What is a pocket pet? 

• A pocket pet is a small, pocket sized pet mammal commonly kept as a household pet. 
• Some examples of pocket pets are rats, mice, hamsters, degus, gerbils, chinchillas, and guinea pigs. 

These animals are often looked over or not considered for adoption. Pocket Pets are quite common to be found in shelters looking for forever homes. Many pocket pets purchased are “impulse buys”. People then realize that they don’t know how or want to correctly take care of these animals, so they give them to a shelter. 

It is much better and safer to adopt, rescue, or get them from a breeder. You should never get any animal from big businesses such as Petco or Petsmart. These companies treat these animals horribly and should not be supported. “They suffer from the stress of being confined to small cages, are generally fed an improper diet, and are often forced to have an unnaturally high number of litters” (PETA). Before you adopt a pocket pet, you need to do a lot of research to give these animals the best lives they deserve. 

An article covering more about the treatment of animals at Petco: 

https://www.thedodo.com/petco-petsmart-pet-supplier-abuse-1563393540.html 

Websites to Adopt: 

https://www.adoptapet.com/animal-shelters?geo_range=50 

https://www.animalhumanesociety.org/adoption?f%5B0%5D=animal_type%3ASmall%26Furry 

https://www.petfinder.com/search/small-furry-for-adoption/?sort%5B0%5D=recently_added 

Local MN Rescue Shelter 

https://www.mnpocketpetrescue.org/