Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I went into a pet store today (in CT, small one) coz they were advertising a "Huge Sale On Reptile Supplies"... Not knowing they have animals or anything, I wander in... I'm getting a little steamed coz they sell puppies... but they LOOK relatively healthy & clean & taken care of, so I wander on. In the back, they have stairs to the basement, where they have all their reptile & fish stuff... I walk down, and they have a b&w tegu, not in GREAT shape, but not too bad for my un-trained eye. I go firther & I stop dead in my tracks... In one SMALL 10gal tank, they have 3 leo's... one looks dead (really dried-up, and I watched for 5 mins before I saw it breathe)... NOT GOOD. I ask the lovely store employee if there is anything wrong with it, and she mumbles something about "everyone can make mistakes" w/o ever even looking up at me from what she is doing. I ask her if she can come over & tell me what she thinks about the lizard (my hatchling is fatter than this one, and this is nearing adult size), and she ignores me completely. I take a breathe & leave her to her work (obviously, she doesn't care). I look in the next TANK over & see a VERY distressed chameleon (not sure which kind, but looks like it may be a graceful) on the floor STUCK in shed. Both eyes are swollen shut & one has a DENT in it (I think even someone who know NOTHING at all about these animals could tell it's really sick). The cham is really dark, not moving (I still had not seen it breathe) & on the floor. When I ask the woman if htey are affiliated with a vet, or if they take any of their animals to the vet, she rudely asks if I am a vet or a herpatologist. I don't lie, I say no, and her response is: "then mind your own business". I was so taken aback by that & utterly pissed at her that I went upstairs to ask one of the other employees if they are affiliated wiht a vet... it tookl her 3 tries before she could come up with a vet name, then tried to tell me that the emaciated & dry leopard gecko & the sick little cham were "fine & perfectly normal for their species". then she asked me to leave the store if I wasn't going to buy anything!! WHAT A [bleep]! So, I called animal control on them... and what do you know, the ACO knew EXACTLY who I was talking about & where they were located (Spohisticated Pet in Torrington, CT, if anyone's around there, boycott them; or go in & look for yourself & report them as well)... I really hope that they DO something about the store... but I feel so bad for the poor lizards... I want to go & buy those 2 even if all it means is going to the vet to have them put down (and to document their condition)... at least they wouldn't suffer anymore... Unfortunatly, I dont have the cash flow to be able to do that... so they suffer for a while longer... until they die, or someone else does something about it.
Anyway, thanks for letting me vent...
~C

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edited for language

Edited on November 3, 2004 at 18:17:11 by phwyvern.

I knwo how you feel... There was a store around here that drove me nuts. It wasn't NEARLY that bad. If I were there i'd make fliers and keep people from going in... Till i got arrested probably lol.
I know how you feel about buying them.. In sever situations like this though it can actually make things worse. things will be better for the one or two animals you can get, but it will also help the business say open longer every sale it gets (for whatever reason the sale is). THe longer they are open the more animals they can hurt... I'd suggest calling the animal place again (sorry can't remember the name, it's the spca here but in the states the spca is a diff organization than it is here) and ask what is being done about that store. If you keep asking them chances are you will get more info, and they will knwo that "the public" is watching their progress with that store. Also, you can start a petition. I wasn't going to for the store ehre, because it was a little neglect not CRUELTY like you are talking about, not to mention the rudeness of the people involved. I'm sorry you had to see that it can be very uncomfortable.
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~Lindsay
0.1 panther chameleon (Orion)
1.2 r. brevicaudatus chams (unnamed)
0.1 leopard gecko (Acadia)
1.0 pictus gecko (Raine)
1.1 parakeets (Bongo/Citron)
1.1 cats (Tigger/Bonzai)
1.0 dwarf hampster (Chico the monster)
someday will have 1.1 great danes (will be Osiris and Solaris)

I think it is the ASPCA or maybe just the SPCA here too.

I agree with Lindsay, I would bug the hell out of them until they changed their ways. Take care sheets and pictures of healthy animals in there first. See if they change. I'm guessing from the way she acted toward you they aren't, but.... Say something like if the animals aren't taken better care of you will tell everyone you know not to shop there. You could try standing outside the store with flyers of pictures of healthy animals and maybe some basic care info, and hand them out to people who are about to go in. As long as you dont try to prevent people from shopping there, what can the store do?
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

between the results of the election and your story I just want to cry...

anyway, contact the New England Herp Society and complain to them as well. they are based in MA

lele
Link

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Yes, it's a sad day.
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

that is horrible and i really hope you can force some changes in that store.

im NOT trying to start a political debate or anything, i'm not even old enough to vote, but i am very interested in politics and......... i would have to say that this is a wonderfull day!

-jon

Dont get me started!

So.... didnt get enough write in votes to win the election...oh well...guess I'll have to wait until 2008 and try again

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Raf

1.0 Jacksons baby
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

yeah, as soon as I hit enter I KNEW I should not have made my distress known...
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

I figured with a record turn out at the polls
Kerry would win for sure
oh well i guess we will have to see how high the deficit can get...LOL

ugh- I am so depressed
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Def. NOT a good day =(
I think I have decided that if the animals are still there (alive) on Sunday, my heart won't let me leave them there to suffer (and maybe having a vet document that they have suffered like this for a while will help the animals case a bit... my vet does a lot of animal welfare stuff for free, or very low cost, so I might actually afford it).
I will contact the NEHS & let them know too... and now that I have my internet back, I think I will drop off some care sheets for the pet store, coz they obviously have none (or can't read the ones they have). I will also harass the animal cruelty officer until something is done... from what the animal control officer said today, the store apparently has a track record with neglect & cruelty... maybe they'll be shut down this time.
(wish I had bought a camera phone for the next time I go in there)