Any way to report petco?

[Jamescoop]

I was OUTRAGED while at petco today. While their fish department absolutely lacks in every way, such as keeping dead fish in the aquariums for the whole day and not having sand in their saltwater tanks (contains necessary bacteria), I was really there to look a the chameleons.

They have 3 2" long chameleons. One is so skinny you can see its ribs easily, and its arms are soo tiny compared to the others it really looks quite sickly (and was the first one to the dripper--more below). The biggest one looks quite good actually, nice striping uncommon for his age, and the other is just average green veiled. Anyways, their dripper was not on, so i turned it on to about 1-2 drops per second. The chameleons inside flocked to it and started to drink immediately.

I then waited around, and even contemplated grabbing one of them and walking out. For some reason, it always seems like in petco there are only 2 people working the whole store, and one is in back. Its even like that at other petcos ive been to as well. Well, i didnt grab the little guy and rescue it, but i grabbed a petco worked walking by and asked for the person responsible for the lizards. She said it was her, and i told her that i had turned on their dripper and they one of them looks like it was about to die, and some other things about the cleanliness of the cages and stuff anyways, but she said she knows it was off because it leaked into the tank below, so they didnt run it most the time, and then told me that she breeds chameleons, which was probably total bull. Not to mention they had 3 hanging bags of crickets and 1/4 of them were dead in the bottom of each bag. I pretty much walked out, enraged, and am trying to figure out what can be done, since in my experience petco is a place where animals go to suffer, and it seems like many people have the same conditions in their local petco. Petco Corporation is cruel to animals.

Sorry to rant, but i really think some actions should be taken. Any ideas or comments will be appreciated.

 

[sativa420]

plan a jail break. i would if all the chams i seen at pet stores were easily accessable. stealings wrong but to save a life is the right thing to do.....

 

[Fate X]

almost all the major petstore chains i been to do not have proper chameleon setups,misting and drainage, etc.i beleive they figure the cham will live 2-3 months suffering then someone will buy it,i cham can survive a while but still be very ill.these petstores goal is to just barely keep them alive.when their goal should be to keep them alive n healthy,they would probably sell more if they housed their chams right.

 

[Scooter]

I have in the past done this...

There is usually (at least in the pet cos in Ca) a card that says who the vet. is that treats their animals. I called the vet's office and complained. I asked if the vet was RESPONSIBLE for recommending the deplorable conditions that the animals were in.

Then I called the local county animal control. Evidently they did come out. Don't know how long it took, but there was an article in our local paper that pet co had a visit from the local animal control, and had been cited for their care of some animals.

Try it. Worked for me.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Don't worry about ranting....I've been there too. I have to go to Petco every week (We have 7 cats). I check the reptiles out every week. Years ago they were in sad shape. I made a point of talking to the manager every week when I was there. At first she was a little pissy about it. Eventually she must have figured out that I was going to keep coming back every week. Things actually improved over time. I still feel somewhat sorry for the reptiles because I know many will end up with owners that won't spend the time figuring out how to care for their purchase correctly. But at least this store is taking fairly good care of them now. I can't bear to go into any of the small pet stores around here anymore. I have come home with many rescues over the years. They usually have just a couple of sad reptiles stuck in dark and dank aquarium type tanks. Talking to these people does very little good. Screaming didn't seem to help either. Reporting them to the local Humane Society is the only option. Or maybe complaining to the city business licensing agency. Had not thought about that until now. Hmmmm.....

 

[booshified]

I COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH "RESCUES"

You may feel your are rescuing one but when you do this the store is encouraged to keep their chameleons (or other reptiles) in these horrible conditions.

If you feel bad for the animal tell the manager (as many of your have) and if things are really bad then contact local authorities.

I also feel that if you build up a relationship with the manager thing may change over time or in some cases (this has worked for some) if you tell them their chameleon is days away from death they may be willing to give it to you.


All else fails.....smash and grab.

 

[Jamescoop]

Yeah, problem is im only here for another month, and i think the lizard person IS the manager


Anyways, i am in CA so scooter--where do you find the vet cards?

 

[Kent67]

Couple things. First, way to go Scooter. I'm also from So. Cal and, maybe I'm just too cynical but I NEVER would have imagined that would actually work around here.

Also, I kinda agree and kinda disagree with my neighbor boo there. While I do think that people who "rescue" animals should be commended for doing it, my personal choice is not to, mainly for the reason mentioned by booshified. Also, I've been given the odd sick animal too, but usually by the time the pet store is willing to give up any chance of making their money back, it's too late to save them and I don't think the risk of spreading pathogens to my other animals is worth it.

 

[Scooter]

The pet co has a business card taped to the glass of the herb displays. Or call the store, ask what vet takes care of their herbs, because you are looking for a vet.

Personally, I won't buy pet co or petsmart animals. I don't believe that pet stores should sell pets! Pet supplies, yes. But I think pet purchases should be made from good, sound breeders who are in breeding for the betterment of the animal they are breeding, and not as a money making business. That or rescue from a non-profit bonifide rescue organization.

The only way that pet stores will stop carrying pets, is if it does not make business sense (profit) to do so.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

A story with a different twist...

Last year, I helped my local reptile store install a semi-automated misting system complete with a drainage setup across 6 enclosures. Sometime after that, the animal control people were making an inspection of sorts and sited them for not having water bowls in all of the chameleon enclosures . I called their offices and spoke with the sergeant who agreed that the misting system was ok and that the water bowls could be removed. No good deed goes unpunished .

 

[booshified]

Howdy,

A story with a different twist...

Last year, I helped my local reptile store install a semi-automated misting system complete with a drainage setup across 6 enclosures. Sometime after that, the animal control people were making an inspection of sorts and sited them for not having water bowls in all of the chameleon enclosures . I called their offices and spoke with the sergeant who agreed that the misting system was ok and that the water bowls could be removed. No good deed goes unpunished .

very interesting...good to know animal control does their homework...lol

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

Well first things first

Don't shop at PetCo™

I wouldn't rescue any animal there
simply because they will view that as a successful sale
and restock their supply with another (or more) poor creature(s).

Smash and grab..
well it sounds nice but it's stealing and can get you into trouble
and not them (where blame should be placed).

the best idea is to call and complain to the animal welfare people
and get the city after them. Follow up with the press take pictures to show the reporters
have them run a story citing the violations and cruelty.
hell I think you can even publish them online if you like.
that would do quite a lot to correct PetCo.

and do not warn the bad management or employees that work there.
let them all take the full brunt of the law and bad press.

Sadly, PetCo is the walmart of pet stores and will source out
animals via their brokers... if people stopped selling to brokers
that would go a long way to helping the situation.

 

[Chill]

yah as bad as it sounds i work at a local pet store and sometimes the chams arent properly cared for and are kept in tanks too small
but i do what i can to help them wether it be buildin them new cages or makin sure they eat and what not i jus cant stand to see them not taken care of

 

[Mintglow]

I saw a similarly idiotic thing at PetSmart the other day (which kind of shocked me because I've never really had a problem with them before.)

They had a very LARGE veiled male in a cage, and he was quite big- maybe his size was enhanced by the fact that mine is just a little guy still, but he was about 9 inches from nose to base of tail, so not small. His enclosure consisted of a decorative piece of drift wood, one sprig of fake leaves, SAND (which can cause impaction) and a DISH OF WATER. Not to mention that the enclosure was about 1.5 feet long and only about 1 foot tall!!

I asked one of the girls walking around about this and she insisted that he drinks fine from the dish but there must be "something wrong with him because he attacks everyone who goes near him." Lucky thing he's healthy enough to attack!