Um, I don't think the average person purchasing a $40 wild-caught Russian from Petco for their child is going to be the one producing captvie off-spring for the rest of us. I received an e-mail recently from a woman that did just that. The employees told her it was captive bred. She was quite angry to find it was not, and that it had intestinal parasites as well. If we protest, it gets publicity, which is another way to educate. She would not have purchased that tortoise if she had known it was WC. If the public starts demanding captive bred, and refuses to buy wild-caught for pets (wild-caught should be for breeding projects, not a pet for the average consumer), then the stores will reply to the demand.



If you want a wild-caught adult for a breeding project, go directly to an importer or broker, not a pet store.



Katrina



Posted by: teepee at Sat Jul 12 07:37:15 2003

They don't need a protest, they need some educational materials handed to their employees. As for the Wild caught Russian and Greek tortoises, until these animals are produced in large numbers for the pet trade, the wild is the only place you can get them. This will cease when they are produced in large numbers in the future from those same wild caught individuals that you want to protest. Put your energies into care sheets and hand them out to the employees. They'll read them, and change their husbandry techniques. Knowledge has the power to change the behavior of the employees. Protest will do nothing but cause them to ignore any advice you may want to provide.

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