Fish and Pets Pet Shop

I don’t know what to think of this place. On the positive side of things, the fresh water aquariums are well established pristine and the fish appear to be in great health.
The puppies and kittens look like a throw back scene to 25 years ago; small cages/​containers etc. The bedding is fresh and clean, but there was a mass of folks just grabbing at the puppies and kittens and I didn’t get the sense that there was any real concern if the customers had the means (financial or otherwise) to take the pets home and provide a good home. That was the perception that I left with. The merchandise seems to have sat a while and has accumulated a fair amount of dust, discoloration and cobwebs. I recognize that it’s a hard balance to keep enough supply to offer variety and make it appealing, but there are some shelves that haven’t been touched in a long time and it shows.
There are a lot of birds, from small parakeets all the way to mid sized parrots. They seem to do a bit of hand rearing which is a credit to whoever is taking care of things.
I wasn’t greeted or thanked for coming in, and I just didn’t get a sense that there was much regard for anyone beyond the hysteria around the puppies and kittens and ferrets. I did overhear a conversation where two teenagers were talking with someone who seemed like they worked there — it focused on not deciding between a kitten or a ferret… rather getting both. Seriously, these girls looked to be 13 at best and that was the dialogue.
I am a huge proponent of local, small business — I hope they have success in all the right ways beyond just paying bills.

This store has been around forever and I’ve been several times to look at baby animals but I never actually got an animal from them until recently.
Last November I was in search of a rescue puppy, but was very picky about exactly what I was looking for. I just couldn’t find it. As a last resort just to have a look, the day before Thanksgiving my parents, brother and sister-​in-​law rode over there to take a look.
In the main room (this was in their old location) it was all, mostly, pure breed, larger sized puppies. None of them really added up to what I was looking for. Besides, we were just looking to look. I walked in the side room to look at the kitties and I saw this little puppy, only 2 months old and instantly fell in love. I knew he was «the one» because I was crying before I even got a chance to touch him.
The store was extremely crowded, but the owners let me take him into the back of the store to play with him and get to know him a little better. They let me sit back there for well over 30 minutes with him, and they did constantly check to see if we needed anything.
We ended up getting him (Quill). He had a brother with him (which I was heart broken separating him, but I knew the chances of them going together were slim). The owners of the shop took a two toys, rubbing one of them on my Quill and another on his brother, and exchanging the toys so the two brothers would still have each other’s scent. The owners didn’t charge us for that toy, and threw in something else for free (I can’t remember what it was exactly but it was helpful.)
I’m so happy with what I ended up with (he’s my baby) even though I didn’t get a rescue. Thank you. :)