Cruelty at Petsmart

Interesting. No response to my email--none. I think the silence speaks volumes. As for confronting them to gather "evidence," sorry--I would've lost it. Again, read a few care sheets. These animals have as much business being sold in mainstream pet stores as Burmese or retics do, which is to say, no business at all.

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Originally Posted by digcolnagos

Interesting. No response to my email--none. I think the silence speaks volumes. As for confronting them to gather "evidence," sorry--I would've lost it. Again, read a few care sheets. These animals have as much business being sold in mainstream pet stores as Burmese or retics do, which is to say, no business at all.

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Yeah, i hate seeing a burmese in a pet store, and watch it just get bigger and bigger until nobody wants it.

I really think that each Petco is different. If someone there that works in the herp department knows their stuff, the herps are taken care of. And if not, they suffer. In a store where someone is worth their salt and knows how to care for the herps there, they will be in great condition. If that worker leaves, and no one is hired or presently employed that knows about reptiles, the situation will deteriorate.
I can say though, that it is a crock if pet stores do not provide the best and proper cages and supplies, no matter what store it is. My friend runs a pet store, and you'd be Shocked if you saw the actual amount that the stores pay for items from their wholesalers, and the markups they do.. I know they need to make money, an I am not putting down American capitalism. What I mean is, there's no reason a store can't afford to house their reptiles well, period. I know that stores see herps as product.. houseing them in inhumane conditions is like someone selling fine china and letting it sit out in the rain/snow and get stepped on. It's like someone running a restaurant and leaving the food out to rot.. complete idiocy.
Something funny I noticed at Petco recently: OK, I feed my rats lab blocks. They are waste-free and last a long time, unlike bags containing seed mixes that are mostly shells and that are gone in a few days... well, I noticed that the store feeds its rats/mice the blocks, but does not offer them for sale.. hmm.

I wasn't there, so I can't say anything on the health of the animal or the conditions it was in. BUT, you could have worded your email a bit better. You simply sounded like a angry, frustrated, customer and it wasn't professional. Trust me, I work around a few angry customers and NO ONE likes to deal with an angry customer. An email is easy to simply 'disregard'.

I think you should have started at a lower level. Take a few pictures and then talk to the manager of the store about the conditions of the lizards in question. Those care-sheets you were talking about. How about printing one out and taking it to the manager. Let them know that you are only there to help, not make trouble. Tell the manager that potential customers are being turned off from buying the lizards due to lack of information and improper care. If they make a few changes, they could draw in a few more customers and make the lizards happy too.

Its like a child. You can't just tell a small child to go brush his teeth for the first time. He doesn't know what to do. You have to show him. Same with these petstores.

I'm not saying that the chams don't need better care or that Petsmart should continue selling them, but I am saying that first, you need to do what you can at a lower level before 'yelling' at everyone.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

I wasn't there, so I can't say anything on the health of the animal or the conditions it was in. BUT, you could have worded your email a bit better. You simply sounded like a angry, frustrated, customer and it wasn't professional. Trust me, I work around a few angry customers and NO ONE likes to deal with an angry customer. An email is easy to simply 'disregard'.

I think you should have started at a lower level. Take a few pictures and then talk to the manager of the store about the conditions of the lizards in question. Those care-sheets you were talking about. How about printing one out and taking it to the manager. Let them know that you are only there to help, not make trouble. Tell the manager that potential customers are being turned off from buying the lizards due to lack of information and improper care. If they make a few changes, they could draw in a few more customers and make the lizards happy too.

Its like a child. You can't just tell a small child to go brush his teeth for the first time. He doesn't know what to do. You have to show him. Same with these petstores.

I'm not saying that the chams don't need better care or that Petsmart should continue selling them, but I am saying that first, you need to do what you can at a lower level before 'yelling' at everyone.

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Uh, I'm not yelling at "everyone." I'm yelling at Petsmart. What I saw was outrageous. What they're doing is outrageous. And no--I'm not going to tune it down and be "more professional."

All due respect, I don't understand your suggested approach. "Take a few pictures?" What's that supposed to accomplish?

Again, due respect, but read what I wrote, then read up on Jackson's chameleons. Then tell me, with a straight face, that a kinder, gentler approach is what's called for here. What they're doing is marketing an extremely attractive, and equally delicate, animal based on its looks. They're turning a buck because a Jackson's chameleon is just so darn irresistable on looks alone.

It's for advanced reptile keepers only. It's being displayed in a totally inadequate enclosure in a pet store festooned with "We Care About Animals" posters by folks who purport to be experts.

What part of this don't you understand? They know full well what they're doing. It's called capitalism at any cost.

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Originally Posted by Chase13

Yeah, i hate seeing a burmese in a pet store, and watch it just get bigger and bigger until nobody wants it.

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What's worse is when it gets sold when it's a little bitty baby. Whoever bought it probably has no idea that it'll get 15 feet long and will eventually give the snake up. :(

Taking a few pictures could help you build your case. If others see what you are talking about, then they can better understand. Compare the enclosures at the store to a proper enclosure in an email (including photos). People are more likely to listen to you if you provide evidence. If you simply send an email and are just telling them they shouldn't sell the cham, they are not likely to listen. I'm sorry if you didn't like my advice, but they don't know they are not caring for the cham properly. Its like yelling at a dog that's peed on the carpet. And they won't know unless you actually take the time to tell them. Talk to the store manager and see what s/he can do about the situation. I agree, this animal is for experienced keepers only. Perhaps suggest to the manager to put up a sign. They may not do it. Heck, they can look at you and laugh, but at least you tried.

And yes, you need to be a bit more professional. Do you really think they are going to listen to you when all you do is tell them what horrible people they are. They are not going to stop selling the cham or improve thier keeping methods just because of one email. Get others involved. Perhaps if you wrote another email, polite this time, and get some others to write too, maybe they'd pay attention.

Putting myself in thier shoes, I wouldn't respond to your email either. No offence. And not all Petsmarts are bad. Some take really good care of thier animals.

I think you need to stop, calm down, and go about this in a better way. I'm sorry if what I said didn't make sense to you, but simply complaining isn't goint to get anything done.

Not defending any side at all, cause trust me, i've seen BOTH sides. One of the major problems with mainstream petstores is that the individual stores give the most unknowledgeable people the most responsibility-in making choices. The "specialist" is allowed to actually decide which animals are to be shipped to the store......sooo, you have an inexperienced "specialist" order things like chameleons just because "they're cool lookin!! " ..." that'll surely sell!!" Meanwhile, this specialist has literally no clue as to the PROPER care for this "cool new animal". It happened quite often at the PETCO 9not petsmart) that I worked at. Personally, I think that such big companies like PETCO and PetSmart should screen the would be reptile specialists before promotion. The animals would be in much better hands,and on top of that, a REAL specialist would think twice before he/she ordered something like a chameleon,burm,frilled dragon,etc,. I saw this happen firsthand for a long time at my store before someone actually decent took over the reptile dept. I argued and argued with management for YEARS about this. The reptile specialist didn't own a single reptile!!!!!and he worked the dept for two years!!!!!!!! The stock boy actually took better care of the dept on his spare time!!!! and he owned SEVERAL reptiles!!! So many things happened before *anonymous tips* ;) to corporate office finally got the guy fired for improper care/neglect and......(drumroll) the stock guy got the specialist job. Whenever i go visit my buddy at PETCO, the reptiles look great....:D And anything besides the usual anoles,geckos, and cornsnakes, is strictly SPECAIL ORDER. Oh, and one more thing, I don't know about other stores "caresheets", but I can honestly attest that the ones from PETCO were a bunch of crap. I told customers to go online for proper info, or buy a good book. Just my $.02

i personally disagree that people wouldn't pay for a full enclosure for a jackson's cham. i work at Petland, and we have people come in once or twice a month and buy one of these beauties along with anywhere from 300-800 dollar setup. I also don't think they are near as difficult to take care of as you claim. my first herp was actually a jackson and it lived 6 and a half years after I got him. I'm not saying they should be everyone's first herp, they do take a lot of dedication, but it's not difficult given proper research and care. Then again, my parents made me research everything I did for at least 6 months, including my first peircing, and I had to basically prove I could do or handle said task. I don't think you should take on any animal without prior knowledge, and jackson's are no different.