From: Kate

Words of wisdom for ANYONE shopping in pet food stores:

NEVER take items off of the bottom shelf if you can avoid it!

When I worked at the big box pet store, we were taught to just wipe the product down with some (fairly weak) disinfectant if a dog marked it.

Yes, this includes bags of food.

On the other hand, it is possible for waste to go uncleaned for extended periods in some stores.

In one where I worked it was because they were seriously understaffed (think three on the floor for a store twice standard size) but in the other it was because no one wanted to do it.

Yes, I cleaned it if I wasn't otherwise occupied but frequently fecal matter would sit in the aisles and urine would get tracked all over the place. Really, don't take your pets into those places. They are havens for disease organisms.

I went to work one day and it smelled like a Parvo dog had been there, but the staff is not allowed to clean with bleach.

--Kate