How can workers at Petsmart or Pets at Home make sure the people buying their pets won't abuse them?

It always worries me, people walk in these places all the time, pick a guinea pig or rabbit etc, sign a few forms and that's it! I mean how do the workers know that the adult won't abuse the pets?|||Any good pet store employee is going to do their best to screen potential pet parents: asking questions about the habitat, making sure the customer has all the correct supplies and information to care for their new companion.





There are signs that a potential pet parent should be turned down (the phrase "It's just a [insert animal here]" or refusing to buy basic supplies, etc) but ultimately it is up to the employee and the company whether the animal goes home with the customer.





Also, there is no surefire way to ensure an animal will be taken care of properly.





Reputable breeders ask tons of questions and make people sign contracts (just like a good pet shop), and still have occassions when their animals are abused or treated poorly. A breeder may have slightly more contact with a customer after the purchase is made, but people lie and there is no realistic way a breeder could visit every home they have sold an animal (I'm talking rodents, larger animals with lower reproductive rates - it would be feasible).





The sad reality is all anyone can do it their best to make sure people who would do harm don't get the chance. Sometimes the best just isn't enough.|||they don't, it is all based on trust.|||Good question because they don't ask for an address or phone number to ring and check now and again that the animal is alright. They always ask though if you have enough room for them and stuff like that though before they sell them. I suppose they don't really know for sure if the animal is going to be treated right or not unfortunately.|||Simple answer is they don't!


How do workers in HMV know that a customer isn't going to copy the cd they just bought?


They don't!


It's not the shop-workers responsibilities, they cant run checks on the customers to see if they are fit to look after the pets...


Most pet re-homing centres will do checks to make sure the animal is going to a good home, but the shopkeepers cant, they have to run a business.|||they


cant!|||They don't, and furthermore they can't. That's the problem with pet stores and the reason that no reputable breeder, regardless of what animal they are breeding, sells their babies through a pet store. Pet stores don't care about what happens to the animals they sell, all they care about is the money that they get from selling them.|||I used to work at pets at home i left because i did'nt like the way their treat the pets. Their only interested in how much money their can make not on the animals welfare.|||Well pet smart is only in the US and pets at home is in the UK so......|||You know I was really surprised on how easy it was for me to adopt my dog. I did a little survey that was just checking to see if I morally knew how to care for a dog, and that was it. I drove him with my dog that day. I guess they just have to trust you and hope for the best. Hopefully they would be able call it if they saw someone incapable but who knows.