Yup that's right. I said "In praise of Petsmart".
Not all Petsmart stores are the same. I actually really like my local Petsmart! I think mine is good because the manager of the fish dept is a total fish nut and has sort of taken it in his own direction, .vs the typical store policy. Their stock is always in great condition, and they keep their animals very healthy. Their fish section is actually bigger than most other Petsmart stores I've been in.
SO healthy in fact that they have a pair of red snooks that have spawned and they successfully raised the fry to about 1 inch so far. I've actually bought a lot of fish from my local petsmart, and I've never had any sick fish from them. I think all of them have lived their entire life with me (or until I killed them
).
I always hear them ask everyone who buys fish what size tank they have, and I've actually heard them say quite a few times "that tank really isn't big enough for 2 oscars etc.". The one girl there (all employees are girls except for the manager) told me that their thoughts are that if they can convince people to buy bigger tanks because the fish they want wont fit in their current tank, then they're actually making more money than selling the fish. Makes sense to me. Now, if someone insists on getting a fish despite what the employee tells them, of course they sell them the fish. That's just consumer ignorance. Not Petsmart.
They don't train their employees per say, but they do make them read a handbook, and I think they get a general education from experience. All the girls I've talked to there seem to really care about their job, and it seems that they must instill some sort of sense of responsibility into them, because it seems that they really care about the welfare of the animals too.
Just the other day I was in buying some food and I was chatting with the one girl about the red snook fry and she was saying that she was yelling at the local petco employees because all their fish had ick. She said that they don't even test the water at the petco and said that they test their water daily at Petsmart.
Anyway, I always read these "petsmart sucks" threads, and I thought I'd share my different experience.
BTW. "My" Petsmart is Store # 0590 Greensburg, PA... If anyone from my area has been there, they can probably vouch for the cleanliness of their fish department.
Not all Petsmart stores are the same. I actually really like my local Petsmart! I think mine is good because the manager of the fish dept is a total fish nut and has sort of taken it in his own direction, .vs the typical store policy. Their stock is always in great condition, and they keep their animals very healthy. Their fish section is actually bigger than most other Petsmart stores I've been in.
SO healthy in fact that they have a pair of red snooks that have spawned and they successfully raised the fry to about 1 inch so far. I've actually bought a lot of fish from my local petsmart, and I've never had any sick fish from them. I think all of them have lived their entire life with me (or until I killed them
).I always hear them ask everyone who buys fish what size tank they have, and I've actually heard them say quite a few times "that tank really isn't big enough for 2 oscars etc.". The one girl there (all employees are girls except for the manager) told me that their thoughts are that if they can convince people to buy bigger tanks because the fish they want wont fit in their current tank, then they're actually making more money than selling the fish. Makes sense to me. Now, if someone insists on getting a fish despite what the employee tells them, of course they sell them the fish. That's just consumer ignorance. Not Petsmart.
They don't train their employees per say, but they do make them read a handbook, and I think they get a general education from experience. All the girls I've talked to there seem to really care about their job, and it seems that they must instill some sort of sense of responsibility into them, because it seems that they really care about the welfare of the animals too.
Just the other day I was in buying some food and I was chatting with the one girl about the red snook fry and she was saying that she was yelling at the local petco employees because all their fish had ick. She said that they don't even test the water at the petco and said that they test their water daily at Petsmart.
Anyway, I always read these "petsmart sucks" threads, and I thought I'd share my different experience.
BTW. "My" Petsmart is Store # 0590 Greensburg, PA... If anyone from my area has been there, they can probably vouch for the cleanliness of their fish department.
