how to report a pet shop?

[vw_golf_nutter]

hi all,

i am a fishkeeper and have been for several years now. I will try and keep it simple for those of you who dont know about fish.

My friend was sold a 20 litre tank a few weeks ago from a pet shop and was at the same time sold 4 VERY unsuitable fish for the tank. She was sold a plec which can grow up to 24" and a rainbow shark which is very territorial and can grow up to 6"!!

I told her to rehome those 2 fish and gave her advice on maintaining her tank which was not given in the shop!

I went to this shop today myself to take a look and what i found shocked me.

The tanks were all dirty, some had no light, they were seriously overcrowded to the point they were swimming on top of each other to try and get space, there was a shark catfish? That was emaciated to the point it looked deformed!

They had a sign up saying to have the tank running for 3 days before adding fish! They did not have any tap safe on sale or anything similar, no live plants.

The women was cleaning the tanks supposidly, she open the filter in the neon tank, tipped out all the crap inside into their tank and took the sponge and washed it in a bucket of tap water!!!

It was just shocking.

Thats not to mention the 5litre tanks on sale with 2 fish included!!

 

The shop also sold rabbits and other small pets which seemed to have no food available.

 

Who can i report them to?

[ims21]

Probably RSPCA and Trading Standards?

[freakyleaky]

rspca will take immediate action.

[vw_golf_nutter]

i have reported to rspca which i did online but how do i report to trading standards? their website gives me a link to consumer direct but then says consumer direct closed in march and redirects you to citizens advice which obviously are not the right people! anyone got a link for reporting to trading standards online?

[ims21]

See here

 

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_protection_for_the_consumer_e/protection_trading_standards_e/reporting_a_problem_to_trading_standards.htm

[sillygirl1]

Blimey, the pet shop should be reported to the local Trading Standards.

 

We have a dubious pet shop locally but it now has changed hands and you can actually walk past it without having an asthma attack due to the lack of care of the animals. They were closed down for a week by Trading Standards.

 

I have a plec (otherwise known as a catfish) and he lives in a bit of 6inch drainpipe, he shares a tank with a large goldfish and occasionally they fight, but very rarely. Even I know that some fish do not live together, that is why my Mollies are in another tank, I don't want the plec having them for breakfast/lunch/dinner!

 

I've only recently started with sem-tropical fish but read up a lot and took advice from several friends with fish - which was how I came by the plec, I'm stilll after some neons and blue guppies but I do know to get mostly male guppies - the Nollies are mating enough as it is!

[assisted blonde]

All Pet shops are licensed and inspected by the local council for the area, if you have concerns report it to your local licensing officer and he/she will investigate and if necessary involve the RSPCA or any other body that may be concerned.

I think it is licensing and not trading standards that will be most involved and you can speak to a local licensing officer and not use a generic call centre.

[gemspan]

Yes, Local Council is the way forward. Having said that I don't know if they would be experienced enough to know the difference between good and bad animal husbandry. Sounds awful....poor fish.

[assisted blonde]

All Pet shops have to adhere to certain requirements depending on what they sell and licensing officers will check that the requirements are being met and will also refer to guidelines set out by breed societies etc they will also work closley with the local RSPCA and take advice from them. Any concerns raised by a member of the public will be investigated.

[gemspan]

Having worked with people who deal with licensing officers at Councils every day in relation to pet shop puppy farmed dogs etc., I believe that the investigations are not always as thorough as you would expect. Same goes with licensed dog breeding establishments. I can assure you that councils do not work very closely with the RSPCA. The RSPCA get called and pass it over to the Council to deal with....thereby passing the buck. I used to think the laws were there to protect animals....now I know differently.....

[assisted blonde]

I can only speak from experience as an ex licensing officer and in the authorities i have worked in the licensing officers have worked closly with the RAPCA

[fenwoman]

the local animal welfare officer at the council is the one who issues licences in order that the shop can sell livestock. They will be your first port of call and NOT the RSPCA. If your friend did no research before buying the fish which were unsuitable, I'm afraid that's their own fault. It doesn't matter WHAT a person wants to buy, they need to accept some responsibility for doing their homework before they part with money. Since you said that you are an experienced aquarist, why didn't this friend seek YOUR advice? Lots of places (including pets at home) recommend leaving the tank for only 3 days before introducing fish. There is no law which states that this is illegal even if it isn't correct. If a person is too idle to do some proper research before they buy, then I'm afraid they are partly to blame.

[Surfer01]

the local animal welfare officer at the council is the one who issues licences in order that the shop can sell livestock. They will be your first port of call and NOT the RSPCA. If your friend did no research before buying the fish which were unsuitable, I'm afraid that's their own fault. It doesn't matter WHAT a person wants to buy, they need to accept some responsibility for doing their homework before they part with money. Since you said that you are an experienced aquarist, why didn't this friend seek YOUR advice? Lots of places (including pets at home) recommend leaving the tank for only 3 days before introducing fish. There is no law which states that this is illegal even if it isn't correct. If a person is too idle to do some proper research before they buy, then I'm afraid they are partly to blame.

The thread was about reporting a pet shop for poor conditions and not about someone making a purchase!

[fenwoman]

The thread was about reporting a pet shop for poor conditions and not about someone making a purchase!

oh, so Imagined the bit about the friend buying a plec for a small tank, setting it up for 3 days etc? And you missed the bit about contacting the council in my reply? My best friend is the AWO of my local council whcih is why I mentioned it. The RSPCA have no right of entry to a pet shop and can do nothing if the owner refuses them entry.

I am now wondering why you responded to every post I made, being critical and apparently taking issue with the fact that I am trying to be fair and reasonable and state facts, since I know about things like this. Apparently I'd be better agreeing with every OP, issue soothing words and agreeing to whatever is said even if it's wrong? I think I've made a big mistake here and joined another forum where people only want to hear they are right, even when they might not be, and having the temerity to think that unless I hear both sides of a story and have actual facts, I cannot slag someone off.Silly me. I should know better than to believe that people can be expected to be fair and reasonable.I had hoped that with my experience and background, I might have been able to offer some advice, but I see now that experience is worth nothing if I don't tell people what they want to hear. I shall remove myself forthwith and not sully this forum with any further posts. My mantra has always been 'compassion, not sentiment', but I guess that's old fashioned. Nowadays sentiment is always preferred.

[LaughingGirl]

Well, from my point of view only, the OP has stated that the fish were being kept in poor conditions and small animals were being kept without access to food. If a dealer is reputable and taking care of the animals in their care, they will have no issues with a visit from any of the bodies mentioned previously in this thread, nor would a visit cause them any issues.

 

The very nature of this forum means that unless the OP states the name of the retailer in question (and they subsequently chose to post in response), you won't get to hear both sides of the story, so you can only deal with whatever is presented. Personally, when it comes to the well being of children and animals I think it's sensible to err on the side of caution. As I say, any breeder/dealer with any decency would bear up to the scrutiny anyway.