Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About a week ago my iguana was taken from his nice home. It took us 7 days to find out where he had been. A friend was here and we were gone. He let one of his other friends into my house and alowed him to take my iguana. My iggy was being kept in a cardbord box. There was no heat/light/air/food! By the time we had tracked down my iguana this guys cat had got ahold of him and done some real dammage. The subject of the cops being called prompted the guy to return my beloved iguana. He spent 2 days at the vets office but there was nothing he could do for my iguana. Now all i have are the pics of him and a $200 vet bill. I should have had some sort of lock on the cage so jurks like that couldent be allowed to just grab my baby. It makes me so sad to think that somone we trusted could have let this happen to us.

That is very sad, im so sorry to hear that. You never know who you can trust this day and age.. its a real bummer.. I'd have police action goin on with these fellas.. you dont bring someone into someone elses house and allow them to take any peice of property, thats robbery.. its stuff like this that makes me not want to let anyone see my herp collection, even if i am home
again, im very sorry for you.

Sincerely,
Charlie Ashley

Though the law views pets as "property", I too feel legal action should take place. Unfortunately, you have legal recourse against your "friend". Nothing will bring back your beloved iguana. My concern is do these people understand they even did something wrong? Have they done this sort of thing before? What else is missing? Legal action may wake them up. The sooner you act, the better your case. I am so sorry for your loss.

I've never heard of anything as bad as that. I hope you consider legal action.

-Erin

Geez, what scumbags! I'm so sorry about what happened to your ig. If I were you, I would be calling the police. I don't know what state you're in, but I'm sure there's some sort of cruelty to animals law there that you could get this guy on in addition to theft. People can be so awful sometimes. Why would he even want to take your iguana, if all he was going to do is stick him in a cardboard box??

Kate

And I think it really hits home to a lot of us. I'm sure many of us have trusted "friends" with our priceless companions, myself included. It's not just upsetting that these "caretakers" were friends, its more atrocious to know that this sort of thing HAS happened before, and may continue to happen(even to those on this forum), until laws become more rigid and consequences become more penalizing.
My condolences to you, and your family. I really hope these guys get it good.
Thoroughly appalled,
-Angel

>>About a week ago my iguana was taken from his nice home. It took us 7 days to find out where he had been. A friend was here and we were gone. He let one of his other friends into my house and alowed him to take my iguana. My iggy was being kept in a cardbord box. There was no heat/light/air/food! By the time we had tracked down my iguana this guys cat had got ahold of him and done some real dammage. The subject of the cops being called prompted the guy to return my beloved iguana. He spent 2 days at the vets office but there was nothing he could do for my iguana. Now all i have are the pics of him and a $200 vet bill. I should have had some sort of lock on the cage so jurks like that couldent be allowed to just grab my baby. It makes me so sad to think that somone we trusted could have let this happen to us.
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things like this happen all too often. I had a beautiful 2 1/2 yr 3ft female green iguana that was the sweetest creature alive she thought she was a dog. i was cleaning her cage and giving her a bath when my bf at the time was over and he was gettin pissed because i was always paying more attention to my baby then him. well i made the mistake of asking him to wash and feel up her water bowl. Well later that day i was sitting on my couch next to her cage when she was on the top shelf and started stumbling and fell off to the ground (a 5 ft drop). she landed on her back and couldnt turn over. i jumped and ran and got a towel wraping her up in it then picking her up and holding her close to me. With my bf saying stop acting childish its just a lizard. I called for a ride to the vet and then called the vet. finally 3 hours later my ride came and 2 miles from home .... the vet place is 27 miles away ... the car started to over heat. we had to turn around. i got a big cardboard box and but a heat pad with a towel over it . i cut up her veggies into lil peices and gaver her water through a suringe. (hoping to flush any thing out of her body). i fed her and gave her water every hour. pooped her every 45 minutes. she was able to stay with me for 48 hours but sadly i accedntly passed out from being up so long though it was only for an hour and a half she had past away when i woke. Later i had found out that my boyfriend at the time had poisoned her water with lysol. i kicked his a$$ out the door and kept his king and corn snake because he mistreated them tryin to make them mean and any 1 that nos about corn snakes nos thats not there temperment and corns are docile by nature. iv lost all contact with him thank god and my baby will always have a place in my heart........ and im thankful to say her biolgical brother was givin to me by an old ex that had purchased him and my girl from a breeder when they were lil.

jesus, that's messed up.

I'm so sorry to hear that...
Depending on where you are located animal cruelty can carry pretty heavy penalties. Either way, if I was you BOTH of those guys would be in LOTS of trouble...
I don't know why people do those kinds of things. My friend lost his dog a few years ago to his F&^$head neighbor who gave it a huge bowl of antifreeze when they weren't home...
Again, I'm so sorry to hear about your poor ig...
My sincerest condolences to you...

I am so sorry to hear what happened...

Nothing will bring your baby back, but why not go ahead and press charges against both of them. Even if your friend who was sitting didn't steal the iguana, he will likely be viewed as an accessory given the fact that he knew the theft happened, who did it, enabled the theft to occur and did nothing to try to get the iguana back. You can also sue the two of them in small claims court to recover all your expenses.

You could probably also interest the local human interest reporter in the story. I'd have no problem with making these individuals' lives a bit unpleasant for as long and publically as possible...

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Melissk
anapsid.org
Iguanas for Dummies

I am so very sorry to hear about your loss. I would make these peoples lives hell for as long as possible. A "friend" should know what the iguana means to you and should treat YOUR animal the same way he would treat one of his. This is horrible. I dont know if I can leave my igs with a friend anymore because I dont know if they will let this happen. Guess mom will have to watch the grand kids Once again I am very sorry to hear about your loss.
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Heather, Vern, Andy, Router, April And OODLES of fish

Both people were arested yesterday. Charged with theft and animal crewlty (spelling?). They will be realesed on bail and charged with a stif fine. I plan on pressing charges and taking this strait to court. Not only will i be seeking money for my vet bills but for the lawyer too. I couldent think of anything else to do. I also felt that everyone in my town should know what kind of people these to are. So i made flyers with pictures explaining what happend and put them on every buliten board and vet office in town. Everything is documented. Pics of the iguana before and after, vets notes on the condition of health when it was brought into the office, and fingerprints from both people that were taken off of the cage. They dont stand a chance. Thank you all for your kind words. I just feel that i was way to stupid.

GOOD FOR YOU!!!

Its so sad and awful what happened to your poor ig I have several dogs, some of which are worth alot of $ but thats nothing compared to what they are worth to me, and they are behind a fence behind another fence thats locked at all times, because I worry about stupid people like those. Personally, I think you're doing the right thing.