Reporting animal abuse/neglect - help please? DUW

[SecurityStacey]

This is the situation - I applied for a volunteer job working with this organization that houses and does educational shows with exotic animals. I was very excited since they have just about every animal you can think of - and today I interviewed and she invited me to go with her to one of the places they own to see the animals.

I got there and I was horrified - the small mammals had at least an inch or two of poop at the bottom of their tanks and many of the reptiles had empty/extremely dirty water bowls and only a small overhead lamp for heat, not to mention poop in their cases so long it looked petrified. These animals are kept in a warehouse like place that must have heat but is very cool - I was chilly in jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

I tried to get some pictures (below) when she was looking the other way - in this location they had 2 chinchillas, 2 ferrets, 2 small mammals I didn't know, 8 birds, a bunny, a red tail boa, a hognose snake, a ball python, 4 beardies in one tank about the size of a 20long, 4 other tanks with lizards I didn't recognize (including a gecco that had a broken heat lamp and she said he was fine.), and 2 separate tanks with some kind of turtles.

After this we went to one of the guy's house to feed his pets and in his house (where he has two little kids she told me) he had 6 dogs, 2 micro pot belly pigs, 3 cats, 6 birds, 8 rats, a fish tank so dirty you couldn't see the fish, a guinea pig and a wild chipmunk he caught. The female rat had spilled her water so I asked the girl if she was gonna clean it and she did and there was probably at least 3 or 4 inches of bedding that was wet and moldy and came out as one solid lump because of all the feces and everything in it. Also because they have exotic animal licence a catimundi (sp?) from the raccoon family - it reeked in the house - where the animals were split up there was urine and poop everywhere (4 of the dogs were kept in the back shed - 2 of the dogs and the 2 pigs kept in a back room).

As we were leaving he arrived back from his trip - with two more catimundi and two bobcats - one of which will go to live on their farm and one in their house. I shudder to think how bad the situation is for these pets at the farm - because even though these pets were just his and maybe that is just how he takes care of them - the girl I was with who runs half of it didn't seem to think anything was out of the ordinary. Can anyone give me information about these animals in the pics of things you know are wrong/unhealthy - I know some about BPs but I'm not sure what the other animals should or shouldn't have.

Most of the animals could not be handled either - she said they aren't friendly because they don't get hanlded much. As I said though - there are 4 beardies in one tank - (I didn't know if that was normal or not), all the snakes only have a small light on top for heating - the ball python only has a long leaning against another for his hide (you can see him circled in there - and the other things that are circled are 2 full sheds and petrified poop still in the tank), they obviously don't quarentine since the red tail they told me just got rescued a few weeks ago and is in with the other snakes - its water was black it was so dirty. That thing the hognose is in is a completely dry and full of bedding water bowl. The chinchillas had a dust bath house in there (they keep it in there) that was full of poop and they were just sitting in it.

How should I go about this - I don't know what to say to her about the volunteering (I pretended to think it was fine because I was tryign to get names and addresses) and I don't know exactly what I should do. Am I overexaggerating reporting them to aspca/humane society? They seem to care about animals - but these animals are in digusting conditions -she herself said that she has 3 squirrels and 6 cats in her apartment and they all run free - I'm sure that is quite healthy too... How should I go about this - am I overreacting? What would you do?

[RoyalGuardian]

Call them in!!! It sounds horrible! they arn't going to change just because you told them too. Letting the animals get this bad proves they don't actually care. They sound like hoarders to me.. very bad situation... please get them out of there!

[SecurityStacey]

Call them in!!! It sounds horrible! they arn't going to change just because you told them too. Letting the animals get this bad proves they don't actually care. They sound like hoarders to me.. very bad situation... please get them out of there!

They actually have an organization with a exotic animal license. From what I gather they have alligators, bobcats, wolves, 3 different kinds of monkeys, many different kinds of small mammals, many more snakes and lizards (I've seen pics of the albino burmese), many kinds of birds - pigs, the list goes on and on. I'm not sure whether or not I should post the website for thier organization on here.

[RoyalGuardian]

They actually have an organization with a exotic animal license. From what I gather they have alligators, bobcats, wolves, 3 different kinds of monkeys, many different kinds of small mammals, many more snakes and lizards (I've seen pics of the albino burmese), many kinds of birds - pigs, the list goes on and on. I'm not sure whether or not I should post the website for thier organization on here.

Then that really depresses me then! isn't there code for places like this. If there are regulations and inspections for restaurants there should be some for places like this.... I dunno... I guess your going to do what your going to do but I would say call them in. The animals don't deserve this.

[Patrick Long]

ASPCA

Fish and Wildlife

Thats a start...maybe call the non emergency police number to see if they have any suggestions for you?

[sjsexotics]

I have to say though the pics dont look bad I mean I clen my snake cages every time the go but really my beardies go poo all the time and I dont clean it every time it sounds really bad but then the pics confuse me because they look ok are the pics not of the bad things you saw?

[SecurityStacey]

I have to say though the pics dont look bad I mean I clen my snake cages every time the go but really my beardies go poo all the time and I dont clean it every time it sounds really bad but then the pics confuse me because they look ok are the pics not of the bad things you saw?

The pics of the reptiles were more about how they were being housed - I was tryign to get information about if those set ups are okay or not. All the water bowls in the snake tanks (except the hognose - that picture I got before) I cleaned and filled when the girl said they didn't need water every day.

I know the pictures aren't very clear - I only had my cell phone - but the snake tanks all had old poop in them and minimal heat. The ball pythons tank had 2 sheds in it as well as old poop - and the red tail had a shed in there as well that you could tell was more than a few days old. She also said the beardies ate thursday so they didn't need food today (saturday morning) - which I have no idea if they eat everyday or if they are like snakes. I couldn't get any of the mammals because she didn't leave in the room with them alone at all.

[mykaija]

i would agree with luna in that they sound like horders. it might have started out with the best of intentions, then got out of hand, or they liked the attention that the "exotics" were bringing them. i would call aspca and tell them what you know. have them do a "drop in" where they arnt notified of an inspection, cuz if they know its going to happen, im sure they clean up in a hurry. best of luck

[dsirkle]

Is it possible that they have good intentions and have taken on more abandoned animals than they can handle? Could this be why they are seeking volunteers? Could you make a bigger difference by helping them care for the animals rather than just reporting them to somebody? I don't know the answers to these questions I am just posing them. If you really feel that they are an inappropriate organization you should report them.

[Beardedragon]

I have to say though the pics dont look bad I mean I clen my snake cages every time the go but really my beardies go poo all the time and I dont clean it every time it sounds really bad but then the pics confuse me because they look ok are the pics not of the bad things you saw?

You do not clean your beardies cage every time it poops? If that is so then you really need to reconsider having one. That is way irresponsible and I cant imagine what your tank looks like. I'm sorry that im coming off blunt but that habit needs to be changed right now.

Are you also not seeing the main problem? FOUR beardies in a small tank, that is a recipe for disaster. You shouldn't even have ONE beardie that size in a tank that small. Not to mention I highly doubt she gives them the correct uvb and supplements, or the right amount of food. I can't believe that those are still alive, im guessing that they are all the same sex because if not she will have dead beardies very soon.
Id keep going but I do not want to write a caresheet...

To the op- Maybe ask if you can help change/correct things? And if they refuse your help then do something.