How do I know what pet store to give my business to?

It was recently revealed to me about Petsmart's extreme cruelty to it's animals ( http://www.petsmartcruelty.com/ ) - Don't watch if you have a weak stomach.. I have since boycotted Petsmart. But, how do I know which stores to buy my supplies at? How do I know if a local pet store has good business practices? Obviously if the animals are sick, but Petsmart's animals USUALLY look pretty healthy. What can I do?

Okay, okay. First of all.. I work at Petsmart. And all of those videos are way sensationalized. They only took film from ONE store. The rest of us can't help it if that store is treating its animals poorly. Most of the video is actually from a supplier, not Petsmart itself. We only have 3 animals in our sick room currently, 2 rats with mites and a hamster with an eye infection (he came to us with it, to boot!). They get medicine twice a day. We immediately tell a manager if we see an animal that looks ill, and make them a vet appointment. RARELY does an animal even get wet tail! I've never had to treat one with it. We actually just had a hamster with a tumor who is recovering from an operation to remove it. That cost more than the price of the hamster, but we did it. He's the sweetest thing, too. I'm betting most of the employees will be fighting to take him home. The point of that whole thing is that you can't believe EVERYTHING that you read about. There are a few bad seeds, but most Petsmarts I've been to are very good with that sort of thing. Sorry for the rant, but it's sort of upsetting when you're lumped in with animal abusers (not that you specifically are doing this, but I've taken a lot of it). I love animals, which is why I am working there. :] I take care of our small animals, and I handle them every day. Some people hired there just want a paycheck, so you have to try and ask the pet care employees questions and see if they really care.Go to the pet stores in your area. Check out the animals. If they look healthy and alert, they're being taken care of. If they're lethargic, the place looks dirty, etc.. it's no place you want to be. I wouldn't buy from a place that sells puppies or kittens. One of my local 'mom and pop' stores sells both. That is another thing. Sometimes these small, local stores are much worse than chain stores, as they don't have the corporate regulating them. I feel terrible for them. They're kept in these little cubicles. Not to mention the dead fish all over the floor. They can also be better, however, if the owners are real animal lovers. You just have to take each individual store at a time.Anyway, a good rule of thumb is.. if they LOOK healthy, alert, and don't have any runny noses, red, watery eyes.. and if the place looks clean with the employees who seem to care about them, it's a good place to shop. If you really want to, you could just stop shopping at places that sell small animals and write them a letter about why you will not be shopping there. If you want to stop the sales of small animals (which I do think would be a good idea.) Good luck, whatever you do!

Well, my personal experience is to stay away from big chain petstores. These usually do it very cheaply, and have a lot more animals. The more animals they have, the less care each one gets. The less space each one gets, and the less food each one gets. Try to find a small pet store, that's not a chain business. If you have a small, local store near you, with not that much animals, they're usually well cared for. Make sure the animals have a lot of space, and aren't crammed together. If the animals have all the proper space, food and needs, and seem alert and active, they're usually well cared for. All I know is, Petco and Petsmart aren't safe to buy from.