a bonus.

I suggested fish-less cycling kits, they said no, I suggested banning all goldfish bowls, they said no...both of which they have since introduced.

I had my manager tell me to pack up a single robo for some customers, I asked why he was selling a single one and it turned out it was to replace one that had been killed by a cage mate, I pointed out that the one they had at home, and had had for weeks now, would not then going to get along with this new one. He insisted of course they would, they are from the same litter. I called him a complete moron and told him he would be seeing this robo back dead within a few hours or so. I quit and told them I did not wish to work here as of now. He said he was going to dock my wages for 2 weeks for not giving that notice period, but I quit on payday and it was already in my bank dead upto date, in fact paid for the rest of that week too, which wasn't much as I was very part-time.

TBH it was a very cliquey group working there and I only got off the till most of the time to go sell fish, because no other bugger had a clue or could be bothered. They use to wait until I came on Wednesday evenings to even take the quarantine signs down to allow fish to be sold because then I would do all the sales and they didn't have to bother

IMO they have gone way down hill, they have stopped selling much of the basics, basic collars etc that people need for their dogs, in favour of the named brands and chintzy stuff like dogs clothes.


----------



## 5plusmany (Sep 29, 2011)

Careful guys, wasn't it in your contract not to talk about THE FIRM :lol2:


----------



## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

5plusmany said:


> Careful guys, wasn't it in your contract not to talk about THE FIRM :lol2:


:lol2: Im scared!


----------

