By sea or by land, Pet Express offers variety, added attention

Shirley Prejean
March 12, 2007
Clyde Dennis
March 14, 2007
Shirley Prejean
March 12, 2007
Clyde Dennis
March 14, 2007

Family pets have always been a part of American culture. From dogs to hamsters; fish to rabbits; and iguanas to birds, small animals have always seemed to find their ways into the not only the American home, but the American family.


It is that type of love for animals that drew Houma native Pat Tarantino into ownership of Pet Express, located on Tunnel Boulevard in Houma.

The 39-year old opened Pet Express in 1999, and the store has been going strong since then.


“I looked around and noticed that there was a lack of quality care given to some of the pets in the industry,” said Tarantino. “And there was a need in our community for healthy pets, quality care, good knowledge and information given to our customers.”


Pet Express offers is a wide variety of aquarium fish, puppies, rabbits, hamsters and birds. “We don’t delve too much into the very exotic,” said Tarantino, “except for our reptiles, there we’ll probably delve into a little more exotic.”

Tarantino says his store’s signature items are the aquarium products. “I would think our aquariums are probably our lead department,” he said. “More specifically, our saltwater. I have clients that travel distances to us from Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, just to shop with us for our diversity in our stock and our experience.”


It is no coincidence that Tarantino says his love for the pet industry began with saltwater aquariums. While in college at the University of New Orleans, Tarantino said he started an aquarium service group. “That kind of led right to this,” he said.


But marine fish are not all Tarantino has been around. “I’ve sort of always been around pets,” he said. “I probably have owned pets all of my life, and then worked with them while I was putting myself through school. As a child we had pets. We had dogs, hamsters, gerbils … things like that. I’ve always had a fish tank or two at the home, as well.”

Tarantino added that his staff of five employees constantly educates themselves on pets, as to provide up-to-date knowledge to customers. “I try to hire employees that are also involved in the pet industry,” he said. “Most of my employees own pets of their own and have a real love for them. So their knowledge base is based in their love for animals.”

He says that is an important asset, especially with chain pet stores becoming more and more popular. “It really hasn’t changed us much,” said Tarantino of chain stores. “If anything, it’s made us better. It kind of made us a little more conscious of how we handle our customers and what we actually stock in the store.”

A special feature at Pet Express is on-site aquarium maintenance. Tarantino says he always has two employees traveling and helping with area aquariums. “I would think our largest service that we offer is our aquarium maintenance and set-up program. I have two gentleman on the road most days that are out servicing and setting up aquariums for local businesses, offices or people in their homes.”

The other service that Tarantino pointed out is a monthly “Yappy Hour,” where clients of the store can bring their pets to socialize with other pets. “It’s a benefit that we do monthly, with the Humane Society,” he said.

And if there is any doubt as to Tarantino’s dedication to animals, seeing Lucy in the store should change that. Lucy, the store’s “mascot” as Tarantino calls her, is his own, personal pet. “She’ll come back and forth to work with me,” he said. “She happened to be the last puppy left in the kennel. We sort of felt sorry for her, so we let her run around the store with us. She ended up ours.”

And on most days, Lucy is there, greeting customers at the door.

“We laugh and joke all the time,” said Tarantino, “that she’s the boss.”

Staff photo by MATT LeBLANC • Tri-Parish Times * Pat Tarantino, owner of Pet Express, stands in front of many of the freshwater aquarium setups in his store. Pet Express has been open since 1999, and offers aquarium maintenance and set up, as well and household pets and supplies.