Blood on their hands. - Lead Pet Care Specialist PetSmart Employee Review

2.0
Aug 21, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Plenty of opportunities to cross train in different departments, opportunities for continuing education for on the job success, building relationships with your team and regular customers over time.

Cons

For starters, after the corporate buyout in 2015; a lot of our good vendors for live animals were cut out, and lower quality vendors started supplying livestock. I can't tell you how many times animals have come in DOA or severely injured, caused harm to themselves, the pet care team, or other animals; and psychologically traumatized from the terrible conditions they come from. Also because of the buyout; my title as 'Pet Care Lead' went from being an actual, on-paper position with due compensation for pay; to being a De-facto title with me becoming the only full time associate being entrusted with supervisory functions. I was promised a promotion to management that never came. The training for pet care is a one hour lackluster pish-posh of company jargon at best. I was the ONLY one in the department who had a degree in the sciences.

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5.0
Jun 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The team is amazing, the vibes are good, and you get a lot of hands-on learning opportunities.

Cons

Hours are not that good as part time

1.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company pushes for more and more from the bottom level employees without better pay. I worked there before the restructuring and; not much can make me cry, but working here sure did, even back then. I can’t imagine how anxiety inducing it must be to work there now. Animal welfare is a complete non-concern. The only thing that’s pushed is sell, sell, sell. It’s borderline dystopian. Bad management seems to be a common issue, not only from my experience, but many others’ as well. I worked until I was an exhausted sweaty mess to make sure everything in pet care or, when I groomed, the salon, was cleaned to perfection as expected of me (and I reiterate: “me,” because these standards were not expected of my co-workers, just me) and overall felt very unseen. The only times I did feel “seen,” was when mistakes were made. Work was treated like boot camp. A co-worker that was subtley targeting/bullying me, and even started rumors accusing me of racist remarks(!!!), was promoted and anything I reported was downplayed because they were friends with the assistant manager. Working here was an overall traumatizing experience.

Cons

Employees are expected to be work-robots

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PetSmart Response
1w
We’re disappointed to hear that your experience didn’t reflect what we aim to create for our associates, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We invite you to contact the CareSmart line at 1-800-738-4693 so we can learn more and see how we can support you. Thank you.
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