PetSmart

2 days ago, at 7pm on a Friday night, I walked into this PetSmart not thinking much about finding a kitten to call my own. 3 weeks ago I lost my one tuxedo to renal failure, leaving her sister all alone and my folks and I devastated. We went in search of a friend for her sister this past Friday, looking at the Hearts Alive shelter for kittens...but we struck out and I asked my parents if we could check out this PetSmart, since I know they put up animals for adoption.

We walked in there and I looked around for the adoption center, and as soon as I glanced around at all these beautiful cats...my heart glowed at seeing this 4-month old tabby male named Tito. He looked so gentle, ever at peace with his sister and friend Dolly. My mom was the first to hold him and her heart melted, being a cat lover...then it was my turn. She handed him to me, and I was in love with how sweet and gentle he became in my arms...snuggling himself into my chest and looking to me as if he found a home.

We vowed the next day we'd return to adopt him...we did just that. We brought our black lab to see Tito through the glass and he had no problems; nor showed signs of fear or anger towards a dog. We knew Friday night we had found our kitten and so we filled out the paperwork this past Saturday morning to adopt him.

Only to find out Sunday afternoon, after not hearing any notice for 24 hours from Hearts Alive...my folks went to PetSmart to see Tito. Just to find that a volunteer had come late that night and took Tito, planning to adopt him & that our application had been shoved under a pile of papers...as if to say this had never happened.

Devastated, shattered, lost, and confused as to why a place who says they want nothing more than to give an animal a home...would do this to a family like yours or mine. This sneaky backhanded operation, could've happened to any one of you looking to adopt. This volunteer was never made aware to us beforehand, PetSmart made it appear like he was totally ours, and that there were zero signs about him going anywhere...it was about as cold-hearted as one could've done to a family. This store, this manger, do not care about finding you an animal to call yours...if they've got their heart set of making other "deals" happen, they'll do so.

Had my folks not come in yesterday, we would've been left in the lurk...waiting and praying to call Tito, a part of our family & open a part of our hearts to him.

This is not a message of anger, but a fore-warning to anyone looking to this store for adoption purposes. I'm at a loss for words that this how the manager handled our application, and how selfish these people were to not consider if Tito might have found himself a family.

Save yourself the pain, and look elsewhere if you wish to actually give an animal a home.

This store does not think of you as its priority.