What would you do?

[LeoGirl1999]

So I was at Pet Smart the other day because I had time to spare, so I decided to look at the leopard geckos because they are oh-so-cute! But I was absolutely appalled at what I saw. Their "juvenile" leopard geckos were no more than babies. Their heads were maybe a little bigger than my pinky-nail, and their tails were one of the skinniest things I've ever seen. In the corner was probably a week's worth of poop from multiple geckos, and the poor babies were kept on sand. There wasn't much floor space to their enclosure, either, maybe 8 inches by 8 inches. I was just so angry at the way they were caring for these poor animals.

I was going to talk to the manager, but my dad told me we had to go. :main_angry: (Being only 13, he was my ride home.)

I might be overreacting, but I even thought about calling animal control so they could save the little babies, but I wasn't sure if that'd be the appropriate take on it. :main_no:

So, what would you have done if you saw this?

EDIT: They were also being fed pellets, not live food. I forgot to mention that.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I would say call animal control. I know of at least one person who has had success with that method. You could also put together some proper basic care for leopard geckos and give it to the manager and explain what it is that's wrong and swear you'll never spend a dime there until they fix things. You could even say that you're going to tell everyone you know to not shop there because of the deplorable conditions. There's no better motivator than a lost sale. Also, be sure to take pictures so you have documentation.

~Maggot

 

[katie_]

Dont buy anything from them.
Thats what Id do.
I dont even go.

 

[GexPex]

I've called animal control on big-name stores before. Not sure what came of it, but the geckos weren't there a few days after I had called. Animal control did seem very interested in knowing what I had to say, so I don't doubt that they ignored it. Of course, this also depends on your local animal control. It's worth calling, though...at least animal control would know about it, then it would be up to them to do something.

With Pet Smart, you can also contact corporate about it. I know that corporate is usually pretty strict when it comes to the animals and they will be more likely to do something than animal control. Used to work for this company, and when someone had called to complain about our animals (I personally don't know what they were complaining about, though...but I was a cashier and had no control over the animals at the time...I later became a pet care associate and was able to change several things), corporate actually had the district manager's supervisor come out and inspect the entire store, write a few people up, fire one, and demanded that things be changed by the time he came back (without a set date). He came back 2 days later without notice and fired another person. So I know that corporate will do something about it. Ask the manager for corporate's number, but don't show that you're mad, don't explain what it's for.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

With Pet Smart, you can also contact corporate about it. I know that corporate is usually pretty strict when it comes to the animals and they will be more likely to do something than animal control. Used to work for this company, and when someone had called to complain about our animals (I personally don't know what they were complaining about, though...but I was a cashier and had no control over the animals at the time...I later became a pet care associate and was able to change several things), corporate actually had the district manager's supervisor come out and inspect the entire store, write a few people up, fire one, and demanded that things be changed by the time he came back (without a set date). He came back 2 days later without notice and fired another person. So I know that corporate will do something about it. Ask the manager for corporate's number, but don't show that you're mad, don't explain what it's for.

That's pretty awesome.

~Maggot

 

[Islan]

The Pet Smart we have in Kelowna in very good. The geckos get live food on a repti carpet and have at least 2 hides in their enclosure. I have never seen more then three babes in a tank at a time. When I was a teenager I had the same sort of situation in our small local pet store with Anoles. I ended making a big tiff about it and next time I went in their habitat was more suited to their needs. Do what you need to do to inform the location of the animals needs. One would think being a pet store they would have adequate information about what they are "selling". Sigh I cannot believe some places.

 

[lisa127]

When I was in Pet Smart and saw the leo's on sand, I talked to the person in charge that day in that department. Other than the sand, the leo's actually looked healthy and well cared for. They alternated feeding them crickets and mealworms. They kept a good sized humid hide with damp moss in there for them so all geckos had nice clean sheds. Not bad other than the sand. I talked to the woman and asked why the sand. She said store policty. So I said the policy is to kill them? I then told her the sand alone would make me hesitate to buy one. she said, " so and so usually knows what she is doing. I'll talk to her though". The next week when I went in they were on carpet instead of sand. This was back in early fall. Everytime I've been there since the leo's have been on carpet instead of sand. So sometimes, just talking to them will work. Not always but sometimes.

 

[katie_]

Its super annoying when people complain about their local petstore.
If you dont like it, dont shop there.

 

[mtmountainman]

Its super annoying when people complain about their local petstore.
If you dont like it, dont shop there.

I agree with this. What annoys me even more is when people buy the leopard geckos to "rescue" them. Which a few days later the store has more tiny sickly little leos in stock.

 

[LeoGirl1999]

Its super annoying when people complain about their local petstore.
If you dont like it, dont shop there.

I wasn't trying to complain. I'm really sorry if it came across that way :/
I was wondering what I should do about it, because I was worried about the leos.
I guess my way of wording it was a bit off...
I'm truly sorry if I did seem like I was complaining.

(Btw I don't usually shop there.)

 

[katie_]

I wasn't trying to complain. I'm really sorry if it came across that way :/
I was wondering what I should do about it, because I was worried about the leos.
I guess my way of wording it was a bit off...
I'm truly sorry if I did seem like I was complaining.

(Btw I don't usually shop there.)

Oh no I didnt mean you, I just meant in general.
I know people who complain about pets in various stores yet still buy things like cat food at that location.
Peeves me off.

 

[LeoGirl1999]

Oh no I didnt mean you, I just meant in general.
I know people who complain about pets in various stores yet still buy things like cat food at that location.
Peeves me off.

Oh I see! Yeah, that is pretty annoying.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Oh no I didnt mean you, I just meant in general.
I know people who complain about pets in various stores yet still buy things like cat food at that location.
Peeves me off.

I get where you're coming from, but some of us don't have much of a choice. For example, I live out in the middle of nowhere, and there's one place in my area that sells frozen feeders, but I won't buy from her because she freezes them alive (seriously). So I drive an hour to go get them from somewhere else. I was just there yesterday for the first time in a while, and I wasn't very impressed with their reptile keeping. But, unfortunately, it's either my local place, them, or one of the big name stores also an hour away which are just as bad. And since you have a corn, you're probably aware that shipping on frozen feeders costs about $60, even for a small order, which unfortunately I can't afford to pay at the moment. So if I go back and the care is still not up to my standards, I will talk to the people, but unfortunately, I have nowhere else to go. In general, though, I agree with you, hence me not giving any money to our local lady.

~Maggot

 

[LeoGirl1999]

I get where you're coming from, but some of us don't have much of a choice. For example, I live out in the middle of nowhere, and there's one place in my area that sells frozen feeders, but I won't buy from her because she freezes them alive (seriously). So I drive an hour to go get them from somewhere else. I was just there yesterday for the first time in a while, and I wasn't very impressed with their reptile keeping. But, unfortunately, it's either my local place, them, or one of the big name stores also an hour away which are just as bad. And since you have a corn, you're probably aware that shipping on frozen feeders costs about $60, even for a small order, which unfortunately I can't afford to pay at the moment. So if I go back and the care is still not up to my standards, I will talk to the people, but unfortunately, I have nowhere else to go. In general, though, I agree with you, hence me not giving any money to our local lady.

~Maggot

That's basically why I was in Pet Smart xD I don't usually buy from there, nor go there. But there are only two stores that sell live feeders near me, both about an hour away, in the opposite direction from each other. Sometimes it's quite frustrating

 

[katie_]

Why dont you breed and freeze your own?
That way you have a healthy stock?

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Why dont you breed and freeze your own?
That way you have a healthy stock?

Personally, I just don't have the heart to. I really couldn't do it. I'd just end up with a bunch of pet mice.

~Maggot