About Us

The Bug Guy’s Pets & Exotics

Lake Country Pet

 

- 1st Owners Rolly Hein (Mayor 1999-2005) and Sharron Hein (Rolly's Castle?) started the store in the early 1980's (specific date currently unknown) in their home garage selling farm animal feed and supplies like shovels and buckets. They then leased the current location which encompassed both unit 19 and 17, including the basements. 

-2nd Owners Mike and Sandra took over the store in (1987/1988?) with Ray Rejc as manager. They added fish and aquarium supplies and brought larger selections of items from companies like Unifeed and Chowtown, also Total Pet which used to be a distribution centre. They added Maxine to the family (Date of birth approximately June 2nd, 1990? according to Trilake Veterinary office, likely earlier). 

-3rd Owner Kathy took over in (1990/1991?) and brought more exotic animals to the store including tarantulas and large snakes. 

-4th Owners Joe and Debbie Pryor took over in (1995?). Joe was the face of the store for many years, becoming great friends with Maxine and many other exotic birds that came through their store. Joe was known for his extensive animal nutrition knowledge and passion for birds. They adopted out many puppies and kittens to the community and were well known as Lake Country's all in one pet shop. Tilly, the bronze wing pionus, joined the family in 2007 and retired to home life along with Deb and Joe. 

-5th Owners Stuart Brown and Desirée Pat took over November 29th 2019. Stuart, founder of The Bug Guys (2010), brought his small breeding projects and educational presentations focusing on exotic pet care and nutrition. Desirée, BScH Maj. Zoology, brought her experience in animal nutrition, exotic animal husbandry and enrichment. Together gave Lake Country Pet a modern look and brought it to social media, giving it a greater online presence, as well as bringing back exotic pets, especially reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, from Canadian Captive Breeders.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds! Thank you for supporting small local businesses!