Acana Dog Treats Special Offer

We have a very special offer on Acana dog treats whilst stocks last. These high protien, grain free treats form part of a healthy diet for the most discerning of dogs.

Acana high protien dog treats

Acana High Protein Dog Treats come in 100g bags and usually retail at £3.49. We have them on offer at 99p a bag. This offer is limited to what we have in stock and is on a first come first served basis. The offer is available in store, on line in our webstore or as a telephone order. FREE local delivery is available on all orders over £10 but these orders must be placed over the telephone.

So grab a few bags whilst they are still available. As with all our offers this will be very popular and stocks of Acana high protien dog treats will not last long at this price.

Special Offers

We are having a bit of a clear out to make way for new stock again. We have several great special offers on various items to clear space.

This Moderna hooded cat litter tray with carbon filter is £8 off RRP. It is missing the litter scoop. We have one with the litter scoop which is still £4 off RRP.

This Savic Bristol hamster cage. It has one bar joint broken (bottom left of door) but is still secure. £10 off RRP.

This Critters Choice glasss animal enclosure. Would suit mice or dwarf hamsters. This item is undamaged but this line has been discontinued by the manufacturer. This is the last one we have.A massive £30 off RRP.

This Viv Exotic AAL vivarium, It has a small chip off the edge of one of the glass doors. RRP £104.99, offer price £74.99, a saving of £25.

These Komoda Ecology 4′ x 2′ vivariums. These high quality wooden vivariums are suitable for arid species of lizard such as leopard geckos, bearded dragons etc. or snakes such as corn snakes, milk snakes etc. This was a manufacturers offer that we have passed on to our customers. RRP £225.99, offer price £179.99, saving £46. We have three of these available.

This Habistat glass vivarium 60x45x45 cm. RRP was £162.99, offer price £139.99, saving £23. If you compare it to our more popular Exo Terra range it is a saving of £77 for the equivalent item. Also with the Exo Terra you have to buy the lock separately, with the Habistat is is built in. This item is undamaged but is taking up shelf space wanted for other items. Great chance to start a bio active vivarium.

Finally this Monkfield snake starter set up, complete with heating, substrate, hide etc. RRP £161.99, offer price £139.99. This one is basically just in the way.

From experience, when we do offers like these they do not hang around for long so if you are interested please pop in and see us ASAP. Free local delivery is available on all these items subject to our delivery schedule..

The Angell Pets Team

Frozen Reptile Food

There is a lot of noise being made about a recall of frozen rodents for reptiles at the moment. There have been a number of cases of salmonella food poisoning loosely linked to reptile owners. Tests have revealed that one supplier has had salmonella found in the frozen rodents they supply to the trade. As a result, several businesses have been forced to recall their stock if they use this supplier.

We have never used this supplier for frozen rodents and so have not been directly effected by this recall. Our own supplier regularly tests for salmonella throughout their process and at the time of writing all tests continue to prove negative. So far so good.

However, as some of the businesses effected (such as Pets at Home) are quite large and as their customers are having to find new shops to purchase their own supplies from; this is now effecting the rest of the supply chain. Additional pressure is being applied as shops that were effected by the poor quality of their existing supplier are having to find better, safer supplies elsewhere. We are now seeing shortages in our supply chain as this increased demand all round starts to bite.

Whilst we still have large supplies in store, we are now seeing shortages in some sizes when re-ordering. We have fresh deliveries every week so these shortages will soon start to become apparent. Obviously we are also seeing increased demand as other shops’ customers start coming to us to find supplies.

Please make sure you get your supplies early, before you run out of your own stocks at home as over the next few weeks we do invisage running low of some sizes, particularly of mice.

Of course, even though our supplies have proved negative for salmonella it is always necessary to wash your hands after handling any animal. I am sure I don’t have to tell our own customers to wash their hands after handling a dead rat and before putting your hands anywhere near your face, work surfaces or food but apparently it seems there are about 900 people since 2015 that did need telling because they clearly didn’t do it!

The Angell Pets Team

New APL Superfood for Dogs

Our APL ranges of pet foods are very popular. From the entry level, hypoallergenic Super Premium range, to the higher meat content natural diet, Grain Free range. Many customers have moved onto these foods from poorer quality supermarket brands and noticed a marked difference in their pets appetite, digestion and coat. More have moved from over priced, supposedly premium brands and found the same thing, as well as more money in their pockets. No food will suit every single animal but the feedback from the vast majority of customers making the move has been very positive. APL Superfood is a fine addition to these existing ranges.

We are now launching a new range of foods under our APL brand. Our new APL Superfood range. This food is even higher meat content again than our existing Grain Free range and will suit customers feeding the highest end brands such as Canagan and Orijen but at a much better price point.

APL superfood

Orijen Original, an 85% meat, high quality ingredient food retails in our store for £71.99 for the largest 11.4kg bag. Canagan, a British sourced and manufactured 60% meat food (Orijen is Canadian), retails in our store for £67.99 for the largest 12kg bag.

APL Superfood, a British manufactured, high quaility ingredient food will retail in our store for £59.99 for a 12kg bags. The 2kg bags are only £1.00 and £2.50 more than the existing APL Grain Free range.

The APL Superfood Adult Dog 65 Duck is already in stock and the APL Superfood 65 Salmon should be in tomorrow for those keen to give it a try and save some money against the more expensive (although equally as good) Canagan or Orijen. All varietties of the APL Superfood are already available online in our webstore.

Of course you may be using some other brand of grain free kibble but want to try a different brand to see how it compares, both in quality, condition, digestibility and price. If you have any questions please do contact us and we will be glad to help.

Remember local delivery on all our products including the new APL superfood is FREE during the current crisis (subject to minimum order of £5. Delivery further afield for the APL Superfood large bags will be £7 per order.

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

Impact of FREE Parking on Trade

When we originally opened Angell Pets In 2009 it was in a location with ample FREE parking. This was our first location and so we had no idea how much the provision of this free parking was having on our trade. We knew that we were attracting a wide range of customers. Local foot and cycle traffic from the surrounding estates, customers from other areas of Gloucester and customers from further afield. However what we did not know was how much having the free parking was contributing to this business. When we were forced to move from this location at the end of the lease we found a larger shop close to the city centre but about a 100 yards from a large carpark. This was not free but had lots of spaces.

Moving locations effected our turnover significantly, as we expected it would, reduding it by around 40% in the first month. However, with hard work we were able to drive turnover back up to almost pre move levels over the next 6 months. Then Gloucester City Council, at the behest of the Quays, closed the carpark. The effect was dramatic and overnight. Turnover dropped by over 50% and nothing we could do would drive it back up, including having a FREE local delivery service. We did raise an objection to the closure beforehand but the response from the council was “we have done research and it shows the effect on local business will be negligible”. Well, we did not find a 50% reduction in trade negligible. We made a decision there and then to move again and find a location with free parking. However we were tied into a lease for three years before we could action a break clause so we ran our business on half what we were used to for two and a half years before moving again. We are still feeling the financial fallout from this.

free parking

Our new location in Hucclecote has plenty of FREE parking. It is also within walking distance of large residential areas and in a convenient location for access to customers coming from further afield by car or bus. We have been open here for 6 months now and takings have risen every month, without fail, since we opened. We have had a host of customers returning who used to use us but stopped when the carpark near our last shop was closed plus lots of new local customers and even more from other towns such as Stroud, Cheltenham, Hereford, Ross and Worcester. All have indicated that at least part of the reason for coming was ease of access and free parking.

Before writing this I did some research and worryingly, most of the advice councils use to determine parking policy suggests that providing free parking does not boost trade and that charging for parking does! Most also suggests that providing more spaces does not help and some even suggests that providing more spaces and/or free spaces actually drives people away. Well our findings aren’t based on surveys or questionaires but on real experience and data and I can assure the councils that customers don’t like having parking restricted or being over charged and that they really do appreciate having ample spaces offered to them for free.

I would suggest that until councils review the advice they are taking to set parking policy we will continue to see trade driven away from city centres. Great for business like us now though with ample free parking right outside our front door!

 

The Angell Pets Team

Christmas opening hours

It’s a bit of an odd one this year for Angell Pets as of course the new shop is not open until we have completed the refurbbishment work. This won’t be until the new year now but we are still trading over the telephone and online. Our trading times and deliveries for the Christmase period are below.

Wednesday 20/12/17 10:00 – 17:00 Normal delivery schedule

Thursday 21/12/17 10:00 – 17:00 Normal delivery schedule

Friday 23/12/17 10:00 -17:00 Delivery to all local areas

Saturday 24/1217 10:00 – 17:00 Order for collection from shop only, no deliveries (for those last minute “Oh, I forgot the dog food!” moments…)

Sunday 24/12//17 CLOSED

Monday 25/12/17 CLOSED (no dleveries)

Tuesday 26/12/17 CLOSED (no deliveries)

Wednesday 27/12/17 10:00 – 17:00 Normal delivery schedule

Thursday 28/12/17 10:00 – 17:00 Normal delivery schedule

Friday 29/12/17 10:00 – 17:00 Normal delivery schedule

Saturday 30/12/17 10:00 – 17:00 Order for collection from shop

Sunday 31/12/17 CLOSED

Monday 01/12/18 CLOSED

Tyesdaty 02/12/18 Back to normal opening times and delivery schedule

A merry Christmas and a happy new year to all our customers and see you all in the new shop in the new year.

 

The Angell Pets Team

Angell Pets Opening Soon In Hucclecote

After what seems like forever we have just received the keys to our new premises. Our new  Gloucerster pet shop will be in Hucclecote. Unfortunately there is a lot of work to do before we can open the doors to the public, especially since all our contractors are shutting down for Christmas. To speed things along we will undertake as much work as we can ourselves over the holiday period but it is still going to be several weeks before we are ready.

pet shop gloucester

In the mean time you can still take advantage of our FREE local delivery service for all your pet supplies. To order just call us on 01452 501882 or go on line.

Our new premises is at:-

2/3 Glenville Parade, Hucclecote, Gloucester GL3 3ES

We look forward to seeing you soon in our new Gloucester pet shop.

The Angell Pets Team

Gloucester Pet Shop – Angell Pets Is Moving

Angell Pets opened in 2009 with our first Gloucester pet shop in Abbeymead. We were there for five years but unfortunately had to move when our lease expired and our landlord would not renew it (they wanted the premises for their own business). We took this as an opportunity to expand our business by moving to a larger property by the Gloucester Quays that enabled us to further expand our range and add additional services to our Gloucester pet shop, such as boarding for small animals, birds and reptiles. When we moved in there was a large car park 50m away and things looked good for the future growth of our business.

pet shop gloucester

Unfortunately we did not take into account the determination of Gloucester City Council to drive the small trader out of Gloucester in preference to the large out of town developments. The car park was closed 6 months after we moved in, despite the protestations of small businesses such as ours and the immediate result was a loss of 50% of our takings. We have been unable to get this business back and the frequent cry of “isn’t parking rubbish ’round here” has become like finger nails down a chalk board to us. Despite making large changes and reducing our overheads we are unable to sustain these losses so have got to move. It’s a shame because the premises itself was OK, just now in the wrong location and for other reasons too.

In addition to the parking fiasco, there are other reasons to move our Gloucester pet shop. Customers who follow us on Facebook will be aware of the issues we have had over the last three years with the power here. We have a lot of animals that rely on external heat and oxygenation. When the power goes off, it is a major issue for us and we have to do a lot of work keeping the animals safe and well. In addition we cannot trade without power which just adds to the financial pressure on the business. During the worst outage (14 hours), I had to bring up extra heating and insulation for the reptiles and stay at the shop until midnight, manually stirring the fish tanks to keep them oxygenated, all in the dark. It is 2017 for goodness sake and we have had more power cuts than the winter of discontent (yes, I am old enough to remember that).

Another major issue is the council and police’s inability to keep Gloucester City safe. We have had numerous incidents in the shop and in town whilst posting orders. Staff have been verbally and physically abused and threatened. It is unsafe for me to be absent from the premises as we never know when the next moron (or gang of morons!) is going to come in. Staff have been threatened with everything from spitting to having their throats slit. We have seen a woman outside the shop front beaten to the ground and punched whilst still down (losing teeth!) and no action has ever been taken by the police other than to “move them on”, in fact the operator told us that if I went out to the woman’s assistance I would be arrested. I can’t risk the safety of our staff. Also the level of theft is too high for us to sustain here as well.

So enough of the negatives, now the positive. We are moving again in October and it’s closer to our original customer base. The main thing is that there is ample FREE PARKING. Our new premises is likely to be in Hucclecote. The new location of our new Gloucester Pet Shop is ideal to serve our traditional customer base of Abbeymead and Abbeydale, Matson, Upton, Barnwood, Hucclecote, Longlevens, Churchdown and Brockworth. We will of course be maintaining our FREE LOCAL DELIVERY service for our customers in and around Gloucester, in Cheltenham and in Painswick. Of course our UK wide customers will not be affected by the move at all, other than to have wider choice.

So, onward and upward! Come and see us in our new Gloucester Pet Shop when it opens, even if it is just to have a nosey at the new place. It will take a little while to get everything just the way we want it and initially we may be running the two premises at the same time whilst I spend my nights moving fixtures, fittings and stock across.

 

The Angell Pets Team