Went to Petco for some animal supplies and just happen to check in the snakes....

When you have large breeders dumping their over stock to these chain stores, legislators who consider reptiles the devil, and a complete lack of attention because they are not cute and cuddly in the eyes of the general public, you have this going on.

Until we regulate the breeding of reptiles, ban wholesale flipping of them, and restrict ownership to anyone without a clue what they are getting, we are going to have this problem. The problem is there is no control at any level outside of personal responsibility which decreases as soon as money becomes part of the equation. What do you think someone like Brian Barczyk does with his normal BPs and leopard geckos he can't sell? Someone like him doesn't cull them, he sells them to pet chains.

I get this is a horrible thing to have happen but until we stop just treating reptiles like objects and start giving them the basic respect that they need, this is going to continue and no amount of writing to corporate is going to put an end to it because to them these are just cheap things to make a buck on. For every serious reptile keeper, there are 100 irresponsible ones who see a cheap starter pet that they don't care if it dies. You have even worse situations where someone has a big heart but either does not have the means or the time to realize they are taking care of this pet wrong.

Education needs to go so much farther than proper husbandry, it needs to be exposed that the vast majority of the reptile pet trade is an order of magnitude worse than any puppy mill and far too many people blindly perpetuate it.

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Originally Posted by zina10

That is because you have to go to Headquarters with your complaint. The store manager obviously couldn't care less...

Are you willing to talk to Headquarters about this ? I can post on Facebook to get some public awareness, but it will only allow one picture. And then..it may get deleted or not even posted.
I would like to add to the post that the person that observed this (you) is willing to go into more detail about the incident. I want your permission to say that, though, before I post.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aerries

Zina you have my FULL permission to use any type of pictures or post, I️ want this addressed ASAP. I’m actually not able to do anything atm so all help is appreciated!!!

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thank you both for helping give those animals a voice. :) it's worth a shot to reach out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aerries

Zina you have my FULL permission to use any type of pictures or post, I️ want this addressed ASAP. I’m actually not able to do anything atm so all help is appreciated!!!


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Of course, it won't let me post... I could possibly post it as a "comment" under one of their posts, though, I'll try..

Can you email them at Headquarters ? Describing the issue (that you tried before, the baby dragons, etc...) and adding the pictures? That should help!

By the way, here is Petco's "Code of Ethics"... https://s7d1.scene7.com/is/content/P...thics-2014.pdf

Here is the part pertaining to "Animal Care"

"Animal care

As Petco associates, it is our responsibility to promote the health,
well-being and humane treatment of animals. We must do the right thing
as a Company and as individuals to ensure animal well-being without
jeopardizing human safety. We must consistently deliver safe, skillful and
compassionate care to all animals entrusted to us. While animals are
in our care, associates constantly monitor their health and well-being,
beginning with regular checks during business hours conducted according
to guidelines created by experts. These checks are supplemented
by further reviews and audits by regional and support center personnel.
Whenever you walk down the aisles of a Petco store, whether you are on duty
or shopping for your pet, take a moment to verify that all animals are properly fed,
watered and housed. If you believe the care of an animal may be in question,
it is your responsibility to take the initiative to communicate your concern and
make sure that appropriate action is immediately taken to resolve the concern."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SDA

When you have large breeders dumping their over stock to these chain stores, legislators who consider reptiles the devil, and a complete lack of attention because they are not cute and cuddly in the eyes of the general public, you have this going on.

Until we regulate the breeding of reptiles, ban wholesale flipping of them, and restrict ownership to anyone without a clue what they are getting, we are going to have this problem. The problem is there is no control at any level outside of personal responsibility which decreases as soon as money becomes part of the equation. What do you think someone like Brian Barczyk does with his normal BPs and leopard geckos he can't sell? Someone like him doesn't cull them, he sells them to pet chains.

I get this is a horrible thing to have happen but until we stop just treating reptiles like objects and start giving them the basic respect that they need, this is going to continue and no amount of writing to corporate is going to put an end to it because to them these are just cheap things to make a buck on. For every serious reptile keeper, there are 100 irresponsible ones who see a cheap starter pet that they don't care if it dies. You have even worse situations where someone has a big heart but either does not have the means or the time to realize they are taking care of this pet wrong.

Education needs to go so much farther than proper husbandry, it needs to be exposed that the vast majority of the reptile pet trade is an order of magnitude worse than any puppy mill and far too many people blindly perpetuate it.

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This is very very true, but the greatest movements started with the smallest of acts, I️ can only hope that this chain becomes something more....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zina10

Of course, it won't let me post... I could possibly post it as a "comment" under one of their posts, though, I'll try..

Can you email them at Headquarters ? Describing the issue (that you tried before, the baby dragons, etc...) and adding the pictures? That should help!

By the way, here is Petco's "Code of Ethics"... https://s7d1.scene7.com/is/content/P...thics-2014.pdf

Here is the part pertaining to "Animal Care"

"Animal care

As Petco associates, it is our responsibility to promote the health,
well-being and humane treatment of animals. We must do the right thing
as a Company and as individuals to ensure animal well-being without
jeopardizing human safety. We must consistently deliver safe, skillful and
compassionate care to all animals entrusted to us. While animals are
in our care, associates constantly monitor their health and well-being,
beginning with regular checks during business hours conducted according
to guidelines created by experts. These checks are supplemented
by further reviews and audits by regional and support center personnel.
Whenever you walk down the aisles of a Petco store, whether you are on duty
or shopping for your pet, take a moment to verify that all animals are properly fed,
watered and housed. If you believe the care of an animal may be in question,
it is your responsibility to take the initiative to communicate your concern and
make sure that appropriate action is immediately taken to resolve the concern."

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This is was irked me big time “As Petco associates, it is our responsibility to promote the health,
well-being and humane treatment of animals. We must do the right thing
as a Company and as individuals to ensure animal well-being without
jeopardizing human safety. We must consistently deliver safe, skillful and
compassionate care to all animals entrusted to us. “


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Well, that was fast...

Here is their reply

"Animal care is our top priority and we take their care very seriously, thank you for bringing this to our attention, Lucy. Please send us a private message with your phone number and which store in Kissimmee, FL. We'll have our team look into this further. Thank you."

May I message them your name and number ? It will be a private message, so noone will see it on facebook but me and Petco. You can also private message me that info here on this website, rather then just posting it..

Awesome job. I still feel animal cruelty laws needs to extend to reptiles in all 50 states. Hopefully this will start happening and it will pressure chains to start taking either a better stance on care or get out of selling animals all together.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SDA

Awesome job. I still feel animal cruelty laws needs to extend to reptiles in all 50 states. Hopefully this will start happening and it will pressure chains to start taking either a better stance on care or get out of selling animals all together.

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Talking to Store managers directly often doesn't help. They are in their store every day.
They KNOW what is going on in their store, and obv. this one just doesn't care about the reptiles.

Going to Head quarters and Corporate helps more. But making some pictures public, may just be the push thats needed to make THEM take this serious. I'm not for a public witch hunt. Everything needs to be done calm and professional, if we are to be taken serious. But those pictures NEED to be seen! There are some people that may not be fans of snakes, but still don't like to see any animal abused like this..

omg. That is absolutely horrible. These big chains seem not to give a fudge about their animals. There's only one store in my town that has snakes. It's a local owned one and one of the employees is a herper so they are kept in great condition. I support them more than any other petstore. Currently eyeing up the Orange Ghost that they have.

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https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/UU7atNa.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/puQBGSM.jpg
Unfortunately, I ran into a similarly depressing situation when I went to a flea market last weekend. I reported them to animal control but I doubt they'll do anything. That Sav looked like it was at deaths door.