But for Alison McIntyre who works at the ‘Pets at Home’ store on Crescent Link Retail Park, it’s all in a day’s work.

Alison who has been working at ‘Pets at Home’ since the store opened last year says her job is a labour of love, adding that as well as working in a pet store, she also works in a local vet's surgery.

“You couldn’t do this job if you didn’t love animals,” she explained. “Everyone who works in here has an animal. One of our managers has ten hamsters.

“I have a dog, a bird, two rabbits, three guinea pigs, a hamster and a fish tank.”

Alison says that one of the most unusual pets the store has for sale, is a degu, a member of the rodent family. And she admits she was a little apprehensive the first time she lifted one.

“I’d never lifted anything like a rat before,” she said, “but that’s because we have our own preconceived notions about rodents.

“ None of us in here have an problem taking them out now. People think of street rats and filth when they think of rodents, but it is not the same for all of them. Degus are really great pets and really friendly. In fact I would be more scared lifting a hamster than a degu.

“The degu can be easily trained and what people don’t realise is that they can be toilet trained and run in and out of the cages. Obviously we won’t be able to change everybody’s views on degus but they are getting popular. There’s one we have at the moment called Harvey who was abandoned and has half of his tail missing.”

But in terms of popularity Alison says the most popular animal in store is the goldfish.

“People in this town see fish as a big hobby,” she said, “and those who have fish like to come in and buy different tanks and different things for their tanks.

At ‘Pets at Home’ we don’t sell any tanks which don’t have filters, and we don’t sell fish to anyone who doesn’t have a filter in their tank. It makes sense for people to have the filters as the fish are easier to look after.

“I laugh sometimes when a customer points out a goldfish they want to buy. They are not always that easy to catch and some of them look very similar. If it takes you a while to catch a fish sometimes you get a crowd around you watching. It’s then you feel the pressure.”

Alongside the fish at ‘Pets at Home’, upstairs in the store they sell red bellied newts fish and small water frogs.

“The newts are as easy to look after as fish,” she said. “They can climb on top of the rocks in the tank and you can feed them bloodworm.”

The cute bunny rabbits at the front of the shop are also a big seller.

“We can take the rabbits out and let the children stroke them,” said Alison. “We also have a bunny boutique where people can buy different accessories for rabbits, including harnesses to take bunnies for a walk.

Workshops

“Throughout the summer we held workshops in the store to teach children all about looking after rabbits, guinea pigs and gerbils.