Perturbing Petsmart

My husband and I love to shop at Petsmart.  We have the Pet Perks card (of course).  They have such a wide variety of items, like dog clothing!

Each October, they hold a special Halloween bash.  For $10, you can bring in your costumed pooches and have their photo taken in front of a spooky scene.  You will also receive a collectible Halloween themed frame to proudly display your picture in.  And the best part?  Half of the money raised from the sales of the photo frames goes to help homeless pets.  Score!

We have taken our dogs for the past two years and have had a blast!  They even hold a costume contest in their training room.  But, I have to admit, last year's photo shoot was anything but fun.

The staff had no idea how to work the digital camera that they had been given.  We were the first people in line and had to have the photo re-taken....six times!  We had all five of our babies with us and by this time, they were very restless.  They like to move and we NOT thrilled about having to sit still again.

When the photo was finally printed, it looked like an amateur had taken it.  The picture was zoomed out as far as it could go, so the Halloween backdrop looked like a huge piece of decorated cardboard (which it was).  Plus, you could see some of the isles in the store.  Not exactly the family portrait I had wanted.

Upon a recent trip to procure a third collar for our kitten, we noticed a large cardboard display for their Halloween events.  Sure enough, there was the photo event.  But, something had changed.  Now, the sign reads:  "Come and take your own photo of your pet in front of a spooky scene."  What?  You have to bring your dogs AND take the photo?  I could do that at home for free!

That got me thinking.  "Are they still going to be offering the exclusive photo frames?" I asked my husband.  He decided to ask a sales associate.  After talking to three separate people, the answer:  No.  They have done away with the frames.

I am officially bummed!  I honestly looked forward to that every year.  And I know that this event makes a lot of money for Petsmart.  So, why are they scaling it back?  The associate did remind us about the costume contest, but, we never win and don't want to make our fur babies have to sit in the store forever.

While my sadness about this fandango is beginning to fade, I am worried about one thing:  the Christmas photo with Santa.  Will this be done away with, too?  Shame on Petsmart for not understanding that to some people, their pets are their children and they want to commemorate adorable holiday moments with unique photos.