PetSmart creates unsafe cages for hamsters and other small animals.  They breed for quantity not quality.  This petition is here to stop it.  I wish that people could realize that the care they give to their hamsters affect their life.  Give them a small wheel that’s wire?  It causes back bone issues and bumble foot.  Everything you do for a hamster is for a hamster.  I believe that we people need to educate others about these things.  PetSmart clearly wasn’t educated in these things and influenced other people to buy their unsafe products.  

The North American bare minimum for a hamster cage is 450 sq inches.  For me that’s not very large I recommend 800 sq inches but PetSmart decreases even more.  Let’s take the Kaytee Crittertrail 2 Level Habitat.  If you take the measurements 20 X 11.5. = a total of 230 square inches.  This is not enough space for a hamster.  Keep in mind this cage is their whole life,  an entire world.  PetSmart is not sensible nor did their research when it came to these cages.  
And we need to add in the factor that there is no room for things like hides, tubes, tunnels, etc.  literally just space to run on their wheel, drink, eat, and just walk around.  

PetSmart still sell mesh and wire wheels.  They even give them to the hamsters waiting to be bought.  Wire and mesh wheels have holes in them,  which if a hamster is running on it and steps into the whole.  Think about it, a hamster running and still has the momentum after stepping into the hole?  We’ll the hamster’s limb can be broken or worse just be ripped off and seriously injured.  Another consequence of giving your hamster a mesh or wire wheel is bumble foot. This is a bacterial infection and inflammatory reaction of the feet. It is typically caused by poor husbandry practices, such as using a meshed surface or a meshed wheel, so, please always provide an appropriate wheel for your hamster.  And not to mention PetSmart  stuff multiple hamsters together in the same cage such as dwarf hamsters encouraging others to buy more.  And because of this if multiple hamsters run on one wheel they are running at different speeds right?  This also comes with the same outcome of a hamster getting injured. Dwarf hamsters should not be housed together!

 Hamsters should have at least 6 more inches of bedding to burrow in.  They burrow naturally in the wild but PetSmart’s cages have about a 3 inch base.  3 inches is no where near enough for a hamster to burrow.  I don’t recommend dirt or wood shavings.  Dirt is hard to maintain because it’s almost impossible to spot clean and you need to keep it moist to uphold hamster burrows.  But moist dirt is key for mold and bacteria to thrive.  Wood shavings sometimes collapse while your hamster tries to burrow.  PetSmart sells scented bedding which isn’t all the best.  Some contain chemicals which can cause an upper respiratory infection. Which PetSmart has never mentioned