My first reptile pets came from pet stores. If it weren't for that, perhaps I would have NEVER developed an interest in keeping reptiles.
The key is education, not keeping animals out of the hands of public. That's HSUS's argument again--that the average person is simply too stupid to take care of a pet reptile properly. I don't believe that.
I do think the industry needs to police itself better. There shouldn't BE pet stores that don't know how to care for the animals they are selling. It should be required that the owners and workers know basic care information for the species they sell. That is the only way they can be expected to pass it on to a consumer--a consumer who may be entirely innocent, and believe they HAVE gotten the right information, because the pet store worker said so.
We can spend all day saying they should have bought a book--but they didn't know they needed one. They thought they were given what they needed to know when they bought the animal.
Prevent THAT from happening, and you would prevent far more than half of the problems with improper care happening out there.
