Yet another pet store runs amuck

I like to take little trips to the pets stores in my local area to keep my eye on herps because we all know that most pet stores dont know jack about husbandry or they just dont care.
I have been keeping my eye on one of them. They have 5 young ball pythons that were last fed on April 15. These poor guys are skin and bones. They are in an enclosure with no hides, nothing but a water dish. Their bark substrate looks like it hasnt been changed in months. There are urates and fecal matter all over. This is the same place I rescued bones from a month or two ago. They also have a blood python which looks to have an RI. The poor guy has been in his water dish for days and he has his mouth hanging open to breath. He also has no hides and a lack of humidity. None of their other herps look real great either. Point being, they take aweful care of their reptiles.
After seeing that poor blood python with his mouth hanging open I couldnt just let that slide by. So I gave animal control a call today and they are sending some one over to take a look. Apperantly I am not the first one to complain about this pet store either.
It makes me so angry that these pet stores dont care about their pets! Anything for a buck right?
grrrr
Anyway, animal control is going to call me back. Im hoping they do somthing DRASTIC!
Ill keep ya posted...

AMEN!
What store was it?

Thank God you called animal control, Thanks
People just piss me off on a daily basis in pet stores
My heart just goes out to all mistreated animals.
It is one of the things that will cause me to be violent, that and abused children
We have to stand up and speak for those that can't.
I am glad you stood up and spoke!

Each county has an ASPCA i think. Try calling them they will get in there quick.

Bravo green man! You ought to become an animal cop like those guys on Animal Planet. Come to think of it, half of the members on this site should ;)

I'm anxious to hear what happens!

gozetec02 - what exactly is ASPCA?

Ya know I have actually considered getting a job some where like animal control or the humane society. I wonder what kind of schooling you would need...
I am thinking about volenteering once or twice a week at the humane society. My wife thinks its a good idea and she might even join me. I really admire people like Rusty who work with rescuing animals. It is important that we stand up for the wellfare of reptiles. Can you imagine being ripped from your home in the savana (the BP's at this pet store are wild caught) to get stuck in a box with four other BP's with no food for months living in your own waste! That is just aweful! Poor guys....

Dragón_Dorado - It was a local pet store called Bird world (which is a joke because they dont take very good care of their birds either) I was talking a girl at the humane society yesterday about them. She said they get their dogs from puppy mills. They also tend to purchace dogs like black labs (the number one euthanized dog) and try to sell them for likr 400 bucks. They tend to have a lot of problems with the dogs they sell getting sick. She said that they have been trying to get them closed down for some time now. It is nice to hear about others in the area caring as well...

ASPCA - American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Jeff, it's good to hear about someone actually DOING something about one of these pet stores for a change. I get tired of reading all the gripes, with no action to try and make things better. Please keep us updated!!

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Originally Posted by MJ

Bravo green man! You ought to become an animal cop like those guys on Animal Planet. Come to think of it, half of the members on this site should ;)

I'm anxious to hear what happens!

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I would really like to be an animal cop but I think I'll end up doing some serious time. All the people that abuse animals, children and elderly people should be tortured penitentiary style :twisted: .

Whoa, easy there Danny boy. People who abuse a defensless life are indeed scum but I don't think torture is the answer. Did any body see last night's episode of Animal Cops? They rescued 49 wire haired fox terriers from a house in Queens. The breeder had died and his son was left to care for the dogs but he just locked them up in cages and used cattle prods to shock them when they barked too much. It was awful! But the dogs were so cute once they got all cleaned up and adopted out. Happy endings are always nice =)

Heh, JLC, I'm 14, all I can do is gripe.I try to spend as much time as I can with my cousin who is gonna get a job at the local PETCO, so I can learn as much as I can.
I want to get a job there, I get paid to help animals.
Even the feeder mice there are in bad shape.
And green man, are you talking about the store I got my geckos from?
'Cause that one was called Petmania (which I stupidly failed to mention, sorry).
But there are a lot of stores being shut down for taking bad care of their animals now-a-days (thankfully) (when I say thankfully I mean thankfully they are being shut down, but I've always wondered....What happens to the animals from the stores that get shut down?).
Bye.

-collin

Hey Green Man,
Good for you. I hope they can do something.
To be honest, it can be quite difficult to find laws pertaining to reptiles and amphibians in certain areas. So in a sence it is good they also deal with puppies. Sadly in the world we live in, It is much easier to get attention and help if you find someone abusing the cute and cuddly creatures.
Please keep us posted. I would love to hear about what happens.

Also, the ASPCA is not in all areas. Niether is the Humane Society.
please also remember that both societies don't normally deal with exotics, and many times do not have the training or faculties for them. We have a CT Humane Society here. But we have teamed up with the on many animal cruelty cases. Just keep in mind that not all shelters, municiple or not, may not be able to do much in the way. But hopefully there are laws in your area that can be enforced.
Thanks
Rusty

Rusty, you are absolutley right.
Reptiles dont get a whole lot of attention. I have also heard that there are some people in Utah's government that are trying to put the kybosh on owning reptiles. The people trying to put together the reptile expo were having some troubles with them this year. I am not really certain what kind of laws there are pertaining to herps. Ive seen what you can and cannot own but that is about it.

The people I talked to with animal control and the humane society did not really know their stuff about reptiles. Animal control was asking me how serious a respritory infection is. The lady I talked to was also shocked that they hadnt been fed that long, she didnt know snakes can go that long without food.

It is kind of sad that reptiles dont get the same attention as the cute fuzzy animals but its sadly the truth.
I am at least hoping that they will sit down and talk to them about the condition of their animals. Maybe a visit from animal control will humble them enough to fix what they are doing.

Well I called back animal control. They said they went and there was no blood python. The pet store said they havnt had one either (A big lie, it probably died). They talked to them about the ball pythons, and they said they were having troubles getting them to eat, but they are working on it...
So I guess if nothing else at least animal control went and hopefully the store will step things up, if not for the animals then at least to save their own a$#.

On a side note, I went to another pet store today to find a bunch of ball pythons (very skinny as well) and at least two of them had respritory infections and another was dead in the cage... I talked to the reptile guy about it and he said yes they have respritory infections but there is nothing you can do about an RI. I told him there is a lot you can do. Get their conditions correct and get them on antibiotics. He agreed with me, but I highly doubt he will do anything. They sell their bp's for 39 bucks so a vet trip would more than wipe that out...
Looks like another call to animal control...

Dang, I wish all the reptile lovers could gather at PETCO, or any other pet shop head quarters and demand better treatment of reptiles. But like that will ever happen. Good job green man. But I highly doubt they will change anything.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MJ

Whoa, easy there Danny boy. People who abuse a defensless life are indeed scum but I don't think torture is the answer. Did any body see last night's episode of Animal Cops? They rescued 49 wire haired fox terriers from a house in Queens. The breeder had died and his son was left to care for the dogs but he just locked them up in cages and used cattle prods to shock them when they barked too much. It was awful! But the dogs were so cute once they got all cleaned up and adopted out. Happy endings are always nice =)

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I saw that episode, what a shame! I just saw another one of those type cases--puppy mill--on Animal Cops Houston (I think).....happens much too often.

Thanks for being proactive Green Man! I've gone into stores and complained (loudly) to management (I always make them get me a manager)....probably does no good. Next time I'm going to call animal control on them....there's a really horrible store here that I've been dying to do something about....don't know why I didn't do something sooner....