Pet shops sell rodents and rabbits that are bred in rodent mills, which mass-breed pets with no consideration for their quality of life. Once the pets are in the pet shops they are kept until they're sold in tiny holding pens on bedding that is often unsuitable for the animal and given little to no enrichment or enrichment which is damaging to the animal in question. 

These animals are then sold to people with no home checks performed and with the store only caring about the profit gained from the sale of the animal along with the unsuitable accommodation and bedding the store has. In cases where staff are knowledgeable about the specific animal's care requirements, they are still made to sell the animals to customers who don't want to listen to the appropriate advice because they have to adhere to the store's bottom line which is to make the most amount of money. 

Pet shops are also not required to take the animals to the exotics vets they need when sick but instead just to a vet, which is a lot cheaper than paying for an exotics vet consultation but is unsuitable care for the animals in question.

This is a huge injustice to all small pets and as a result, they suffer horrible lives, some short, some long.

We only need to take a look at the rabbit crisis currently to understand that pet shops are causing a huge problem and only contributing to cases of animal neglect, abandonment and cruelty by selling these small pets. Pretty much all of the rescues around the UK are full to the brim with rabbits that they cannot rehome and all of those rescues have waiting lists for rabbits that need to find new homes. Meanwhile these rescues are being overlooked as people know they can get a small pet form a pet store a lot cheaper, quicker and easier. 

But we need to start considering the bigger picture, it is unfair to be supporting rodent mills by buying pets from pet stores, it is also unfair and cruel to only consider our own impulses and not those of the animal, if we cannot meet that animals need then we should not be purchasing that animal. 

I myself am guilty of having bought pets from pet stores but I can say wholeheartedly that I have done everything I can to learn about these animals' care requirements and provide them with the best quality of life I can and in keeping with rescue recommendations.  And I would never buy a pet from a pet shop again. So if you're like me this isn't meant to make you feel guilty or disheartened but just to encourage you to help me and these animals by signing this petition to get the sale of small pets in pet shops banned. 

Thank you for reading and hopefully signing and sharing if you can.