what to do about a pet store mistreating dragons..

[taylorjanisch]

I'm not sure what this should go under so i put it here..
but I am from the suburbs of chicago and today i was at a more privately owned pet store and the treatment of those poor beardies was absolutely terrible..
They had a fully grown beardie in a tiny square tank that couldnt have been more then a 10 gallon.. the poor things tail couldnt possibly have been fully extended, his head was pressed up against the glass with sores all over its face from the glass and its back couldnt even be completely on the ground.. they had two in set ups like that and two beardies in a tank together that was maybe a 20 gallon.. none of them even had space to walk..

I want to do something about it but i really have no idea what there is to do. I asked to talk to a manager but it was nothing but teenagers there at the time.

any ideas of what i could do? i feel horrible i wish i could have taken them all home ): all of their feet were deformed it was horrible and they all had sores on their faces from the glass. i hate seeing beardies in pain.

 

[F0rger]

Call animal control or animal rescue. Negligence is a crime.

 

[taylorjanisch]

Oh and I've also seen him sell reptiles to young kids with no parent and didn't ask for a signature or anything

 

[F0rger]

Unless you have evidence that's hard to prove, but the mistreating is easy. An animal rescue officer just has to walk in to inspect the housing situation.

 

[taylorjanisch]

i can't find online where to call.. animal control says they don't deal with that, they only handle animals that are being a nuisance like skunks, etc. if you have any ideas let me know? the town is lincolnwood, illinois.

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

Call the police and if they don't deal with it then they'll be able to tell you who will.

 

[PudgysMom]

Start with this organization. They are based and Chicago and can point you in the right direction:

http://www.anticruelty.org/cruelty/

 

[taylorjanisch]

thank you so much! ill be calling them tomorrow morning for sure. I tried calling now but they're closed.

the first time i was there (before knowing much about beardies) i went there to buy my first dragon. He has cages stacked and they all open from the side. i was there with 2 friends and we saw the one we wanted and he opened the cage from the side (maybe 5 feet tall) i'm 5'3 and it was above my head. he grabbed the one we wanted so we could hold it and a tiny one came jumping out the side and splat the ground.. it ran so fast underneath all of the shelving. they were all maybe 5 inches long and super skinny.. he also had them on woodchips. he couldn't have cared less about the poor thing and i freaked out and all of my friends were like omg well find it! he's like no dont worry about it you'll never find it theres a pretty big gecko running around here somewhere that'll probably eat it first. i was terrified and so i just paid for my dragon and left.. little did i know my friend found the thing and stuck it in his pocket and walked out because he said he felt so terrible leaving it there. there was literally 15 of them in a 10 gallon tank. so now i have my 2 babies that i fattened up a lot.. they were so scared for the first week or 2 and were soo skinny. i know its terrible/illegal that he took her but she probably would have died if he didnt and he saved her life.

 

[drstevo]

There exist various legislation relating to the mistreatment and neglect of animals but are context significant, IE state/regional based. So check up your relevant state and federal law there for a better insight. I'm a trainee lawyer and legal academic in the UK and have seen some good cases here! However, I travelled to the states a few years back and was shocked at the treatment of animals in pet stores there more generally vis-a-vis the European standard. In saying that, it may be constructive to contact your local authority and make a complaint. The exploitation and mistreatment of animals for financial reward should be duly punished in my opinion. It is only through awareness that such issues can be raised however.
If you or anyone need any help with legal matters (does not matter where in the world) and drafting/preparation of letters on complaint, please contact me.

Kind regards,
Steve.

 

[taylorjanisch]

thanks guys for all your help
I called the # posted above and they said theyre going to send an investigator out there asap and let me know what hapens!

 

[dragonlover3]

 

[Suzan]

I am so glad you did something. I almost started crying reading this . I can't believe people are so cruel and dont give a ****. There should be tougher laws on people that do things like this to any animal!!!!!. So many people just walk out of the store and feel bad but dont say anything, I have done that and i am ashamed to admit it. I am a quiet person that doesnt say anything but now I am going to step up and take action when i see something like this to ANY animal.
It's easy to just feel bad and walk away but I know now that i need to take a stand and voice the madness that may be around me.
Thank you so much for making me realize if i don't do something they may die. I feel stupid for not doing anything about it when i see it. I also hate :x it when people make animals a mass market just for $ and don't care about them. Both of my dogs,ferrits, ok fish too are rescues, I just learned there was a rescuse in my area for lizards. I wish i knew about it 'cause i would of rescued one, I told hubby don't be shocked if i come home with one who needs a home. He just laughed 'cause he know's i come home with anything that needs a home to be loved.

 

[Irwinshealth]

Yes!!! I hope the investigator nails them! Will they let you know what the results are?

 

[taylorjanisch]

I am so glad you did something. I almost started crying reading this . I can't believe people are so cruel and dont give a ****. There should be tougher laws on people that do things like this to any animal!!!!!. So many people just walk out of the store and feel bad but dont say anything, I have done that and i am ashamed to admit it. I am a quiet person that doesnt say anything but now I am going to step up and take action when i see something like this to ANY animal.
It's easy to just feel bad and walk away but I know now that i need to take a stand and voice the madness that may be around me.
Thank you so much for making me realize if i don't do something they may die. I feel stupid for not doing anything about it when i see it. I also hate :x it when people make animals a mass market just for $ and don't care about them. Both of my dogs,ferrits, ok fish too are rescues, I just learned there was a rescuse in my area for lizards. I wish i knew about it 'cause i would of rescued one, I told hubby don't be shocked if i come home with one who needs a home. He just laughed 'cause he know's i come home with anything that needs a home to be loved.

I'm really glad to help Im 17 so I wasn't sure if they'd take me too seriously but they said if I call back in 3-4 weeks they'll tell me what happened with it. It feels good knowing that I probably saved them and several other neglected animals in that store.

 

[dragonlover3]

:notworthy: