Who would I report this abuse to??

[Onlymediocre]

So my husband and I was out and about yesterday around birmingham alabama, and I wanted to stop into Ed's pet world cause there used to be one in Calera, AL that I went to when I was younger and it was always a nice shop (from what i remember.) We were HORRIFIED at what we seen.. words cant describe how they are keeping their animals there...Not ONE reptile had either a uvb OR a basking light ...The cages were DISGUSTING (it is probably safe to assume by the amount of feces) that the animals are put into cages and they arent cleaned out until the animals are sold. They had 3 beardies there, in 10 gal tanks ... the first was around 12 inches long and actually seemed healthy.. he was alert, and I'm guessing they hadnt had him long, I only seen maybe 6 piles of poo in his cage...on a side note in the middle of his cage was one of those small travel cages ( you know for like crickets) with a scorpion in it.. :? The next one we seen was around 15 or so inches and quite old.. He was lethargic.. surrounded by poo.. Very sad looking, I thought my heart broke then... UNTIL walking further into the store and in an aquarium that was sitting inside of another aquarium by a stained up window (that I thought was just thrown aside) my husband looked in and asked if I seen what was in there, I thought surely they didnt put an animal in there and I looked and saw the sadest beardie of them all... This poor thing.. all twisted with MBD ... Just laying there cast aside... I wish I had an extra setup, or could afford one, cause I would of demanded they give me that poor thing. I thought about this poor little guy all yesterday evening and still today... SO I was wondering who would I report these ppl to? Surely there has to be some sort of authority that can go in there and get them to take care of these animals..

 

[traceyb73]

I'm new at this but I wonder if starting with Animal Control and maybe the Better Business Bureau? I wonder if the police could do anything? At least to file a complaint? There is no way you can get that sick one out of there? Maybe there would be a rescue in your area that you could give him to?

 

[patrickmb21]

Very sad. i would report them to aspca if there is one in your area.

 

[TheWerewolf]

Try a Humane Society or ASPCA. Don't contact PETA because they euthanize their animals. Animals shouldn't be pets in their minds. Anyways, how horrid! That is animal abuse. ASPCA must be able to do something for those poor creatures.

 

[Onlymediocre]

Thanks.. Im def gonna see if I can find a number or something... Ill keep yall posted. I dont have an extra viv...Right now I only have one beardie whos still a juvie.. He's my 1st, but Im def gonna see what I can do to get them some sort of hlp..

 

[Onlymediocre]

I dont have a ascpa, looks like thats just in new york/ new jersey? I did call the birmingham humane society and got a recording, I left a message with the address of the cruelty and left my number.. so I get to wait til they call me back..grrr Its Sunday.. and tomorrows a holiday.. so I bet I wont here from them til freaking TUESDAY!!!

 

[Onlymediocre]

Never did hear back from the humane society... even sent an email to the national humane society and still havent gotten a reply... called the federal wildlife officer closest to me, they dont cover that but he was very nice, ended up calling me back to tell me he'd asked around and the only suggestions he could come up with was to call the local police dept, and MAYBE they would send someone over there to check it out.. This is completely frustrating... Why even have an animal cruelty law if no one cares to enforce it...

 

[chickcasa]

Have you tried animal control?

~Katy

 

[Onlymediocre]

I have contacted EVERYONE I can think of, I also brought it to the attention of a local reptile rescue, but they run off of donations so rlly isnt anything they can do either... this pet store has been in business 37 yrs I believe is what their website says... From what I gathered from the local ppl is the son of the original owner now runs it and basically hes a worthless human being ... I'm fighting a losing battle. Only other thing I can think to do is print out a bunch of care sheets and take them to these ppl... Tho I know theyll just end up in the trash.. At least I can say I tried... Several Other ppl have tried to get something done about this same issue over the yrs and obvisiously nothing was ever done... The general thought around here is just to avoid this pet store like the plague and warn others to do the same... Its so freaking sad that I cant find an organization around here to uphold the LAW... Its supposed to be a class b misdemeanor here in alabama....

 

[supradk]

i have reported the same place twice to the county,and to the aspca. In my opinion someone needs to get all the critters out and set a flame to the shop... And lets not forget the snake that are in to small of tanks, the smell of feces from 20ft away, the pure green fish tanks, the so called "petting zoo" with a tortoise walking around in it, and the critters they just have stacked in cricket keepers that anyone can knock over. i hate that place!

 

[Onlymediocre]

No one will do anything about that place! I spent a good 3 days online and on the phone with anyone and everyone I could possibly get a hold of... Never did get any sort of response from the humane society... the federal wildlife reserve was the most helpful, but in the end, pet stores are not within their jurisdiction, I guess you could say... I was told the only thing I could do would be to report it to the local police dept, and MAYBE they would send someone out there to check it out. SO, considering NOTHING will every be done about that horrible place... Im just making sure I let everyone know not to take their business there... I imagine it will close eventually, as the building is pretty much falling apart anyway. I know they ran the one in Calera until the building was falling apart so bad that the building is no longer even there, it was tore down. And that was the 2nd building they had ruined in Calera, I remember seeing another "Ed's Pet World" building on hwy 25, that was all beat up and the only way you could even tell it used to be a business was you could still make out the sign. (I didnt live here whenever it was up and running, so I have no way of knowing how long it had been sitting there empty)...

 

[Duriel]

Sorry to say, but outside of rescuing the animals or getting some people to protest outside the store, there is little that you can do. Just google cases of people torturing/killing more mainstream pets (most people don't care about or even hate reptiles). Unless the local police have basically zero caseload, they won't do much (if they even check it out). Fact is there are so many crimes against people that police have little reason to look into animal cases much. It may seem cold to you, but it's just the way it is.

Not trying to be a dick, but this is the world we live in.

 

[ourfourboys4]

Ever think about contacting your local paper? You could write a letter to the editor. They usually print those. Then the word would get out. Draw attention in a negative way to them.

 

[bunnyrut]

Ever think about contacting your local paper? You could write a letter to the editor. They usually print those. Then the word would get out. Draw attention in a negative way to them.

that's a great idea!
or even the local news channel.

i tried calling about stray cats in my area. a cat had kittens, and the neighbor didn't like that very much. he killed the mother and i assume was going after the kittens (they were big enough to run around on their own.)
no one was willing to do anything. it would be up to me to buy traps and set them up to catch them on my own.

when i moved i found a party of stray cats in my backyard. again it would be up to me to do anything about them. i looked into the catch/neuter/release option and found i would have to pay $50-70 out of my own pocket per cat!

they advocate about stays and helping animals and make it damn near impossible to actually do anything about it!

 

[Onlymediocre]

That is a good idea.. our local fox station does a fox6 on your side.. I guess I could let them know whats going on and see if theyd be willing to do a story about it? And write a letter to the newspaper of that town? IDK what papers they have there besides the Birmingham news.. I'll have to look into that. Its just rlly sad the condition these animals are kept in. The tortoise that another local poster mentioned also has no lights (surprise) but has free roam of the place and theyve gone so far as he/she has a phone number painted on its shell... I think I kept my 1st post pretty much directed towards the beardies, as this is a beardie forum, but yes ALL the animals in there are neglected. So maybe a local paper or news may pick up the story...something to look into at least.