PETSMART

Petsmart is a good basic store- it's a corporation but it's better than a lot of others. There are some people who have worked for the company for decades and are very happy there. Since there is some turnover you can't always be guaranteed you'll get really good help.

Pros: near Costco

Cons: sometimes clueless

Petsmart does a good job of helping local shelters by not selling dogs or cats. They have a great variety of items for all kinds of pets. But the guinea pigs we purchased from them were from "mills" and weren't really used to interacting with humans.

Pros: Helps local shelters

Cons: Small animals not hand raised