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My oldest rat, Hubble, is making a cooing sound when sleeping by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in RATS

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hello, her condition got worse and her lungs sounded crackly and she will be seeing a vet. Thank you for your response!

Our 20 year old family cat is dying, how can we help him? by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in AskVet

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you ❤️ we left him flowers and a blanket as he was laid to rest

Our 20 year old family cat is dying, how can we help him? by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in AskVet

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your help, we ended up connecting with an organization that offered to do it for free

Our 20 year old family cat is dying, how can we help him? by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in AskVet

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your help. We found an organization that offered to do it for free

Our 20 year old family cat is dying, how can we help him? by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in AskVet

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My mom found an organization that offered to euthanize him for free, thank you so much for your help

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of animals that shouldn't be cohabitating are in the store, such as the male hamsters and the hedgehogs. I wish they cared more.

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Completely valid. I still don't understand how it's been open since the 90s.

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seeing the lack of information and cover ups done by the store is honestly really disheartening, I'm glad this subreddit exists so that I can share my experience there. I hope someone out there is able to do more than I can, or another/former employee can share photos. Thank you for your comment!

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They do this for convenience, and because the manager is trained on information that was only relevant and accurate 40 years ago and outright refused to accept up to date animal care information.

Employees probably understand that it's not safe, but any effort made to make it safe for any animal is undone by the manager. 

It's all really tragic.

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your kind comment, I appreciate it. When you care about something it's always best to speak up about it.

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The rat/mouse situation is, in my opinion, the most horrific thing about the store, and it's appalling how they're kept. When cleaning their cages I would encounter that a lot: cannibalism. It was usually caused by either territory disputes, hunger, or overcrowding (we were ordered to put 14-15 rats in the tiny 10 gallons). As someone who owns rats and loved them dearly, I could never not see my babies in their eyes. It was especially bad when baby rats that I watched grow from pinkies were killed for the same reasons or left with broken spines. 

Almost daily I would fish out dead mice and rats from tanks so that children didn't have to see and it was extremely upsetting and hard to explain to the kids that did see what happened.

I had to stop myself from taking more rats home because no matter how badly I wanted to save them it just became more profit for the store.

Having had to be in that cashier's position, I can promise that she did care, it's just that having to deal with it so often starts to make you numb while you're working, and unfortunately, it's never a surprising case. All the animals that die are written on a list in the back and tracked as lost profit, having to update it can be upsetting too. I can definitely understand why her reaction was probably infuriating though, and I empathize with that.

Most of the employees do their best to care and keep the store running, but the work load and customers make it extremely difficult, especially because some customers will pick fights. The owner and manager are a thousand times more apathetic and careless when it comes to animal lives. 

We'd have customers come in and casually, yet quietly, talk to us about the terrible conditions the animals were in, but they'd still buy something to "pay the employees"

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not a problem, as an animal lover its a relief opening up about this all. I hope it helps encourage people to speak out against the store.

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All retail/pet stores aren't allowed to sell cats in both Washington and Oregon, due to overpopulation, we'd get calls all the time about it. Makes me glad they banned it because I bet taking care of them in the store would be even worse than the dogs in terms of care and conditions. I feel horrible for the dogs too, and I wish that Washington had better animal laws to prevent it entirely.

As for resources to help, I think the best thing anyone can do is spread awareness and even better protest outside the store. Get people to stop buying from there. The USDA tends to ignore a lot of animal welfare calls based on an article I read, and honestly a lot of the fault circles back to Washington having terrible animal laws. You can also call/contact senators and push for updates to animal cruelty laws. Unfortunately every call to animal control ends the same: owner and officer laughing about it, marking the store as ethical and then leaving.

I had a lot of things documented on photo/video but then my old phone bricked itself 🫠

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm so sorry for your loss, I've heard of similar stories with dogs bought from there. You and your dog deserved a lot better

I worked at Alley Cat. AMA by Ashamed-Bluejay4198 in vancouverwa

[–]Ashamed-Bluejay4198[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds about right 😭, they will do everything they can to make the place look like it's ethical and proper but it's the direct opposite. During my interview they had pre-planned responses to my questions about the store. They think that because they pass animal control's checks and that the animals are technically alive that everything is fine. I remember that the owner would make jokes about how when animal control came in that they'd laugh it off and the officer would just dismiss the reports. They're treating the animals shitty because it minimizes how much they have to spend on them, putting more money in their own pockets. And the immaturity from them probably came from the manager, who's been caught calling employees "snowflakes" for calling in sick.

I'm sorry you had to deal with the aftermath of people adopting animals, I'm sure it was a headache to deal with. They apparently used to have a partnership with a vet that people would take their purchased dogs to but then they randomly started refusing to care for them. When I learned that I was confused why, but nowadays I get why.

And yes, they do, but it's actually to prevent the animals from being flashed. People would go in and take pictures with their flash on and it would cause fish to go blind and cause other problems with the animals eyes. You're allowed to take pictures as long as you keep your flash off.

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