I would like to see more independent high street pet shops selling only `ethical` small pet products and only sell cages and beddings that were suitable to keep an animal in/on rather than stock things that are obviously there to make quick money at the expense of the pet.
Cages: Narrow barred cages 75cm long or bigger. Zoozone & Ferplast Maxi tanks.
Substrates: Fitch, Aubiose/hemp, Supreme Cosi n Dry, chopped card beddings and wood shavings that have been thoroughly kiln dried and properly tested for dust extraction. Or don`t sell wood shavings at all and only support paper and wood pulp/cardboard only beddings.
Food: Burgess Supahamster/dwarf mix and some of the mixes we see online that far outweigh the cheap supermarket brands.
Nesting: ONLY paper based and have leaflets comparing good with bad for people to see what they are buying explaining the differences.
I`m sure there would be a market for this even though large retailers suck up the main market, probably because anyone with a car can park at their door and walk in. But when you compare much of the stock to what a smaller pet shop might be able to order in for you, it`s a no brainer.
My local pet shop doesn`t sell animals (a big plus for me) and they always manage to get me anything I ask them for, which saves me some money too as I usually buy things online that I can`t buy on the high street. So have a chat with your smaller pet shops and if they stock animals for sale, educate them on their ethics while in there!
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