Hi, okay I just seen this thread and read it...I went thru a very similar situation a little while back, except Im in alabama and it seems like ur shop is in Georgia, lol. At 1st, b4 u said the name I was kinda wondering if it was the same place... Well, its pretty much ur story, except throw in that they had 2 adult beardies that were completely twisted with MBD
I posted a thread on here about it at the time... Anywho, I didnt "steal" one to save it (which I dont necessary agree with, but def better than him having to die a slow death there) And honestly the thought didnt cross my mind to just take one, but I did leave and contact the Humane society, the aspca (is that what its called, lol) , a local rescue group, the game board, etc..etc.. I spent a couple of weeks calling and emailing everyone I could to try to get something done. Basically what I got was "tell other ppl not to shop there so maybe they will go outta business" and it was all VERY frustrating to say the least. I found that MANY other local ppl have alrdy reported them, tho NOTHING has or is being done about it. I can tell u that LAW WISE it will fall under the local police jurisdiction (tho they only seem to care if dogs/cats are being abused here) So u should def, along with ur friend and his gf, go file a police report at the local police station there, an officer will have to investigate but whether he/she does anything about it IDK. Also, contacting the news is a GREAT idea! whether newspapers or the broadcast news...here the fox station does a fox6 on ur side segment, so if u could get them to run a story on the shop that would hlp get the word out to ppl that they abuse animals and need to be shut down (but then again, think even tho thats bad publicity, LOTS of ppl may run there to buy the animals to "save" then, which in turn will actually be giving the store more funds to buy more animals to abuse, so it can def backfire) But combined, if u contact the police, then let a news station know, where its mentioned the police arent taking action, something MAY be done. I couldnt get anything done here
I like u, also live a couple of hrs from the pet shop I was trying to report, and its hard to do something when u arent a local here. BUT u have a friend and his gf that are locals, so I RLLY hope something can be done about it. If/when u go back up there, try to get some pics/ video of whats going on, put ur cell phone on video record and walk around like ur talking on it...show the footage to the police and news, upload it on youtube...get the word out... I RLLY hope u all the best, and bravo for being willing to step up for animals that have no voice
Also, I wouldnt send them the $, and I def wouldnt mention that youd "saved" a beardie from there
It was stealing, but U were right to save a life.