[xvedejas]

Pets provide happiness for many people, and pet stores make more animals available as pets. Probably including options you wouldn't find at a shelter. And I personally don't see the harm.

(Disclaimer: I have never bought a pet at a pet store)

[_bfhp]

"Joyous! How is one to tell about joy? How describe the citizens of Omelas?..."

[pseudolus]

For those who didn't get the reference to Omelas (including myself) it appears to be to "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" 'a 1973 work of short philosophical fiction by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. With deliberately both vague and vivid descriptions, the narrator depicts a summer festival in the utopian city of Omelas, whose prosperity depends on the perpetual misery of a single child'. [0]

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ones_Who_Walk_Away_from_Om...

[xvedejas]

If you want to dive into the philosophy... What is the relevant counterfactual? If the alternative to animals living in conditions below your standards is no animals at all, (or worse conditions), then I find pet stores to be morally good. If the counterfactual is happily living animals, or a world that is better in some other way, then you have an argument for me. But does banning pet stores create a place for happy animals? Or does it have some other effect that makes something else better about the world?

[_bfhp]

Me and people I've known growing up have found many, many friends in foster homes, vet offices, shelters, the street. Where profit motive doesn't really exist...

[xvedejas]

From my perspective, profit motive is good when it's tied to a good thing. And we're trying to figure out if pet stores are a good thing or not.

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

One thing that worries me about pet stores is that there is very little incentive for them to be on the lookout for animal torturing sadists. I'm really not sure what the solution is to that.

[xvedejas]

Hmmm, I don't know. I imagine it's harder to sell an animal with a PTSD-affected personality, so from that perspective, they're incentivized not to harm animals. Did you have something in mind where harming the animal makes it easier to sell?

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

It's easier to sell animals to people who torture them to death and buy another one like they're a disposable toy. This is a real problem that shelters and breeders deal with.

It's also something people should be aware of when selling or giving away a pet on craigslist.