{"id":914408,"date":"2018-12-06T11:44:50","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T19:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peta.org\/?post_type=living&p=914408"},"modified":"2022-11-30T01:23:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T09:23:13","slug":"small-animals-big-commitment-not-starter-pets","status":"publish","type":"living","link":"https:\/\/www.peta.org\/lifestyle\/animal-companions\/small-animals-big-commitment-not-starter-pets\/","title":{"rendered":"Caring for a Small Animal Is a Big Commitment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thinking of getting a fish, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, chinchilla, reptile, bird, or other small animal because it will be “easier” than caring for a dog or cat? Think again.<\/p>\n

They may be small, but these animals have specialized needs<\/a>, and caring for them requires just as much time, energy, commitment, and love as caring for a canine or feline companion. Like all animals, small ones need routine and emergency veterinary care\u2014which is often more expensive than care for cats and dogs, as regular clinics may refer them to veterinarians who specialize in treating exotic animals. They also need nutritious food and clean water; regular grooming; a comfortable and clean living environment; daily exercise and attention; lights, temperatures, and humidity levels that are specific to their needs; and more. Unfortunately, many people underestimate what’s involved in caring for these small beings, and they’re frequently neglected\u2014sometimes, fatally.<\/p>\n

\n\"Tiny<\/a>\n<\/figure>\n

For example, small animals’ need for companionship (or solitude, in the case of hamsters) is often ignored by people who are uninformed about\u2014or indifferent to\u2014this requirement. Guinea pigs<\/a> are often kept alone, but companionship is so vital to their well-being that Switzerland has made it illegal to keep only one of these animals. Gerbils<\/a> are also highly social and languish if kept in solitary confinement. Isolating a rabbit<\/a> in a hutch is a recipe for a lonely, withdrawn, unhappy bunny. And keeping goldfish<\/a> isolated can cause them to become lethargic and depressed.<\/p>\n

Confining these social animals alone, in outdoor hutches, cages shoved into a forgotten corner of the house, or tiny bowls or tanks, is just as unacceptable as keeping a dog on a chain 24\/7 or forcing a cat to live in a closet.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"\/<\/a>\n<\/figure>\n

Pet stores<\/a> are complicit in the rampant neglect of small animals. They peddle sensitive living beings as if they were trinkets and perpetuate the myth that they are low-maintenance “starter pets” for children. Pet stores generally sell animals to anyone who hands over cash or a credit card, without bothering to screen them to ensure that they will be responsible guardians. Many don’t even provide any information about properly caring for the animals they sell. And pet stores obtain animals from filthy mass-breeding factory farms that deprive these vulnerable beings of their most basic needs.<\/p>\n

At Holmes Farm<\/a>, for example\u2014a notorious mill\u00a0that supplied\u00a0hamsters, gerbils, chinchillas, ferrets, and other small animals to\u00a0pet stores\u2014a PETA investigator caught workers piling dozens of animals into a feces-smeared cooler and crudely gassing them as well as stuffing live rats into plastic zipper bags and putting them in a freezer as they frantically tried to claw their way out.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"\/<\/a>\n<\/figure>\n

At Sun Pet<\/a>, which supplies animals to PetSmart and Petco, a PETA\u00a0expos\u00e9\u00a0revealed that hundreds of birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, mice, and rats had been crammed into\u00a0extremely crowded containers. One worker tried to kill hamsters by putting them in a plastic bag and bashing them against a table. Minutes later, one of them was still alive\u2014suffering and panting heavily.<\/p>\n

Conditions for animals are often no better after they reach pet stores. PETA’s\u00a0eyewitness investigation of three PetSmart stores<\/a> across the country revealed systemic neglect and\u00a0widespread\u00a0animal suffering\u2014including sick, injured,\u00a0and dying animals deprived of veterinary care in order to “keep costs down”\u00a0so that the managers of a Nashville, Tennessee, store would receive bonuses. Animals at a Brandon, Florida, store were\u00a0left to languish during Hurricane Irma\u2014when workers returned four days later, several had escaped, approximately 30\u00a0had run out of water, and some had died. At a Peoria, Arizona,\u00a0store, a mouse named\u00a0Ninetails\u00a0was denied veterinary care for\u202fa pus-filled growth that was as big as a blueberry. Such\u00a0cruelty is rampant whenever\u00a0living\u00a0beings\u00a0are treated as moneymaking commodities.<\/p>\n\n

\n