Kenner, LA Petco

Found this little guy at the local Petco.

[img]http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb43/volvotech97850/IMG_3309.jpg[\img]

As convenient as the store's location is, I can't continue to support them any longer. The state of that gecko is just pitiful. Just thought other enthusiasts should be aware of this sort of thing.

Patrick Fisher

Messed up the image link. :/

That is very sad that the lizard has to suffer in that way. Did you point out to a manager that this little guy needs to visit a vet, quickly? And if so, what was their reaction to your request? Also, I'd be getting in contact with any rescue organizations that might intervene & could take him to the vet. if the store refuses.

Not sure how the Petco chain handles this sort of thing, don't have one close to me. But the other major chain store I do have local to me does take their animals & reptiles to a vet. when needed.

Hope that they get the message that this is not acceptable in a private collection & is certainly not acceptable in a public store for all the world to see.

It definitely saddens me to think these pet stores and their ironically ubiquitous ignorance with pets. I've gone to chain pet stores like this and received great advice; on the flipside, I've had stores tell me that BPs NEEEEED those infrared bulbs at night and that feeder goldfish can only live up to 6 MONTHS.

Basically, it all depends on who works the store. In the case of independent pet stores, they have to personally pay for their follies in pet care. For these chains? They more than make up for it with the supplies they sell and the national title they work under. Really, I'm sure these animals are more to draw people in than to actually make profit–who doesn't love free petting zoos???

Its especially sad to know that hobbyists on all sorts of sites share their horror stories and outrage about these stores and yet, business is booming!


Personally, I think the sale of many animals should be left to independent stores and sellers; they are much more likely to suffer from bad business practices, having nothing to fall back on but their own name.


Also, I am pretty sure they are required to give vet-care to their animals. Years ago I worked at Petsmart, and they had a quarantine room with vet-examined animals. Considering Petco and Petsmart are very large chains, they've gotten a lot of hell from activists and probably have their own "requirements". For example, last I checked at Petsmart, you can bring back the corpse of a fish you bought within two weeks, and get a FULL refund, no questions asked. That's more generous than any independent aquarium store I've seen (though I've only seen a handful), considering that ignorant buyers can easily kill a fish within hours of getting it home...

Like I said; leave the live animals to those who have something to lose. Because, clearly, a dead 30$ gecko is no skin off of a large corporation's back...



––Summan Mirza

i think this would be justification to contact your local animal cruelty prevention offices. that just sickens the crap out of me. i've had leos go off feed and get extremely thin, to the point where some have had to be humanely euthanized. but to try and sell an animal in that bad shape just shows how much the almighty dollar means to a corporation like that. i have a feeling the sand had something to do with this geckos current state. the sad catch 22 of this situation is that someone will most likely go in and purchase this gecko thinking they are "rescuing" it. when in fact they are just going to use that money to purchase another one just like it. the "good samaritan" will keep it alive for a couple of weeks, and when it does eventually pass, the store will find some loophole to prevent a refund or replacement. it may sound harsh but that poor little gecko is probably way past the point of rehabilitation. so damn sad...

Originally Posted by Gilali

For example, last I checked at Petsmart, you can bring back the corpse of a fish you bought within two weeks, and get a FULL refund, no questions asked. That's more generous than any independent aquarium store I've seen (though I've only seen a handful), considering that ignorant buyers can easily kill a fish within hours of getting it home...

While this does happen at most big stores its not supposed to be no questions asked. When i worked at petsmart the good employees would require water sample when someone would come back multiple times with deaths and we always asked questions to find out what happened to the animal. Its not just fish though any animal is guarenteed for 2 weeks at petsmart but i believe it is longer at petco. Multiple times we actually had to refuse all sales to people who were uncooperative and would not follow advice to take proper care of animals. sadly this isn't the case with most of these stores i just had the privilage to work with an exceptional bunch of people who actually cared for animals(well most of them did others were just dumb) It really bugs me to see things like this. These companys have these policys in place for reasons the animals are required to recieve vet attention when they do not appear to be in pristine health with exception of fish. Unfortunately due to bad managers and bad employee selection they end up with employees who do not have proper knowledge or concern to recognize problems like this.

Originally Posted by fuzzylogix

i think this would be justification to contact your local animal cruelty prevention offices. that just sickens the crap out of me. i've had leos go off feed and get extremely thin, to the point where some have had to be humanely euthanized. but to try and sell an animal in that bad shape just shows how much the almighty dollar means to a corporation like that.

Agreed; it shouldn't be out on display, it should be in a QT room.

Originally Posted by Revolution1221

While this does happen at most big stores its not supposed to be no questions asked. When i worked at petsmart the good employees would require water sample when someone would come back multiple times with deaths and we always asked questions to find out what happened to the animal. Its not just fish though any animal is guarenteed for 2 weeks at petsmart but i believe it is longer at petco. Multiple times we actually had to refuse all sales to people who were uncooperative and would not follow advice to take proper care of animals.

Also agreed; some do ask for a water sample, but some that I've seen do not.

I also worked at a Petsmart where we were told to refuse sales to people on certain conditions. One dude wanted to buy 10 fish and place them in an empty uncycled tank... though the tank might've been somewhat large enough, it hadn't been cycled, so we refused. He RAGED out on us, saying that it was bad for business to do this. Ultimately, from the scene he caused, the managers ran over, backed us up, and sent him out.

Again, some of these stores do have some good practices. Unfortunately, there is not much in place to ensure that the other stores do the same, corporation-wide policy or not.

what gets me is i know the corporations are not doing it for the animals sake merely for publicity sake. Employees apperently used to have the right to rufuse fish sales to unsuited homes but apperently that is not the case anymore??? unless that was the store managers doing telling us we weren't allowed to. We had a guy bring a snake back one time he said he wanted to return. I opened the box and the snake was lifeless cold and I thought he was returning it because it was dead so I pick it up and ask him "how did it die" his response was "what are you talking about it's not dead" then after looking at it he was like "it wasn't dead when i brought it in. my son had a ball python that died we tried to replace it so he wouldn't notice. he noticed right away and wanted nothing to do with it but we found another he cant tell the difference" the son was 9 years old now if he noticed it wasn't the same snake the first time how could he be fooled the second time. sounded fishy to me. Well I started explaining to the man that the snake was very cold and asked how long it was in the car as it was the middle of winter. He said he came straight there and only lived a short distance. Then i noticed the snake twitch and remarkably it was still alive. I explained that it was not possibly for him to come straight there the snake was near death and must have been in the cold for a while. Needless to say he fought and argued so my manager and I denied him a refund we took the snake to the vet after it warmed up and put him on the do not sell list!

Did you go to the store employee and ask why the gecko was on display? If the employee said nothing was wrong, did you go to the manager to point it out and ask as well? If a manager refuses, you can contact the main offices and report it(with your picture too!).

The home offices do NOT want any bad PR or media in any way so even if a local manager just doesn't like or care about reptiles, he will care when the big boss calls up and asks why he's gotten complaints about the care of an animal on display.

Animals sometimes just don't thrive and end up dying. That doesn't excuse having it on display, whether it's being given vet care or not. It should be back in a QT area so it's not under any stress. It especially doesn't excuse having it up for sale!

If I were you(and I've done similiar things myself in the past) I would call and talk to the manager, then call corporate if the manager doesn't show any concern. If you didn't bring it to the manager's attention, it's possible he has no clue because he probably doesn't run around looking at every single critter, much less know whether it's in good shape or not. Not everyone understands that a leopard gecko shouldn't look like a anole lizard, sadly.

Originally Posted by Wolfy-hound

Animals sometimes just don't thrive and end up dying. That doesn't excuse having it on display, whether it's being given vet care or not. It should be back in a QT area so it's not under any stress. It especially doesn't excuse having it up for sale!

If I were you(and I've done similiar things myself in the past) I would call and talk to the manager, then call corporate if the manager doesn't show any concern. If you didn't bring it to the manager's attention, it's possible he has no clue because he probably doesn't run around looking at every single critter, much less know whether it's in good shape or not. Not everyone understands that a leopard gecko shouldn't look like a anole lizard, sadly.

I like this approach also. It is quite possible that the manager doesn't realize it. I would think the manager would take appropriate measures, and if not, then call the corporate office and send the pic to them. They'll do something about it. I think that's the fairest way to approach it.

I, as well as others here am saddened to see this.

-Joe