Petsmart - Not exactly a bash

I know we have tons of Petco / Petsmart are horrible stores...but I thought this experience was somewhat hopeful for the future.

So I was out with my family today and we made our customary stop in to Petsmart to check out the rats and cats up for adoption (kids love them). This Petsmart doesn't carry snakes but they do carry lizards and turtles. We found a super cute Homo (Super) Rex rat that my wife just had to have so while waiting for the clerk to write her up I was checking out the lizards. The top row (5 cages) had an assortment of a legless lizard, tree frogs, anoles and a medium size chameleon. The chameleon is what caught my attention as it was laying on its side on the branch. I don't know much about them but every other one I have ever seen is always standing or at least upright. So as I stared at the animal I happen to notice the cage temp (just one of those cheap stick ons) but what I say made my heart sink...it read 118 degrees!!!!:mad:

I looked at all the other cages and all the top 5 cages all read the same thing...no wonder he was laying on his side he was being baked alive. Now I realize that petstores don't have a clue and usually there is nothing you can do to help all the animals....but this time I decided I wasn't going to let them kill all these animals. I grabbed a manager as she was walking by (here is where I get impressed) and pointed out the temp and the condition of the chameleon. She freaked...faster then I could express my concern she had already unlocked and pulled all the cages away from the light. Then she yelled at some clerk to run and get a spray bottle for fresh water. She then sprayed all the animals down...changed out there water for cooler water and checked on each animal to see its condition. I stayed and watched for a few minutes while she attended to the animals...she even got the Chameleon out sprayed it directly and kept it out for several minutes till it got up and started moving around again...by this time the cages had started to cool off and air out.

Next she grabbed (what I assumed) was the department manager and asked why the cages were so hot. Come to find out they had changed the bulbs earlier in the day but forgot to adjust the thermostats that regulate the bulbs (and therefore temperature). She told him that was unexcusable (and asked to see him in her office)...she thanked me for notifying her and left with the other manager. As we were leaving I saw the dept manager come out of the back room with a piece of paper in his hand and a very sour look on his face...I can only assume he got written up.

Anyway just thought I would share this story - a crisis averted and a manager that cared and reacted correctly to save the animals under her care. Maybe there is hope for mass market pets stores yet.

That's a great experience Sean and I'm glad you reported it here. It's awful that the creatures suffered but the manager reacted appropriately and did what she could to revive them, then found out the problem, corrected it and by the sounds of it, that guy is going to be a lot more careful of these delicate animals in his care.

I must say our local PetCo is very good that way as well. The manager told me that he requires hourly checks on all live stock and just because I don't believe much of anything I'm told...I checked LOL. A bit of peeking around and I found the clipboard where his staff have to initial that they have in fact done their hourly checks and the cages/animals appear to be in the kind of good shape so I'm pretty certain he's checking on the staff.