Educating the Pet Stores, and the people...

[healthybeardie]

How can we educate the pet store chains on proper care for bearded dragons? There is such a gap in the knowledge on this site (which I think is awesome by the way) and the misinformation given from the pet stores/hobbyists/shoddy breeders. Time and time again, vulnerable new beardie owners are told how easy it is to take care of beardies and even how inexpensive it is. The results: dead and/or abused baby bearded dragons. This is animal abuse. Why is this acceptable? Maybe because "they are just lizards" :evil:

I keep reading my story over and over and I get so mad at the injustice to these precious little creatures! I wish there was a way to ban the selling of all animals at the petstore chains! I think San Francisco may be on to something:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20010122-504083.html

Most of their profits are from pet supplies, not the animals, so I really don't think it would put them out of business, just keep the abuse from happening.

Anyway, maybe a discussion has already taken place on this and I just missed it. But honestly, I really just needed to vent. I love bearded dragons and hate to see them suffer. There just has to be something we can do :idea:

 

[AndyT]

The fact of the matter us, we just can't. These big companies have gotten so powerful that they can do whatever they want. People will more readily accept the word of some trainee at petsmart than the word of an experienced hobbyist. If you try to help someone out, they can just remove you from the store for "starting trouble". Their goal is to make a profit. Plain and simple. They just misinform prospective owners to the point that their beardies die. Not to mention that their reptiles, no, all animals, are already sick in some way by the time that they are sold. And if some ( a LOT) of animals have to be maimed and killed in the process, who cares? As you quoted "they are just lizards" I think its great what San Francisco is doing. These big pet stores can still survive without selling animals, just because they can sell so many bad supplies. The best we can do is to direct people to this site and others like it. So they can get the real information. If we could just do more, so many innocent lives could be savd. But, at the moment, we can't do much...

Andy

 

[ziggy23]

I remember when I got my first reptile in the 90's of a movement of trying to get pet stores to take better care of them, make sure they sell them to people who knew how to care for them or stop selling them altogether. We see how well that worked.

Cats and dogs are much more loved, and most pet stores get their supplies from puppy mills that treat animals horribly. I hate to say it, but we don't have any luck in stopping the bad treatment of the "most beloved pets," what hope do reptiles have? lets face it, the world doesn't care as much about them. Just look at the pet food recall a while back. There are tons of stuff sold for reptiles that have been proven to be dangerous on the market for decades, but nothing has been done, and it's not from lack of complaining. I'm not sure there's enough of us that care enough to make a difference.

 

[RolandKyramere]

I have to disagree on everyone who works at the big chain pet stores selling bad set ups. I'll admit, I haven't been a beardie owner for as many years as most of the experts on this site, but I've now rescued two dragons and managed to bring them back up to health and give them their lives back. I make it my personal goal to ensure that the people who come in to get a reptile, fish, small animal, etc, know what they are actually getting in to and know that they can't just keep a beardie in a 10 gallon tank and expect it to just stay this tiny healthy lizard. A while ago, there was a kit released that is a 10 gallon tank with some basic heating accessories, and there was a pretty big uproar from the employees nationwide who actually owned reptiles that they should be taken off the shelf. Of course, that didn't happen, but there are actually a few of us out there who try. Its hard when you're up against the big name corporations, and that's not just the pet stores who are at fault. The companies who make the products are just as guilty.