"The biggest problem with most pet stores is it's about money, and that's the last thing it should be about."
For Stacy Hall and her family, owning and operating Petz Unleashed on South College Street next to Winn-Dixie is a tough hobby, not a tough job.
"It's been fun," Hall said. "But it isn't easy. It's 80-90 hours a week, because even when you leave you don't leave it. You can't take a vacation.
"Every animal in here has to be fed. Christmas Day people are opening gifts. Christmas Day I'm in here feeding animals."
Hall and her husband Kyle are Auburn natives who wanted to have something they could leave behind for their children. They said one of the ways to do that was to go in a different route from most other pet stores.
"We wanted a community-type store," Stacy said. "We wanted a place where people can come in and just hang out."
"It's a lot like a petting zoo," Kyle said. "This is a place people can come in and pick up and handle the animals."
Shawna Ware, owner of a ball python and a corn snake and a resident of Beauregard, said she goes to the store to buy mice.
"They're always so helpful," Ware said. "A few weeks back I had some trouble with my corn snake, and I went to PetCo, and they couldn't figure it out. They told me to try this place and I did. They fixed my little guy up right away."
Petz Unleashed sells bunnies, guinea pigs, rats and mice, birds, snakes, lizards, turtles, spiders, scorpions, centipedes and freshwater and saltwater fish.
Stacy said the strangest--and scariest--animal to come through their door was a crocodile monitor.
"He was about 5-and-a-half feet," she said. "They're arboreal, so his claws were so long that him just walking on you splits your arms open. We had to redo a cage specifically to have him in it."
The Halls said they want to expand, and the way to do that is to be helpful.
"We do enjoy it, we love it, but it's stressful," Stacy said. "We're very cautious of where our animals come from. We like to get everything privately bred.
"You're not promoting the same thing everyone else is promoting. You don't get them in the store and get them sold and make a quick buck."
She said the best example is a pair of sun conures that have been in the store for 14 months.
"When we sell those, we'll have lost a lot of money on them," Stacy said.
Kyle said he started spending time at the store with its previous owners, and when he found out they wanted to sell, he was willing to buy. When the Halls took over the store, policies changed drastically.
"We have an open door policy," Stacy said. "The humane society has enough issues and enough going on without people dumping snakes on them. We're a little better equipped for things like that."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
