i went to petsmart this gets me pissed

I've had experiences with shop owners not wanting to take advice,telling me that they know what they're doing. They are stubborn and tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about. For example, a little over week ago I went to a local pet shop to purchase crickets. I noticed that there was an adult Veiled Cham in a 10 gallon fish tank. Alfalfa pellets were being used as substrate. The chameleon was perched on a tiny branch. There wasn't a dripper in the tank, only a large bowl of water. I also noticed that the cham's eyes were sunken in and were closed most of the time(during the day). The crickets that were running around loose weren't dusted. There wasn't a UVB light in there, either. I was very polite when speaking to the worker about the cham being in the wrong conditions. I told him the problems that I noticed. He got angry with me and told me, "I've been running this store for years. How are you going to tell me how to care for these animals?" It's sad, because someone will probably buy that chameleon without doing any research on how to care for it. They'll just trust that the shop owner's guidelines for care is correct. The shop didn't even sell the essentials needed to care for a chameleon! Sadly, it becomes an endless cycle of suffering for these animals. Every animal in the shop, including the fish, were in the wrong conditions. There were like 8 baby Sulcatas in a 10 gallon tank with moldy alfalfa pellets as substrate with no access to water or food, large snakes in tiny tanks with RI, there were 15 bunnies in a small plexiglass box literally sitting on top of each other, birds in overcrowded, poop infested cages, filthy fish tanks....just horrible. I will not support that shop! These shops should have some sort of inspection done on a regular basis by animal control and be required to pass in order to stay in operation. :mad:
 
I was pissed one day and waited an hour for the employees of my petfart store to get their manager to talk to me about the state of a 2-3 month female Jackson chameleon a few weeks ago. After he tried to feed me some bullshit about how she's better than when she first came in, which was bullshit since I saw her the day they got her in and she was perfect, he finally showed me the protocol for chameleon husbandry. They are REQUIRED to keep them in 8" acrylic cube displays with very little ventilation, they aren't allowed to use drippers only small water dishes with a bubble stone, and this pissed me off the most.. They HAVE TO supplement calcium WITH D3 every single day.. I told them they were knowingly poisoning and ultimately killing the animals by doing this, and he just shrugged and walked away and told me to leave.. So I'm in contact with our local news station trying to get them to do a story on how they're killing off their stock..
 
FrankTheTank said:
so...what's your plan??
Click to expand...

I've said it like three times? Call your local animal control and report the abuse. Every state is different, but the authorities are there to take care of it. I know in some states you can call the sheriff/police department and they look into it- Wouldn't hurt to give them a call and ask what you can do in your state.

Take pictures of the husbandry, if it comes to having to show evidence, there you go.
 
SarahcoadunatioZac said:
I've said it like three times? Call your local animal control and report the abuse. Every state is different, but the authorities are there to take care of it. I know in some states you can call the sheriff/police department and they look into it- Wouldn't hurt to give them a call and ask what you can do in your state.

Take pictures of the husbandry, if it comes to having to show evidence, there you go.
Click to expand...

sorry...i don't read every single post on here. That doesn't seem like enough though. I like other's approach of actually trying to educate the pet stores. That would do more good than calling the cops. Nobody learns anything that way...
 
FrankTheTank said:
sorry...i don't read every single post on here. That doesn't seem like enough though. I like other's approach of actually trying to educate the pet stores. That would do more good than calling the cops. Nobody learns anything that way...
Click to expand...


Are you kidding me? A law suit in California forced Petco to change store policy. Not saying you should start a law suit, but the police can save the reptile, fine them and change store policy to avoid further problems.

Educating a single min. wage worker will likely just annoy him/her till you leave.
 
The only way to deal with it is to get the policy changed. Yelling at the employees that work there for following the policy is pointless. You have to talk to the "top" not one little store.

You can teach the employees which is pretty helpful, if they're willing to listen; but they can't house the reptile differently then where is specified that they can have them. Honestly the fish have assigned tanks, believe it or not. If they don't follow the guide lines they get in trouble by the corporation and auditors and risk being shut down or fired and replaced (which would probably end up being worse with the fresh blood there).

But some information you could tell your local pet seller about in the meantime is feeding, supplementing (I'm not sure if this one can be changed, I'll probably ask about it), misting often for not just the humidity but also so they have plenty of fresh water to drink, and socialization.

Also don't take anything I wrote hostile haha, I'm writing this with a calm, open mind.
 
It's hard, but you need to present yourself as rational rather than emotional in order to be taken seriously. Yelling at an employee or even a store manager will do nothing but alienate them and more than likely make them disregard what you say.

In my city we have both a humane society and animal control. Animal control can do nothing about care and conditions within the city, the humane society is responsible for that. Find out who in your community is responsible for what.

Even if you speak to a store worker in person, try to back it up with facts from a reputable source. Remember that in many cases the animals truly are stock, and are treated as such. Try to work with the store remembering they may want to change, but are limited by policy. If that is the issue go up the food chain.

I honestly believe the biggest killer of livestock in pet stores is ignorance, not malice. Try to educate but be polite and respectful. It may drive you crazy to bite your tongue at times, but pick your battles and don't expect changes overnight. Begin with gaining credibility, then offer suggestions. Don't just tell them what is wrong, offer suggestions.
 
SarahcoadunatioZac said:
Are you kidding me? A law suit in California forced Petco to change store policy. Not saying you should start a law suit, but the police can save the reptile, fine them and change store policy to avoid further problems.

Educating a single min. wage worker will likely just annoy him/her till you leave.
Click to expand...

I didn't say anything about talking to a minimum wage worker. you can talk to the manager and educate him/her on better care of the reptile. You don't have to make a big fuss about it. Just make sure they are misting properly (not leaving a bowl of standing water for them to drink from), and supplementing properly. California is a far cry from where I'm from. Not as many health conscious animal loving hippies as there are out that way. People have a different mindset. I'm not saying a law suit couldn't change things, but not many people are willing to put their money and time into something like that when they could just help educate the employer of changes they need to make without causing a big scene and getting the law involved. I don't know why you have to argue with me about who is right or wrong. My purpose on this forum is to learn and help others, not have disagreements with other posters.
 
I sent an email to one of my local stores that had two female veiled that were about 7 months old in the same enclosure. There had previously been a male that someone on my local reptile forum bought not long ago. I explained that they were both old enough to be laying eggs (and since there had been a male, could also be fertile) and should have a laying bin, and that they also should not be housed together any longer. I also explained why. About a week later, I was back in the store. Not only do they now have what looks to be fertile eggs incubating, they have separated the females.

I'm not saying this will be the case in all stores, and I first had to have a run-in with an employee with tons of attitude and no knowledge, but I agree, trying to speak to them nicely and explain what they're doing wrong and what the consequences are instead of yelling - at least in the beginning ;) is likely to have more success.
 
It's not just chameleons - the one near us was feeding their Russian tortoises (which are herbivores, and should receive NOTHING but dark leafy greens) veggie mix and tortoise pellets. I pointed this out (we have 3 RTs), and they said that "they were feeding according to Petco policy" - I replied that Petco policy was wrong. :(

It is sad, but again, supply and demand. "Rescuing" a cham (or any other animal) from a petstore is NOT the answer. It increases demand.
 
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