Horrible Conditions at Animal House Pet Shop, Marshfield, WI

[saleen89559]

I stopped in at Animal House Pets on 14th St W. in Marshfield, Wisconsin today. I was immediately grossed out by the filthy store.

When I walked into their reptile area, I found a 7" long baby Beardie in a 5 gallon tank with walnut shells for substrate and no heat or uvb lamp at all.

There was a 5 foot long Tegu, believe me when I tell you this, 5 foot does nothing for this Tegu's girth, this thing had to weigh 50 lbs, it was enormous. But the Tegu was living in a cage that was no bigger than 5 feet by 2 feet by 3 feet in dimension. Way too small for a lizard of that size.

Next to that, I found a wooden cabinet turned into a cage, that had 4 adult bearded dragons in it. I felt bad for the beardies because obviously they were all very sick. Eyes were sunken in, 3 of them had mites on them, they had dried poop all over themselves and had a single 75 watt heat lamp nearly 2 feet above their heads. I asked the store employee what the deal was with the adult beardies and she said that they were very old and were their breeding group, consisting of 3 males and 1 female (WHAT?!). She said the last time the female laid eggs was 6 months ago and she looked the same entirely.

There was plenty more to be grossed out about, but that is the main portions that should be addressed.

If you live in Central Wisconsin, DO NOT shop at Animal House Pets. That place made my skin crawl from its filth.

 

[WyattKB]

That's horrible man... Try and get them to change there ways! Isin't there somebody you can call to file an official complaint or something? :s I feel so bad,

 

[coastergirl946]

That's abuse and neglect. You need to notify the authorities immediately.

 

[evanescent]

That's abuse and neglect. You need to notify the authorities immediately.

sadly, 90% of animal authorities don't consider reptiles 'real' pets.
AKA they shrug and say something along the lines of 'there's nothing we can do',
which is total bull.

still worth a shot, though..</3
report them D:

 

[saleen89559]

I already contacted the Wisconsin SPCA and the authorities in Marshfield about this store. They basically told me that if I didn't like it to not go there anymore.

Being pretty particular about where I shop for reptiles and accessories, I have now decided that I will ONLY shop online for accessories and feeders. Its sad to say that I have to go this route, the economy has hit my area of the state REALLY HARD and every single small time store and shop is fighting to survive. I usually fight for the little guys but this is beyond my realm of caring for the little guy and I will make an editorial in the paper in that city as well as negatively speak about that place to anyone who brings it up.

 

[lilgreeneyes]

There is an Animal House where I live in Pennsylvania. There must be something with these stores. The one where I live doesn't have the greatest conditions either. They had about 5 beardies in a 20gal tank. They looked to be between 5-7inches. They had heat, but no uvb light. My husband asked if we could see one just to check it out. it seemed alert and healthy. it was so friendly and acted like it wanted to go hom with us. I'm not sure if someone ended up reporting the one in my area, but my husband was coming home from work and saw a For Sale sign on the shop. I'm not sure of someone will buy and just take over the shop or turn it into something else. If the latter were true. If everything was decently priced. I'd love to go in and take a beardie or 2 and give them the hom they deserve.