,Our Responsibilities

Responsible Pet Sourcing

From our groomers to our in-store colleagues, we all love animals. We also know that there’s more to giving our animals healthy, happy lives than just love. Animal welfare is our top priority for every pet we have in our shops – and that’s the case for where we get our animals from too. We work closely with the local council to ensure all pets we supply remain reliably sourced and get the best lives possible.

Our animals are

  • only bred in the United Kingdom.
  • We only sell animals to people who seem competent to provide their new pet with the environmental, dietary, behavioural and housing needs their new pet will require.
  • Dangerous Wild Animals or those subject to invasive species legislation are not stocked in our shops.
  • We do not sell cats or kittens, dogs or puppies.

They also extend to the small mammal suppliers of the pets in our stores – which is where our Responsible Pet Partnership Agreement comes in. All of our pet suppliers are registered with the council. If there are any recurring issues with a particular supplier the animal welfare will get involved.

 

The five welfare needs

Giving our animals everything they need to be happy and healthy underpins everything we do. The 2006 Animal Welfare Act states that any owner or person in charge of an animal has a duty of care to look after that animal properly. In the Animal Welfare Act, there are five welfare needs.
  • suitable environment.
  • a suitable diet
  • able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns.
  • housed with similar animals, or apart from other animals, where applicable.
  • protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

Our suppliers take these welfare needs very seriously and we will always do everything we can to ensure that those needs are met for every animal. We provide fact sheets instore and on our website to provide the information needed to look after your new pet.

Pets not ranged instore

It is possible for us to source different breeds of animal instore. If we do choose to introduce a new species to our stores, we always undertake comprehensive assessments to make sure that their welfare needs can be fully provided for both in our stores and by our customers. If you are interested in a particular pet feel free to ask in store and we will enquire and get back to you.