Interview

Hello readers.

I wrote about puppy mills the other day, ( if you haven't read, check this out: https://amoreforanimals2017.blogspot.jp/2017/07/research_13.html ) and to enrich the information, I interviewed a woman who has an experience of working at a pet store.



She used to work at a small pet store in Osaka for about a year, and now works in a completely different field. Here, I'll call her "R".



Me: What made you to work at a pet store?
R: Because I love animals. I was interested in the job, but I've always objected to pet stores so wanted to find out what was happening there.

Me: What kind of animals does the store sell?
R: Only dogs.

Me: Do you think the environment of the store was good for the dogs?
R: I don't say it was bad.
Me: So you think there wasn't anything bad for the dogs.
R: ...well, when a dog grows up, he is put to a cage so that customers can pet and interact with him, which can cause stress to him.

Me: What exactly did you do in your job?
R: I fed the dogs, cleaned up their cages, took them for a walk, checked their health conditions, and management of a dog hotel they own.
Me: Did you take the dogs for a walk often?
R: Yes, but didn't take puppies. There was a play room for puppies.
Me: How big it was?
R: ...about 6㎡ I guess.
Me: And how did you check the dog's health conditions?
R: Mostly by checking their stool. When I thought a dog didn't feel good, I gave medicine.
Me: How did the store get the medicine? From a veterinary?
R: There were some from a veterinary, but some were from a drugstore like biofermin. Of course powdered one.

Me: Did the store sell well?
R: No.
Me: Then what happened to a dog that couldn't find his owner?
R: Nothing happened. He just stayed there.

Me: Did you know where the puppies came from?
R: Yes. My boss once told me.
Me: Was it like a puppy mill?
R: ...yes, I believe. I'm not sure.
Me: What did you think after you knew it?
R: I thought it was awful.

Me: Do you think the dogs in the store were happy?
R: I don't know. Only if they could find good owners.

Me: Why did you quit the job?
R: I wanted to do different job.  I'm concerned about what happened to the dogs after I quit.

Me: After the experience of working at a pet store, do you think you want to buy animals from a pet store now?
R: Definitely not. I adopted a rescued cat last year and I'm enjoying life with her now.

Me: What do you think are the things that one needs to consider before becoming a pet owner?
R: One  should consider whether he can take the responsibility to have the pet's life in his hands, and he can prepare and provide the appropriate environment for the pet.

Real experiences and opinions are always good to understand the issue you're addressing deeper.

This interview became a great experience for me to motive myself to work on harder to protect animal rights!

Thank you for reading!