Business & Tech

Canton Business Spotlight: Coolen's Pet Supply

A place for all your pets needs in the Canton area . . . and also a place to find a variety of pets up for adoption.

Coolen's Pet Supply, located right in the heart of Cobbs Corner, is more than just a pet food store. There are also small animals looking to be adopted, and others who are visiting for a small fee while their families are away.

Patch recently spoke with owner Guy Coolen as he handled an albino red tail boa constrictor, which can reach a length of anywhere from three to 13 feet.

Coolen is active in animal adoption. He has many small animals who have been brought in by owners who can no longer care for them and who are looking for forever homes.

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Patch: How long have you been in business?

Coolen: I opened this store in July of 2005. It's been almost eight years.

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Patch: Can you tell our readers a little bit about the store and what you carry? 

Coolen: Here we carry a little of everything. Dog and cat foods along with supplies (toys, chews, treats, and accessories). We also have small animals such as Hamsters, Gerbils, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, and Chinchillas along with food and supplies for them. Other animals include reptiles, mainly easily handle-able ones, such as Ball Pythons, Corn Snakes, Bearded Dragons, Leopard Geckos, Tortoises, and every once in a while maybe a Blue Tongue skink.

We also carry marine and fresh water fish and are continuously bringing in a wide variety of marine fish and coral. For fresh water fish and some marine I travel to a distributor in Worcester and hand catch the ones I buy myself. I get the best and healthiest selection that way. For most of our marine selection we have found a very reliable source in California that we have been very happy with.

We stock bait such as shiners, earth worms, and frozen salt water bait year round as well as a small amount of tackle.

A smaller bird supply section consisting of foods, treats, and some wild bird foods.

Patch: I see that there are some animals here that are not for sale.

Coolen: You are right. We board small animals and reptiles here but are very limited on space. It makes it a lot easier for a family to have a pet if they know they have a place it can stay while they are away.

Patch: There is a donation box here can you tell me about it and what else you do for pets in need?

Coolen: The donation box helps Norfolk County Humane Society which organizes a network of foster homes for pets in need and has helped numerous people who may have become overwhelmed with some of the costs of keeping their pets. There is a lot more to this organization than I'm saying right now, so to find out more you will have to connect the society.  

I have donated many thousands of pounds of food to area shelters including Canton Animal Shelter, Norwood Animal Shelter, Dedham Animal Rescue League, and New England Wild Life Center in Weymouth.

Here at the store I have fostered many animals and found good homes for them. Right now we have an adult Bunny, a Guinea Pig, two bearded dragons, one sub-adult and one adult, a large Red Ear Slider turtle and a few Gerbils. All were given up and are looking for a good home.

Patch: Tell us a little about your background and what made you decide to open a pet shop? 

Coolen: Growing up our house always had pets thanks to my sister Lea. In the 1970s as a teen Lea and I volunteered at the Franklin Park Children's Zoo. In 1979 till 1980 I started working at a pet shop that grew from four stores to 13 stores almost overnight. I stayed with them until 1996. In 1991 I decided to open my first pet shop in Needham but after 10 years in business I had to close. After working another year managing a large pet shop in Rhode Island and doing many other types of work my heart has always been with pets so here I am. 

Patch: What's your favorite part about owning a pet shop? 

Coolen: Owning any business is not easy and not what I envisioned it to be all those years ago. But one of the things that really drove me was seeing, teaching, and exposing young children to their first pets and fish. 

For more information, contact 781-821-2044.


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