My blood is boiling

I am so angry that I could spit. My wife and I were going to get a pair or adult ball pythons from a friend that she works with (she works at Petsmart). Due to circumstances he could not keep them and the 55g tank they were in. It was to be a free gift, the snakes and everything needed for them.

We just went to get them and met the guy at the apartment he was moving out of (the reason he had to give them up). When we get to the apartment the door is wide open and there are no lights on. This makes sense because he is moving the power is now turned off. We go over to the tank and using our cell phones as flashlights I get my first view of them. 2 Balls, one male and one female, are cuddled together and both are gorgeous and nice and plump. I ask to hold one and he says to go ahead.

I reach in and go for the larger of the pair, I gently pick it up...............and my heart stops. The BP is cold to the touch, and doesn't respond at all, neither does the other one. They had frozen to death (it's in the 20's at night here in CO and in the 50's during the day). Apparently we weren't told that the apartment had the power shut off 2 days ago.

My wife immediately turns pale and I have to fight the urge to beat the hell out of this guy. Not only has he had these snakes for a year or so, he is the reptile manager at the store they work at. He knew better, he knew the apartment was without power for 2 days, and the worst is.....he didn't care. When he learned they had died he just said "That sucks" with the same emotion as if he had broken his cell phone.

We quickly went to leave and he then had the gall to ask if we still wanted the tank they were in! I have never wanted to hit someone as much as I wanted to deck him. My wife was so upset that I had to drive us home, she was crying the entire way. I don't understand how someone can have pets and just not care when they die, and when it's the fault of the owner no less. If I somehow ever cause the death of any of my pets I will be devastated, they aren't just animals that we care for, they are part of the family. They are friends for us and they love us no matter what.

I only wish that I had known sooner the situation they were in, I would have picked them up immediately.

RIP Bonnie and Clyde, you deserved a hell of a lot better than what you got.:tears:

That is horrible :( Poor babies. I'm sorry yall got so excited and then had to find them like that.

What a DB!

Some people are just idiots! That said, I don't blame you for wanting to clock him! I would have felt the same way!
Sorry you had to go through that bro

Thats very terrible !! I dont know if I could of not punched him!!

What an crappy owner... at least they died in a painless way and were together when they went into hibernation.

That's sooo sad. I can't believe he is the manager of a pet story. What a joke. I'm sorry y'all had to go through that.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

Yeah, we went home and spent some time with Hera and Zeus and we are feeling a bit better. And as Slyther83 said at least they died painlessly.

pooor babies

Wouldn't that be considered neglect or cruelty? If those where a dog or cat, he would be going to jail and/or some stiff fines! I would of hit him.

You did better than me, I would have hit him.. hard.. more than once..

That is extremely sad and I am sorry you and your wife had to have it happen. I wish everyone could care about their babies the way people on this site do.

I hate to ask, but are you sure they were dead? They can be ICE cold, unresponsive and still be alive-ish.

Wow thats horrible :( Are you sure they were dead? Sometimes I've heard they'll go into a state where they can appear that way but may live if provided heat, although chances are low. This is really sad. Very sorry to hear it..

I am pretty sure that they were dead, of course I have no way of knowing for sure. But when I picked one of them up they didn't respond or move in the slightest.

I can't believe that! He doesn't deserve to be decked...he deserves a flying armbar! Poor snakes, no animal deserves such cruelty.

Were they stiff ?

It is remotely possible they were not dead yet, just very near it. If they had died they would have been stiff.

As for your "friend" I believe I would have re-arranged that man's face for him,
with my fists,
more than once.

Ah, who am I kidding, I would have put that fool in a body bag and not felt the least bit guilty doing it. In fact, I would have taken great pleasure in feeling him under my fists and feet.

I am very sorry you had to go through this. And if it were me, I'd file a complaint with the Humane Society or whoever would listen to me and give a damn.

Gale

:mad: props to you for not doing what many of us feel he deserved :mad:

I'd still report him to animal control, especially since he works at a pet store...

:tears: I agree with Jerry. I would still report him. Grrr. I had a similar situation. I was watching a gtp for a friend while he was going through rehab. He was a major drunk, and I only befriended him for the snake's sake. 6 months later he assured us he was clean and wanted the snake back. As much as I wanted to keep him, I had to give him away. He died 3 months later. :tears: At least I don't have to be friends with the guy anymore. But, life has a way of taking angels when we need them the most.

Rip Bonnie and Clyde (which is the name of my mojo's who were also rescued). Poor babies.

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Were they stiff ?

It is remotely possible they were not dead yet, just very near it. If they had died they would have been stiff.

As for your "friend" I believe I would have re-arranged that man's face for him,
with my fists,
more than once.

Ah, who am I kidding, I would have put that fool in a body bag and not felt the least bit guilty doing it. In fact, I would have taken great pleasure in feeling him under my fists and feet.

I am very sorry you had to go through this. And if it were me, I'd file a complaint with the Humane Society or whoever would listen to me and give a damn.

Gale

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Yeah they were, they had no limpness to them at all. Still unsure whether or not we are going to report him to anyone as it may cost my wife her job and we need the money. I am still looking at ways to report him w/o getting her fired.

good on you for not snapping and killing the poor man, i may have...sorry you had to go through all of that

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Originally Posted by thedarkwolf25

Yeah they were, they had no limpness to them at all. Still unsure whether or not we are going to report him to anyone as it may cost my wife her job and we need the money. I am still looking at ways to report him w/o getting her fired.

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1) Report the incident to the authorities.
2) ASAP after step 1: Notify the store manager as well as Petsmart corporate, along with the police report. Make it evident that you will cause an uproar. Petsmart will want to protect their reputation, and he will be fired in short order.
3) Follow up with the authorities to make sure they do their job. Repeat step 3 as much as necessary.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thedarkwolf25

Yeah they were, they had no limpness to them at all. Still unsure whether or not we are going to report him to anyone as it may cost my wife her job and we need the money. I am still looking at ways to report him w/o getting her fired.

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They CAN'T fire her for reporting him. That is discrimination and warrants court proceedings. Trust me, that is NOT somewhere they want to go, especially over a couple of snakes. So report that idiot, if they talk about terminating your wife, assure them that your lawyer has other ideas. People take discrimination in the workplace VERY seriously.

Gale

Oh my gosh I would have been furious too! :rage:

I'm so sorry! What a JERK OFF!!:mad: I don't understand how someone could be so heartless and not care... My Scorpion "Fluffy" passed 2 days ago and I cried like a little baby. :(

It's truely disgusting to care for an animal, and then let them die without any thought. I'm sure he knew what would happen without heat. I would die if I lost anyone. My reply wouldn't be well that sucks and turn around and walk away. Thats bs. I'd report him too. And I think your wifes bosses might think twice about firing her. I wonder if there's something about working at a petstore, and being investigated for neglect resulting in animal death x2. Hmmm

They would not fire her immediately, but they could in fact start treating her poorly, give her such bad hours or cut back her hours, that she would quit.

There are many ways to fire her without it being associated with this incident.

I wouldn't even talk about the incident at work. You don't know who he has as friends within the company. Treat it as a learning experience somehow and move on.

The snakes are dead, nothing can be done to bring them back.

TO OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAVE RESPONDED,
Please be careful when responding to this or any other thread where you advocate violence. This goes directly against the rules of the forum and could possibly result in you receiving infraction points.

Trust me, I speak from experience.
Jim Smith

Well she found out that there is a corporate hotline you can call to anonymously and report employees. She called them and reported him yesterday. Hopefully something will be done but that's as far as she wants to push it.

You are a better and bigger man than me. I would have handled the situation TOTALLY different.

Poor snakes! I am never gonna be able to get over my moronophobia with guys like that irresponsible $*%&$(e around. Sorry you had to go through that.

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Originally Posted by thedarkwolf25

Well she found out that there is a corporate hotline you can call to anonymously and report employees. She called them and reported him yesterday. Hopefully something will be done but that's as far as she wants to push it.

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I'm sorry, but what do you want the company to do? This was his personal life. It had nothing to do with his employer. He didn't abuse these snakes while performing his job.

Do you want an employee calling the hotline on another employee because he got a speeding ticket, or a DWI/DUI? Would you report an employee that let his dog out and it was hit and killed by a car? How far do you take it? What the guy does on his own time IS NOT the concern of the employer. No one wants Big Brother interfering with their personal life, but that's exactly what you did. You brought Big Brother into his life and by association, into your life.

I'm not taking up for the guy. He did wrong and should never own another snake or possibly any other animal. But it's not up to the employer to determine that. If you wanted to report him, the local authorities would have been the way to go.

Like I said in my other post, since your wife was the ONLY ONE to know about this, there's no way he won't know who dropped a dime on him. If he's not fired, don't you think he's going to have it out for your wife? If he's got friends in higher places, do you think they're going to be interested in your wife's well being? You will have no friends or advocates in the workplace. That could be very hard for your wife. Remember, you called the hotline for only one reason, to get him fired. He and his friends won't have to directly use this incident to make your wife's life extremely difficult.

I hope nothing happens to your wife's career, but if it does, she's the cause for it.

Vengence is best served cold.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

TO OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAVE RESPONDED,
Please be careful when responding to this or any other thread where you advocate violence. This goes directly against the rules of the forum and could possibly result in you receiving infraction points.

Jim Smith

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I agree Jim.

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SITE RULES (the short version)

3. No Hate Speak. No racial, religious, gender-related, or sexual slurs. No threats of violence or personal attacks whether public posts or private messages.

8. No posts may be made that encourage or endorse criminal activity, either explicit or implied.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by LizardPants

1) Report the incident to the authorities.
2) ASAP after step 1: Notify the store manager as well as Petsmart corporate, along with the police report. Make it evident that you will cause an uproar. Petsmart will want to protect their reputation, and he will be fired in short order.
3) Follow up with the authorities to make sure they do their job. Repeat step 3 as much as necessary.

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Be a pest and watch who gets fired. They won't fire her for that, but they will be watching her closely and find a reason to terminate her.

Be Careful,
Jim Smith

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

They CAN'T fire her for reporting him. That is discrimination and warrants court proceedings. Trust me, that is NOT somewhere they want to go, especially over a couple of snakes. So report that idiot, if they talk about terminating your wife, assure them that your lawyer has other ideas. People take discrimination in the workplace VERY seriously.

Gale

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It is not discrimination. Can you tell me how she would be discriminated against?

Where wouldn't they want to go? This is a personal matter. It has nothing to do with the company nor the store itself. A person that is employed by the store had 2 snakes die while in his care. Sure, it was neglect, but he did not commit anything against company policies while on company time. It's a personal matter. Nothing more. Reporting this person to a company hotline usually wouldn't be an issue, but since she's the ONLY person that knows of this incident, who do you think will be blamed for wasting the company's time with repoting a NON-Business related incident? This hotline is meant to report issues within the stores, not because some idiot killed 2 of his own snakes, in his own house, on his own time.

However, once this report gets out to the store's manager, he's going to talk to the idiot and he's going to say that the only person that knew anything about the situation is the OP's wife. Now the whole store will know that she's the one that dropped the dime on the idiot. If the idiot has any friends as co-workers, they will make it tough on the wife. If the manager happens to be a friend of the idiot, life will be dreadful for the wife. If they are really close, they could be looking for a reason to fire the wife. So they will be able to fire her in a round about way. As stated in another post, Vengence is best served cold. Don't act while your emotions have the best of you. I'm not saying she will get fired, but I would think in the workplace a snitch is often thought of in a worse light, than someone who happen to have a few snakes die while in their care.

I wish you would explain the descrimination alligation. There is absolutely no case for a descrimation law suit. Stop giving bad advice.

Jim Smith

I feel your disgust and sorrow :(

That guy should come and take a scenic ride on the lake with me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

I wish you would explain the descrimination alligation. There is absolutely no case for a descrimation law suit. Stop giving bad advice.

Jim Smith

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My apologies. I went back and reread what the OP had posted and realized I misunderstood. For some reason I had it in my head these animals were store property. :confused:

So, you are absolutely correct. It sucks, but there isn't a thing that the store can do about it, except to maybe not let him sell reptiles ?

Gale

I would suggest reporting animal neglect
But unfortunately from experience they may do nothing.
Apparently negligence of animals only constitutes for Dogs and Cats... not reptiles...
Try to report but Don't be surprised when they tell you they cant do ish about it.
Something is seriously wrong when reptiles don't have any rights. :mad:
And for the most part that seems to be the case.