I would never go to a pet shop to buy any animal be it hamster, dog or cat etc. Much better to source a good breeder or rescue in my opinion.

I can understand what Ramble means about not being able to find a rescue or breeder. I have to admit when I was looking for rats I was sorely tempted as it isn't easy to find breeders in Scotland I went to the North of England for my breeder rats and my first 3 rescues.

I have a friend involved in dog rescue who can't see why I won't buy from pet shops she sees it as "those" rats getting a good home I see it as making room for the next lot.

I've seen this debate many times before and have to say that some branches do seem to be better than others.

My furry friends came from there. I did look at it as a bit of a rescue mission because I felt sorry for them being in that environment. At that time they were feeding them the wrong food!!!! With diabetes being a serious issues for Degus, that is a big no no!! They do have a range of suitable foods now, I believe. Perhaps their Degus come from elsewhere? In the future I may get rescue ones as there are always Degus looking for new homes.

Ahhh no answer then...
I agree Rips and we tried with Sulu...just couldn't find one and it was my sons first hamster so had to be young and without issues as we were all inexperienced.
The resuce one we now have was not intentional...I only wanted poo bags.
I was very impressed by the staff and the joy they clearly had about our hamster being rehomed...and the absolute displeasure they felt about him having been brought into them in the way he was. The girl who dealt with us had several rescue rodents and was aware she would add to them...as well as rescue dogs.

No idea about the food...but I would always look for rescue now. Not that many rescue hamsters around though....

Where are you looking? I know of loads of hamsters in rescue centres..
If you're looking for one I can put you in touch with someone from Surrey who will try and get transport to you.

And the main reason why most hamster's aren't in rescues - idiots think they will survive in the wild In fact on a rabbit forum I'm on, there was a story a while back where this idiot had let this families pet rabbit out of it's hutch leaving a note saying that they weren't caring for it, it should be out in the wild socialising etc etc etc... they had two young children (aged about 7-10 - I think) and they'd had this rabbit a number of years and it got fresh food and water everyday was cleaned out every other day or something and some "do-gooder" implied that they were releasing it into the wild...

I still believe that the hamsters in the adoption/rescue bit are like Labradork says - ones that have gotten too old to keep in with the younger ones and have been put in the rescue bit. But if by any chance some aren't I would say they are originally from PAH in the first place as I know mine has a "return policy" where you sign an agreement saying if you do not want the hamster/small furry you have to take it back to PAH for re-homing.

I find it quite strange how you saw the sign over documents as when I asked to see them I got told it was against something or other to see them... And when I asked for the history of the 2 that I got from the rescue bit, they had nothing other than "Owners didn't want them any-more" Which PAH could put down if they did have a hamster that they couldn't sell...perhaps - we will never know.

They don't take up that much "shelf space" - they are put into the tiniest cages legally allowed or illegally - I don't really know but they sure aren't suitable for one hamster let alone several hamsters at one time. It isn't really an example for potential new owners is it? "Oh look they don't take up that much space, we'll just get a cage like that and then it can go in between the cook books on the book shelf"
And I have too heard advice that was totally wrong and when I tried to tell the new owners of said animal that the info they were given was actually wrong - I got told "What do you know" they got told "not to buy a animal from PAH"
I've also seen rabbits and other small furries picked up extremely wrong whilst been caught and then they are put into a small cardboard box - absolutely traumatised..

Of course there are exceptions and some animals do well in new homes, live to a grand old age and never suffer. Some that is. And some PAH shops are better than others - just seems like we're stuck with the rubbish ones that have fighting animals, tiny cages and even one where they killed a dog (although accidental - could've been avoided)

But hey what do I know, I'm only 19, only had around 14 - 24 hamsters over several years, only had a couple of litters (accidents though) that I have helped rear and made sure all the new owners of said babies had their cages and knowledge up to scratch before I handed one over to them...I wanted to know they had good homes so they had to fill in a questionnaire and like a good breeder - albeit I wasn't professional and both litters were complete accidents - I told them if for whatever reason they did not want the hamster they could bring it/them back to me. Not one of them came back and I did get updates on a few of them quite regularly

I didn't aks to see any paperwork she had the folder out in front of me.
'Shreek' was not originally bought at PAH, the last owners told them that when they brought him in in a tupperware box.
Should we be criticising somewhere that tells people to bring the pet back to them if something goes wrong???
Yes..there aren't many hamsters in rescue as people release them/they escape, so my boy is one of the lucky ones.
Yep...their cages are small. At the end of the day it's a shop and they don't want them in there for long. Good example? They have countless leaflets and books on hamster care..they can only do so much.


I am not pro PAH but I am against people being so critical of a shop that actually, is far from being perfect, but in my experience is doing pretty well. My original hamster (or should I say my son's as my original hamster was 35 years ago...) was from there, healthy and lived to an old age. Screech is fab...mental...but fab and now has a good home.Thanks to PAH.

Just like to point out that not all pet shops that sell animals source them from 'rodent farms'

You keep mentioning this as if it justifies the place they get their animals from.

My neighbours had a Jack Russell they purchased from a pet shop which came from a puppy farm -- the dog died a couple of years ago aged 20. The dog was long lived and apart from going blind, didn't have any health problems. Does that mean that getting dogs from puppy farms is actually ok? this dog did live a healthy 20 years afterall...

No it does not. "He/she lived this long, he/she never went to the vets, he/she didn't have any health problems, etc." is purely anecdotal -- it doesn't mean anything. You can stick your head in the sand and tell yourself these bits of anecdotal evidence makes it ok, but nothing can justify the conditions these animals are bred in and the reasons for it...lining the pockets of PAH bosses! if PAH gave any consideration to animal welfare they would NOT support rodent farms; end of.

True indeed. Run a mile from any pet shop that cannot give you breeders details and tell you where their animals come from.

I truly can't believe you think this is an acceptable way to keep any animal. The fact that it's a shop and a large commercial chain at that should set alarm bells ringing. Such enterprises are there purely with profit in mind which means the animals welfare comes a poor second. I'm sorry but there is no justification for what PAH do.

If you really are struggling to find a small furry elsewhere (check out some of the ads in the free papers, there are actually some good breeders out there) then at the very least you should try a small pet shop who are more likely to source and care correctly for their animals due to the more personal approach taken.

Yes we used to have a lovely little pet shop in town who had healthy well kept animals. Had many small furries from them as a child and it was a very sad day when it closed down. Anyone want to guess why it closed down? Yup, a PAH opened and they just couldn't compete.