Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, the trip wasn't so bad, but what I found at the pet shop was discusting. I know that kingsnake doesn't allow to post names, due to possibly slandering businesses,etc. So, I'm not going to say the name of the shop.

Anyway, when I go in to this pet shop, there's an obviously starved adult bearded dragon there. Its eyes were almost completely shut, and it had no energy. They had a price tag of $129 for this animal that, in my opinion, could never be saved even if it got vet treatment right away.

Secondly, I noticed they had a lot of baby and juvenile monitors that looked half-starved. When I walked around to where the mice and rats were (that's what I went for, mice and rats for my snakes), there were dead savannah monitors on the floor in a 30 gallon tank. There was also a dead albino burmese python, still on display for sale along with the rest of their snakes.

There were also several small parrots and conures there that appeared very stressed and not in good weight.

I know that if I sent a complaint to the humane society, there would be more bad media coverage against the ownership of reptiles, because of their support to ban them in households around the US. So, does anyone have an idea about how to deal with this? Should someone just have a talk with the owner of this company and explain the possible consequences of him doing this, kinda like a warning before reporting him.

Thanks

I'd call the Humane Society and tell them you saw some sick looking birds. They probably can give the store enough trouble with just that. Warm blooded neglect cases are probably much easier for them and you could help the reptiles while keeping them out of the limelight.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Send a complaint to the store owner. If this store is a chain, send a complaint to the corporate headquarters. Document all the details in your letter. I was able to do this online with one of the large national pet stores. Also, if you have a local Herp Society contact them.

Linny

>> I know that if I sent a complaint to the humane society, there would be more bad media coverage against the ownership of reptiles, because of their support to ban them in households around the US. So, does anyone have an idea about how to deal with this? Should someone just have a talk with the owner of this company and explain the possible consequences of him doing this, kinda like a warning before reporting him.

For the most part it's "the Humane Society of the United States" (HSUS) that everyone here has problems with. The name of thier organization is basically a fraud in my opinion and your local humane society probably has no affiliation with them. Go ahead and give them a call if you think it's warranted. It's probably better than letting it go on until one of the local news channels sees it and does an expose...
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Larry D. Fishel
Side effects may include paralysis
and death but are generally mild.

We had a ma and pa petstore that was just a disaster.Our herp club even offered our time to help them get things worked out.They threw me out.Well that got me motivated.I made phone calls to everyone i knew and another petstore,the nice one i work for partime told me to report them to the Dept of Agriculture in our town.In Illinios the dept of ag issues all the permits for the petstores in our area.The dept of ag has a set of rules and standards for all petshops.To make a long story short they were inspected and for two weeks they didnt open shop.When they reopened shop they just sold fish.Now im not sure how the law works in your area but give it a try.Im glad i did...Paul..

I've decided to send the owner of the pet shop a letter to him of the conditions I had found at his pet shop, and ask him to provide proper ammounts of food, access to water at all times, clean and proper housing for all of the animals, and to not try to sell obviously sick or underweight animals in his shop.

I will tell that person that I had witnessed the dead albino burmese python and savannah monitors, as well as the sick and starving bearded dragon, other monitors, and exotic birds and that it is illegal to keep such animals in these horrific conditions. The letter will also tell them that if any more complaints come in about his shop, the pet shop will be reported to the humane society and florida wildlife commission.

The owner will know that I, as well as possibly other people (That are willing to volunteer) are going to be checking up on them.

I will keep an eye on this shop as much as I can, but I'm only in Jacksonville about once every 3 weeks. So, if anyone on this forum lives in or near Jacksonville, Florida would like to checkup on this shop on weekends and collaberate through email, we could work together and either clarify this situation or get this shop put out of business.