Re: He Mr. D

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Posted by Mark Berger on August 29, 2002 at 15:32:27:

In Reply to: Re: He Mr. D posted by Mr. D on August 29, 2002 at 00:40:48:

:When they call you to come take their "returns" are you doing this out of the goodness of your heart Mark or are you charging them any kind of surrender fee?

No - We do not charge them a surrender fee. Is it out of the goodness of my heart? No - Petco has been serving as an alternate location for our animal intakes. There are many times when I am not available for people to drop off animals. This gives people another option. Face it - The goal is to get the animals out of a bad situation. Most people dont give up their reptiles because they are healthy, happy, and WANTED.

:Are they supporting the daily board of these animals in any way?

Not directly, but discounts on supplies and feeders certainly does help. They also do an occasional fundraiser for us. In fact, this weekend they are conducting an 8 hour BBQ fundraiser outside the store, all proceeds will go to us.

:no one is allowed to bring any form of reptile into a Petcompany in an effort to educate and/or fundraise.

The first saturday of every month, we go to Petco with at least half a dozen animals, and have an adoption fair. No on the spot adoptions, but people get to see some animals, and learn about us and the animals we have. This is where we get MOST if not ALL of our local adoptions. Last saturday Petco co-hosted a reptile fair with us... We conducted 4 hrs of seminars, training, and eduction, as well as contests and prizes (donated by Petco).

:One reason I've been told is that "People may be afraid of lizards and snakes and we don't want to scare the customers." but more realistically is due to contractual arrangements with one particular reptile breeder/facility.

I agree and disagree. Yes, many people are afraid of the snakes and such.... Most often, those same people work their way around the store, and back over to us, out of curiosity, and in the end I have them either touching or holding a reptile for the first time. I disagree on the contract breeder/wholesaler comment... Petco has various policies on the animals they sell, but for the most part, we are no threat to their reptile sales. The particular petco I work with actually turns people away from buying baby iguanas, and recommends they call us instead.

:If such is the case with the stores in your area, unless you are the entity that they contract with, why are they calling you in to take the animals as opposed to their contract vendor?

Petco's policy is they will take back ANY animal that is sold there... ALthough if it is outside of the guarantee, they cannot refund the purchase. They also cannot put it back into their inventory. More so - Why would the vender/breeder/wholesaler want a 2-3 yr old iguana? They KNOW those dont sell too well...

I guess what it comes down to is different store locations, different management, and different ways of doing business with non-profit organizations.

Mark

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