Job Vacancies

Nearly every day a young boy or girl comes into the shop and asks expectantly if we have any vacancies. Working in a pet shop is generally an animal lovers dream, but it sometimes does not live up to its expectations. You really have to be dedicated when wanting to work with any type of animal. After a week or so of constantly cleaning out animal cages, and hutches and runs and scrubbing and disinfecting most surfaces some animal lovers become quite disillusioned. It is OK to own a hamster and clean it out once a week and play with it most evenings, but to have to start on a Monday morning and clean and wash the cages of about 20 hamsters and maybe the same amount of guinea pigs and rabbits not to mention moving and feeding the odd snake, spider etc. can quickly become a nightmare instead of a dream. And it has to be done every day of the week too!
But of the ones that still enjoy it after a month or so then we know that we generally have a true animal lover on our 'hands'.
Being the 'Boss' means that I have to be in constant touch with the shop. We only close our doors on Christmas day, Boxing day and New years day. But even so the animals have to be checked and fed and cleaned. That means that I visit at least once on each of those days. Mind you it does have its advantages as it gets me out of the washing up at home. Holiday times can be a bit difficult too. Mobile phones are a Godsend. I have been know to break off my holiday and fly home. Luckily I have a very understanding husband who realises that animals are very important to me.
Even when the shop is closed at night I can be called out. I get woken up at all times . Generally at about 3 a.m. when it is cold and raining. People walking past the shop may notice that we have a hamster on the loose, or a Patrolling policeman has let me know that one of our parrots has got out of his cage and is trying to open every bag of bird food that he can find. Or maybe our burglar alarm is ringing. Of course we have had our fair share of burglaries. and even a fight right outside the front door. This involved a man having his head smashed against the door and damaging the toughened glass. This set off all sorts of alarms and bleeding profusely he staggered off down the road. We could even trace his tracks by the trail of blood that he left behind. But he was never caught. It's a shame really as our town has C.C.T.V. which recorded the whole incident and his bloody trail went right past the Police station. So I was the one left to sort out the damage, replace my shop door and have my insurance premium increased yet again.