Angell Pets involvement in overseas conservation

We take animal welfare seriously at Angell Pets We follow the top industry standards with our own animals and give our customers the best available advice and information so they can do the same. We also have contributed to animal conservation and welfare at other establishments and around the world. Our staff have worked on a projects locally with the Gloucester Wildlife Trust, across the UK, such as encouraging the re-introduction of otters to Birmingham and for the last few years at various locations around the world.

angell pets conservation

Africa Nature Reserve

George Angell (familiar in the shop to many of our customers) left the UK to help with work on Assumption and Aldabra for SIF (Seychelles Island Federation). Having worked on Rhino conservation in Africa during university, he was keen to get involved as soon as possible. Initially landing on Mahe – the main island in the Seychelles, George worked for a few months on supporting Black Parrot conservation. This work was a long term project, continuing after George left that was recently declared a success. He moved on from Mahe to the main focus of his work on the Seychelles controlled Atolls of Adabra and Assumption. These islands are so remote, even from the Seychelles islands themselves, that travel there is not possible all year round, so George contributed to the Mahe project whilst waiting for transport to be available.

 

angell pets conservation

Mahe

angell pets conservation

Mahe

Aldabra is a world heritage site and as such is an important and therefore protected environment. Invasive species of birds had made it at least as far as Assumption Island (40 km from the coral atoll of Aldabra) and an E.U. funded project was in place to remove these birds before they got to Aldabra (and to check how many may have already have got there and remove them).

George left to assist with the removal of these birds, helping to protect this important and unique habitat. He also did his own research for his dissertation toward his higher degree on the work he will be involved in.

Aldabra and Assumption are extremely remote islands in the middle of the Indian ocean. Situated  1100km south west from the main Seychelles Islands, Assumption is only 11 square kilometres. The only population are the scientists George is joining who go by boat to study Aldabra and support staff who maintain the landing strip. He was not be able to get there until October as travel is not possible from the Seychelles island of Mahe until then.

Below is an extract from the project brief outlining why the work was important and what it was trying to achieve and George’s part in it.

Under the European Commission’s (EC) Thematic Programme for Environment and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources, including Energy, the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) is implementing a 4-year project entitled “Mainstreaming the management of invasive alien species to preserve the ecological integrity and enhance the resilience of Seychelles World Heritage Sites” (‘the Action’) which started in February 2011. The overall objective of the Action is to develop and implement a strategic programme applying the ecosystem approach to limit the spread and reduce the impact of invasive alien species (IAS) in Seychelles’ World Heritage Sites (WHS). The Action is being coordinated and implemented by SIF, in partnership with the Seychelles Environment Department (ED) and National Parks Authority (SNPA), and with project associates Islands Development Company (IDC) and Island Conservation Society (ICS).

Under the project’s specific objectives, an eradication of avian IAS from Assumption of the Red-Whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus and the Madagascar Fody, Foudia madagascariensis is underway. Until recently, Aldabra was thought to be the largest island in the world with no introduced avian species but in 2012 both the Assumption introduced species have been observed in the eastern part of Aldabra. These species have long been considered the most severe threat to Aldabra’s avifauna, making their eradication an immediate conservation priority. SIF is therefore running two parallel bird eradications on these adjacent islands. Due to the unexpected invasion on Aldabra , more staff are being recruited to help ensure the success of these eradications.

Georges specific role in this project was as follows.

1. Eradication of all introduced birds from Assumption and Aldabra

2. Improved understanding of avian IAS ecology on Assumption and Aldabra

3. Continued trial of alternative eradication methods for invasive avian species

4. Elimination of the threat of avian invasive species to Aldabra’s ecosystem and outstanding universal values

5. Recommendations for restoration of avian fauna on Assumption

George’ duties also included catching their own food (to quote the organiser – “hope you like fish and rice”) and there were lots of opportunities to see the local marine life (he had invested in prescription scuba goggles). Fortunately he didn’t get to see some of it too closely (sharks, venomous snails, fish etc.) and got to meet the famous Aldabran Giant Tortoise  very up close and personal. Assumption has an air strip that has to be cleared of tortoises before supply planes can land and so they are not all as friendly as those on Aldabra. George can vouch for that having been chased by “Terry” who’s head came up to Georges hip! He also made a trip across the island to an abandoned unfinished hotel where he had to construct barriers across the door ways to try to keep the robber crabs (giant land crabs) out of the gear – they steal everything!

angell pets conservation

Fishing for dinner on Assumption

This, as you can imagine, was a sort after placement and George had to interview and compete to get the post. We were very pleased to be involved in such a globally important project and wish the team still on the islands every success in their continued efforts to protect our environment.

After completing his term on the SIF projects George returned to the UK to complete his  honours degree gaining a first. During this period he worked in the shop at weekends, providing our customers with the benefit of his growing knowledge base.

On completion of his degree he again looked about for conservation work around the world. There were a number of competing projects looked at, from  the Antarctic to the Galapagos. In the end he opted for New Zealand.

angell pets conservation

New Zealand Office

New Zealand is a group of islands with an endemic population of flora and fauna This means the animals and plants of New Zealand are found there and no where else in the world.

angell pets conservation

Walking The Trails

As these species have evolved in isolation, they are vulnerable to the introduction of invasive competing or predatory species from outside the islands. Since man has reached the islands there has been a decline of endemic species, from the now extinct Moa (a large flightless bird, hunted to extinction by the newly arrived Maori people) to the endangered Kiwis and Kakapo (smaller flightless birds, brought close to extinction by predators introduced by European settlers to control the rats and mice they had already accidently introduced from their ships and initial supplies). George was to become involved in the control and/or eradication of some of these invaders, such as the Australian brush tailed Possum, the European stoat, ferret and weasel to name but a few.

angell pets conservation

Time Off

He spent three years working towards the stated aim of New Zealand to become predator free by 2050 (with a couple of months out to train vultures in Spain to fly with tourist on paragliders!) As a falconer, he also captured, trained and released two Autralasian Swamp Harriers during his stay, being amongst a mere handful of people in the world licensed to do this.

angell pets conservation

Vulture

After three years of this work George has returned to the UK where he is using his expertise to train upcoming animal carers, handlers and perhaps future conservationists at a college in Oxford. At the same time he is working for us back in the shop in Hucclecote on Saturdays where our customers can benefit from his knowledge and experience. We are very happy that Angell Pets staff are so involved in the promotion of animal welfare at such a range of levels, from giving advice on dog food to protecting some of the worlds most endangered species in the most hands on way possible.

angell pets conservation

Working Hard

angell pets conservation

Back Working In The Shop

So there it is. Just a little background on just one of the Angell Pets staff members. Perhaps I’ll do another log at some point on the relevant experience of the rest of us one day.

The Angell Pets Team

George Angell Back At Angell Pets

Unfortunately my spinal condition and associated complications has me currently disabled and unable to work and practically housebound. For the last month or two Billie has been running the business on her own carrying out all the shop duties (ordering, unloading deliveries and stocking shelves, serving customers, answering the phone, feeding, watering and cleaning all the animals, cleaning the shop, opening and closing etc.) as well as all the back office duties (banking, stock control, website management, supplier issues, finance, answering customer emails and social media enquiries etc.).

This month her brother, George, has returned from New Zealand and has agreed to help out by giving up his Saturday and a couple of evenings a week to take off some of the pressure.

Pet shop gloucester

Not only is this good news for us because of the extra pair of hands but we couldn’t have asked for a more qualified, experienced, expert person to step into the breach.

George has a first degree honours in Animal Science from UWE. During this study he won two awards, including top student. He has worked in the UK with a very wide variety of animals both his own and with a professional animal breeder and flown a variety of birds of prey. He has worked on a rhino reserve in South Africa, tracked king cobras in the Thai jungle (where he broke his collar bone – he always pushes things to the limit!), swam with whale sharks (but didn’t check his camera was charged) and worked on black parrot conservation on Mahe in the Seychelles and the Madagascan Fody on Assumption Island in the Indian Ocean during a year off from his degree.

He lived in New Zealand for three years (at one point working on “Mount Doom” from the Lord of The Rings – his “office”) and twice nearly fell off cliffs! He has been working on the conservation of New Zealand’s endemic fauna including Kiwis, Keas, Kakapo, Tuatara etc. and has worked with the Australasian Swamp Harrier, being one of the few people licensed to fly these birds in the world. He even took a few months out to train vultures for a new business venture in Spain. He recently returned to the UK to take up a full time post at an Oxford college to look after and expand their animal collection and to teach students in the handling and husbandry of these animals including reptiles and amphibians, mammals and birds.

So if you wish to buy an animal from people who really do have the qualifications, experience and expertise to give you the best advice on how to set up an animal’s enclosure and look after it for its lifetime, buying and keeping it in tip top condition; you will not find a team that can compete with Angell Pets. Our range of animals and products covers just about any animal suitable to be kept in captivity and extends to wild birds and wild animals and livestock such as chickens and ducks, goats and horses.

We hope you pop in and see us and once I get all this treatment out of the way I will be back too.

The Angell Pets Team

Pet Shop Gloucester 10% Off All Small Animal Cages And Hutches

We are giving a discount of 10% on all our small animal cages, hutches and runs whilst current stocks last in our pet shop Gloucester. This includes wire cages, glass enclosures, wooden hutches and rabbit and guinea pig runs.

These discounts are only avaiable in store and are for current stock. Once they are gone they are gone, so make sure you get in quick to grab one of the offers. We have listed a few items below but there are lots more. Visit us in store in our Gloucester pet shop to see the full range.

pet shop gloucester

Orchard Hutch – Normal price £139.99 – only £125.99

pet shop gloucester

All Metal, Triple Height Cage – Normal Price £99.99 – only £89.99

pet shop gloucester

Rydon Hamster Cage Two Tier – Normal Price £25.99 – only £23.39

pet shop gloucester

Critters Choice Glass Enclosure Extra Large – Normal Price £92.99 – only £83.69

pet shop gloucester

Harrisons Sandford Run – Normal Price £49.99 – only £44.99

Angell Pets pet shop Gloucester is now in Hucclecote, with easy access from all local areas and a large FREE carpark. We stock food and accessories for small animals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates, fish, poultry, wild birds, cats and dogs, as well as a large range of quality livestock.

Angell Pets January Discounts

Angell Pets has some exclusive offers avaiable this month in addition to those already posted. A lot of these offers are whilst stocks last so please make sure you grab a bargain quickly to avoid disappointment.

Angell Pets Qute Hamster Cage

Qute Hamster Cage with storage in beech – normal price £139.99 – now only £83.99 (only one in stock).

Angell Pets Komodo Ecology Vivarium

Komodo Ecology vivarium in beech – large only – normal price £159.99 – now only £109.99 (only one in stock)

Angell Pets Cat It Fresh and Clear Fountain with Bowl

Cat It Fresh N Clear Cat Fountain and Feeding Bowl – 20% off (only one in stock)

Angell Pets Bird Feeder

Wild Bird Feeders – 10% off all in stock

Angell Pets Shampoo

Dog and Cat Shampoo and Conditioners – 10% off all in stock

These Angell Pets offers are available in store and online and of course all qualify for FREE local delivery.

 

The Angell Pets Team

 

Angell Pets Christmas And New Year Opening Times

It doesn’t seem like a year ago I was publishing the opening times for the holidays but there you go. So, our first Christmas in our new store. We have got in extra stock to help get our customers over the Christmas period without any shortages.

Angell Pets opening times this year are as follows. All changes to normal times and services are highlighted in red:-

Up to and including Tuesday 23rd – normal hours and free local delivery service.

Wednsday 24th – Christmas Eve 9am – 6pm. No free local deliveries.

Thursday 25th – Christmas Day – CLOSED

Friday 26th – Boxing Day – CLOSED

Saturday 27th – 10am – 5pm

Sunday 28th – 10am – 4pm

Monday 29th – 9am – 5pm. Normal free local deliveries.

Tuesday 30th – 9am – 6pm. Normal free local deliveries.

Wednesday 31st – 9am – 6pm. No free local deliveries.

Thursday 1st – CLOSED.

Friday 2nd – 10am – 6pm. Normal free local deliveries.

Sat 3rd onward – back to normal opening hours and free local delivery service on weekdays.

Please note that UK deliveries will be dispatched as normal throughout the holidays but will be subject to usual postal service Christmas closures so arrival may be delayed.

Have a merry Christmas, a happy new year and if we don’t see you in the shop, hope to see you on your doorstep as we drop off your orders.

The Angell Pets Team

 

Angell Pets are moving!!!

Angell Pets has been based in Abbeymead for the last 5 years. Sadly our landlord saw fit to serve us with a notice to quit because he says he wants to put in an estate agents (virtually next door to the existing one!). Anyway we didn’t hang around but found ourselves a new premises right next to the Quays in Gloucester.

Angell Pets Pet shop Gloucester

We are moving to 168 – 170 Southgate Street, on the corner of Llanthony Road and Southgate Street. We are hoping to have the new shop OPEN by 24th November 2014. We will continue to trade from our existing Abbeymead store up until Friday the 21st. Over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd we will be taking orders over the telephone or online through our webstore.

We appreciate the support our local customers in Abbeymead have given us over the past five years and offer FREE local delivery so we can still support those customers who cannot make it into the new shop. You can order online, over the telephone and if ordering over the telephone can pay by card or cash on delivery. Deliveries will be Monday to Friday and normally in the evening, although as the popularity of this service grows we may have to start putting on some deliveries during the day as well.

Any change, especially one forced upon you, is difficult to manage. We will try to ensure stock levels are maintained during the move but I am sure there is plenty of scope for some items to run a bit low. Restocking only normally takes us a couple of days if this does occur however.

We have thousands of lines plus all the shelving, animals and cages to move so it is not going to be easy but in the long run the extra space and cheaper rent and rates in the new shop is going to allow us to offer new services and promotions to our customers so hopefully the forced move will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Please pop in the Abbeymead shop during November as we will have some fantastic offers on as we reduce stock levels so there is less to move. Of course we would love you to visit us in our new premises after the 24th of November as well. Hopefully we will see you there.

 

The Angell Pets Team

January special offer

Our January special offer start today. This is the first of a range of superb discounts on our range of pet products.

Our wholesaler Best Pets has regular monthly offers and here is January’s list.

Best Pets January

All these special offers are also available online

Keep you eye out for more special offers in the coming weeks.

The Angell Pets Team

 

 

Juwel aquarium web offer

Juwel aquarium web offer until 31/01/14. We are very pleased to offer Juwel tanks and cabinets at superb prices until the end of January next year.

Our Juwel tanks are usually set at prices over 20% below RRP. For the next three months we have and extra 10% off these already low prices.

Juwel aquarium

 

Juwel Rio 125 tank, RRP £289, our usual price £227, now only £205

Juwel Rio 125 cabinet, RRP £149, or usual price £117, now only £106

Juwel Rio 180 tank, RRP £339, our usual price £269, now only £242

Juwel Rio 180 cabinet. RRP £189, our usual price £149, now only £134

Juwel Rio 240 tank, RRP £449, our usual price £355, now only £320

Juwel Rio 240 cabinet, RRP £215, our usual price £168, now only £151

Juwel Rio 300 tank, RRP £725, our usual price £574, now only £517

Juwel Rio 300 cabinet, RRP £255, our usual price £199, now only £179

Juwel Rio 400 tank, RRP £995, our usual price £789, now only £710

Juwel Rio 400 cabinet, RRP £275, our usual price £218, now only £196

Juwel Trigon 190 tank, RRP £539, our usual price £425, now only £382

Juwel Trigon 190 cabinet, RRP £239, our usual price £189, now only £170

Juwel Trigon 350 tank, RRP £1095, our usual price £868, now only £781

Juwel Trigon 350 cabinet, RRP £295, our usual price £235, now only £211

We will be adding more of the Juwel aquarium range to our website over the next week or so, including the economy Rekord and the luxury Vision. Thease are avaiable to order at the offer prices from now but will take a little time to upload to the site. If you want a price for one of these Juwel aquarium ranges, just give uas a call or drop us a line and we will get back to you with price and availability.

This Juwel aquarium web offer is for all sizes and all colours of the whole Juwel aquarium range. Some colours are more popular and at these prices could sell out quickly. If you want to take advantage of these excellent juwel aquarium offer, do get in quick to ensure you can get the Juwel aquarium of your choice,

Normal lead times for delivery are up to two weeks from order confrimation. For local delivery (sorry we cannot offer our normal FREE local delivery for these items due to their large size) lead times are one week for instock items.

So if you have been wanting a fish tank for a while but were put off by the price, want to get one for yourself or a loved one for Christmas, or have read this blog and thought “I fancy that”, then take advantage of these fantastic prices whilst you can. Of course the after sales advice on setting up your prized possesion is FREE. We are not your normal webstore that is willing and able to sell you a tank but is not able to help you after that.

One of the added benefits of the Juwel aquarium range is that they are very easy to set up and to maintain. I should know, I’ve had a Juwel Trigon 190 at home for quite a few years now and have a Juwel Rio 125 set up in the shop. Being a very busy man I have to have something easy to maintain and the Juwel range fits the bill very well as well as remaining one of the most attractive out there and having a good range of decor and accessories designed to fit your tank.

The Angell Pets Team

Angell Pets October offers.

Offers this month again include some supermarket brands like Bakers and Pedigree at below supermarket prices. There are also some decent brands amongst the offers as well, such as Burns original at £19.99 for 7.5kg, Hills hairball at £9.99 for 1.5kg etc.

Click on the link to have a look at some of what’s on offer this month. More discounts to follow in our webstore.

Best pets October

Grab you offers whilst you can as they do sell through rapidly.

Regards

 

The Angell Pets Team

Angell Pet new member of staff

Angell Pet has being going from strength to strength over the last four years. thanks to our loyal customers the business has continued to grow year on year. Obviously the work load has also been increasing. On top of this our Angell Pet apprentice finished last year and George is away for 12 months in the Indian ocean. So all this extra work, as well as the new website has been landing on yours truly.

I am pleased to announce that Angell Pet has a new member of staff starting tomorrow. My wife, Kim, who has been working in education, decided to take voluntary redundancy and was due to leave and come and work for us in December. She has noticed that the Angell Pet business has been taking up all of my time and so has managed to get the date bought forward and left her employment today.

Angell Pet will be benefitting from Kim’s retail experience starting tomorrow. This move will allow me to concentrate more on building the Angell Pet business further, focus on getting all of our existing range onto the website (we only have about 50% oi our extensive stock on the system so far) and expanding our range further. I can also look at offering some of our popular Angell Pet discounts on a more regular basis. I have noticed that this has slipped recently and this is entirel down to lack of time.

angell pet website

 

So, hopefully no more past midnight sessions on the computer putting on stock, doing accounts or ordering, or writing blogs on special offers or animal care articles (although I notice it is now 23:30 – maybe next week then!). That’s what the change means for me. For our Angell Pet customers it will mean more regular offers, more new items and innovations and a slicker more effective website.

So welcome to Kim as a full member of the team, I am looking forward to taking the Angell Pet business on to the next level with her help.

 

Richard Angell and the new bigger Angell Pet team.