44 replies to this topic

[I~♥~Harky]

Hello. I saw a thing the other day that made me a little concerned. Pet stores are starting to have hamster races. People bring their hamster in their plastic ball to the pet store. They have a track set up and they place the hamsters in their balls on the track. The hamsters run to the end like a race for anything else. The winners get prizes for their hamster like igloos and chew blocks.

 

I don't think this is a god idea. Imagine the stress on those poor little guys and girls. Syrians must be separate, so racing them next to other hamsters might cause stress. There are also a lot of unknown people who are chanting and yelling. Imagine being in a ball with things a million times your size yelling at you or other small people. That would be very scary.

 

What do you guys think about this?

 

THANKS!   

[HG♥]

I've never heard of this until now! I agree, I think that's a pretty bad idea :/ I wonder how long this has been going on? 

Those poor little hammies :( That really must be stressful for them! I mean, isn't there any other way to have a fun competition that won't stress the hamsters out?

I wish I could do something about it, but what?

[I~♥~Harky]

I've never heard of this until now! I agree, I think that's a pretty bad idea :/ I wonder how long this has been going on? 

Those poor little hammies :( That really must be stressful for them! I mean, isn't there any other way to have a fun competition that won't stress the hamsters out?

I wish I could do something about it, but what?

According to what I saw, it has been going on for maybe 2 or 3 years. A lot of things could go wrong there. I agree there has to be some other way to compete. Maybe a maze that they can go into one by one in their ball and the fastest time wins? I don't know. It has a pretty big group of supporters so it's a lost cause to try to stop them.

[I~♥~Harky]

[Removed]

 

Here is a hamster race at Petco. In the beginning of the video, look at what a small carrying cage her hamster Marshmallow is in!!!

CRUELTY!

Edited by HH Moderator, 03 June 2014 - 08:49 AM.
Removed video link

[Allison]

I personally don't really care for the idea either. But I don't think the carrier in the video is necessarily cruel. It is a bit small but he does fit in it and it's obvious it's just a temporary carrier she is using to take him to the store. It's not like he lives in it.

[I~♥~Harky]

I personally don't really care for the idea either. But I don't think the carrier in the video is necessarily cruel. It is a bit small but he does fit in it and it's obvious it's just a temporary carrier she is using to take him to the store. It's not like he lives in it.

No the carrying thing is obviously temporary. I was mainly focused on the stressfulness of the race.

Edited by I~♥~Harky, 01 June 2014 - 10:12 AM.

[H&A]

I personally think its fine as long as they arent to long and whatnot... + they have dog races.

[Allison]

No the carrying thing is obviously temporary. I was mainly focused on the stressfulness of the race.

 

Ohhh yeah I see   I still don't know if I'd consider it cruelty, but I agree I imagine it has to be pretty stressful for them.

[krazykelly]

I've been meaning to bring this up! This kind of thing just made it's way to my region and I thought it was a bad idea too. Although there are worse things to do I don't think it's right for people to expose their hamsters to all this. I feel like hamsters would be very stressed from all the noise and new smells and not to mention some places may use too small of a ball or something. Also imagine all the germs and bacteria these hamsters are going to be exposed to! People and other hamsters will be bringing in all types of germs plus some places (like Petco) allow other animals in the store who also bring in germs...
The biggest thing that bothers me about this is that it's furthering the stereotype that hamsters are little pocket pets that you can treat as toys essentially. :/
I don't think any owners are bad people for participating in this, I just think it's sad for the hamsters :(

[pawlove]

My local store did something like this once. My ears are ringing when I passed near the area, imagine the hamsters' ears. Poor little things. 

[HammySwift ♥]

I watched one of these videos on youtube it is a really bad Idea they can (or will) get stressed and they cant have a drink or anything until they get home which could take 25+ mins!

Edited by Cheesepuff101, 01 June 2014 - 06:06 PM.

[GhostOrca]

I personally think its fine as long as they arent to long and whatnot... + they have dog races.

Hamsters aren't dogs. Dogs aren't put into balls with little air circulation. Hamster balls are very disorientating. How does having dog races make it okay to have hamster races? While I don't really agree with dog racing ( agility is fine, but not like greyhound racing IMO), you can't compare hamster racing to dog racing.

 

I think it's really bad for the hams. As i said, hamster balls are disorientating, so imagine what loads of strangers yelling sounds like in there? There's also loads of unfamiliar hamsters and people, it must be very stressful. And as krazykelly said, it makes people think they can do what they want with hamsters. :(

Edited by Panda bear, 01 June 2014 - 06:54 PM.

[lemoncake]

That is such a bad idea and can cause a ton of stress which can lead to illnesses. I think Petco has these hamster ball races. I hope people realize that these races can bring lots of stress to their hamsters.

[I~♥~Harky]

Hamsters aren't dogs. Dogs aren't put into balls with little air circulation. Hamster balls are very disorientating. How does having dog races make it okay to have hamster races? While I don't really agree with dog racing ( agility is fine, but not like greyhound racing IMO), you can't compare hamster racing to dog racing.

 

I think it's really bad for the hams. As i said, hamster balls are disorientating, so imagine what loads of strangers yelling sounds like in there? There's also loads of unfamiliar hamsters and people, it must be very stressful. And as krazykelly said, it makes people think they can do what they want with hamsters. :(

Not to change the topic too much, but I heard when greyhounds get too old to race, they put them to sleep rather than adopting them out.

[GhostOrca]

Yes, they either get them PTS, but usually they get worse than that. (sorry, quote has stopped working)