Petco "Going Blue"

[Quinn1928]

let's all make a stand. This is ridiculous!

 

[Sploke]

I say just put 'em behind the counter. Keep 'em below the register or something like that.

That way they are available to people- but they have to ask someone and speak to a live person rather than buy them all willy-nilly.

Seems a decent compromise to me.

This is a good plan in concept - talk to someone and try and get a diagnosis to see if antibiotics are in fact necessary. The problem with this is a) its hard to diagnose an illness without seeing the fish, especially if the keeper has no idea what to look for (i.e. "my fish is swimming funny, i need medicine"), and b) the person at the store would actually need to know what they are talking about. The retailer can at least control one of those things.

 

[Somervell]

Right you are, Sploke. I would only trust one of every 5 employees at my local big box store, and it's a good one, by comparison. Diagnoses are sometimes difficult for people with experience with fish-- even more so for people with limited experience. Maybe if there were a store diagnostician available at prescribed times?

 

[jpappy789]

Right you are, Sploke. I would only trust one of every 5 employees at my local big box store, and it's a good one, by comparison. Diagnoses are sometimes difficult for people with experience with fish-- even more so for people with limited experience. Maybe if there were a store diagnostician available at prescribed times?

Only problem I see is that means prices go up...

 

[Jakezori]

i dont know about your petco, but mine has fish die at least once a day, so i say its a stupid idea.

 

[Just Prince]

Wow you people are amazing. Sometimes it seems they Petco and Petsmart can't do anything right when it comes to aquatic life. Like anything service varies from store to store. I think it's a good idea to educate customers on treating illness in fish. Antibiotics should be prescribed by vets. The same way doctors prescribe antibotics to humans. How many of you actually read the article in full. It clearly states they will still carry Marcyn in the form of Marcyn-Oxy and anti-bacteria. Instead of wasting time with usless on-line petitions and spaming a e-mail box, do one better get a job at Petco even if its one day a week. Do your part and educate the other emplyess and customers you deal with. I think you will have a better impact that online petitions and spam. I think this will work if they come through with the education part. If not it will be doom to go as all good plans do. Down teh drain because of **** poor emplimentation.

Oh yeah, we still have Petsmart as a fall back

 

[Somervell]

Wow you people are amazing. Sometimes it seems they Petco and Petsmart can't do anything right when it comes to aquatic life. Like anything service varies from store to store. I think it's a good idea to educate customers on treating illness in fish. Antibiotics should be prescribed by vets. The same way doctors prescribe antibotics to humans. How many of you actually read the article in full. It clearly states they will still carry Marcyn in the form of Marcyn-Oxy and anti-bacteria. Instead of wasting time with usless on-line petitions and spaming a e-mail box, do one better get a job at Petco even if its one day a week. Do your part and educate the other emplyess and customers you deal with. I think you will have a better impact that online petitions and spam. I think this will work if they come through with the education part. If not it will be doom to go as all good plans do. Down teh drain because of **** poor emplimentation.

Amazing is right. I try to be amazingly helpful to the people that I see at big box stores getting wrong information, so I guess that makes me a Big Box Store employee without the paycheck, doesn't it? I suspect I'm not alone in that, either.
People are people and fish are fish-- it would be absurd to pay a $50 fee for a vet visit to buy $5.00 worth of antibiotics for a $20 goldfish, no matter how much I love my fish. I think that petitions and writing to customer service is an excellent way to let companies know the opinions of their customer base-- believe it or not, not all people who write to consumer hotlines are producing "spam" or wish to be hostile or rude. Some genuinely want a quality product and service at good prices.

If you are an employee of a Petco who is well informed and helps the customer, then that's terrific. Wish there were more like you, and you are probably like one of the four or five helpful employees that I mentioned in a previous post. The bottom line is that pet stores, like anywhere else, are businesses-- businesses that serve customers, who deserve to be treated with respect as consumers.

 

[SubRosa]

No such thing as Maracyn Oxy! It's obviously a typo of Maroxy, which is an anti-fungal, not an antibiotic. How many people here know a good, qualified aquatic vet? It's a growing specialty, but there still aren't that many around. I've known instances of vets who weren't qualified taking large sums of money from people to finance their education in both birds and reptiles and I don't think fish would be any different.

 

[jpappy789]

Wow you people are amazing. Sometimes it seems they Petco and Petsmart can't do anything right when it comes to aquatic life. Like anything service varies from store to store. I think it's a good idea to educate customers on treating illness in fish. Antibiotics should be prescribed by vets. The same way doctors prescribe antibotics to humans. How many of you actually read the article in full. It clearly states they will still carry Marcyn in the form of Marcyn-Oxy and anti-bacteria. Instead of wasting time with usless on-line petitions and spaming a e-mail box, do one better get a job at Petco even if its one day a week. Do your part and educate the other emplyess and customers you deal with. I think you will have a better impact that online petitions and spam. I think this will work if they come through with the education part. If not it will be doom to go as all good plans do. Down teh drain because of **** poor emplimentation.

Oh yeah, we still have Petsmart as a fall back

Fish are fish, humans are humans...the comparison is hardly on the same level. Fish antibiotics are available to consumer use, therefore consumers have the right to purchase and use as necessary. Petco saying that we as paying customers need a third party to provide medication is downright insulting to those who are knowledgable enough to make the right decision. I don't know of any vets in my area who can deal with fish diagnoses, obvioulsy because I have the resources to do it myself.

btw, I would hardly call any of those comments "spam"...but maybe thats a matter of personal opinion.

 

[Zaffy]

Fish are fish, humans are humans...the comparison is hardly on the same level. Fish antibiotics are available to consumer use, therefore consumers have the right to purchase and use as necessary. Petco saying that we as paying customers need a third party to provide medication is downright insulting to those who are knowledgable enough to make the right decision. I don't know of any vets in my area who can deal with fish diagnoses, obvioulsy because I have the resources to do it myself.

btw, I would hardly call any of those comments "spam"...but maybe thats a matter of personal opinion.

This isn't a Human or fish question, the fact is that antibiotics when used improperly contribute to "stronger" more resistant bacteria, which in turn represents a real health risk.

These antibiotics don't just disappear when we're done treating our tanks, they go out with our waste water and dilute into the water systems. Where they are not effective in killing off bacteria, but may instead contribute towards selective processes on bacteria that are resistant or immune to these medications.