PETCO DEAD INSTENTLY, NO CARE AT ALL st.george, Utah

A pet shop should not be keeping hamsters in conditions where they fight and kill each other.

If hamsters are fighting, the pet shop should notice immediately, and take action.

If a hamster gets killed, the pet shop should definitely notice.

It's bad enough to have a hamster die in one of their cages. For the pet shop to leave a dead hamster lying there while the other hamsters eat it is disgraceful.

It's no excuse to say "the other hamsters ate it, the pet shop wasn't responsible." The shop most certainly was responsible for keeping animals under those conditions.

Petco's generally speaking are a high foot traffic type store..I don't live in a very large town at all and my local pet smart and pet co are both very busy every time I go in so yeah, the odds of a purse not being picked up after a whole day is very very small.. think about that for a second and may be you'll understand why I'm having a hard time believing the story.. If you sat your purse or wallet down, how long would it last? And it doesn't have to be someone taking it, it could be someone turning it into the store but after a day plus the next morning I find it very likely at least someone would have turned it in.

Again, the store did not eat the hamster therefore it's hard to blame the store for what the other hamster did.. Its not like an employee twisted the head off.. the person I feel bad for is the kid that probably found it because this other person couldn't handle the situation.. I'm not saying these things shouldn't be cared for.. Personally they are not my taste of pet but what ever, to each his own I guess.

With that said, if the story is true, I stand by my given advice, start with the store managers and if they don't do anything talk to the district manager about it.. If they don't do anything the press is usually helpful in these situations.. Just my two cents..

I have heard complaints about Petco's care of their small animals in other parts of the country. We should really push hard for humane standards of animal care to be enforced. Some smaller pet shop chains have closed because of complaints to the authorities about their dirty cages, lack of water, overcrowding, etc. You might consider going back and taking discrete photos, and complaining officially to the Humane Society, ASPCA, or state attorney general. 

I would call the manager of the store.. Did you try that? if they don't care, make sure you talk to the general manager as that person is in charge of the store as a whole, if they don't care, get the district managers phone number. Believe me, that person will care.

The other thing is this.. It's a hamster, if his buddies ate him this is hardly the fault of the store.. You could have told an employee that one of them was dead and they probably would have taken care of it.. But seriously.. you were in shock over seeing a dead hamster??? And running around the store in horror and shock didn't garner any attention? I'll be honest, I have a hard time believing that no one would have moved and / or stolen your purse from one day to the next.. 10 minutes, sure.. but day A to the next I have a hard time believing...With that said I"ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you were very lucky on what I would do if I was in that position.. Why didn't you call the store asking if your purse was there.. I would have, just so that if it was still at the cages someone else couldn't take it...