Why All The Hate Toward Reptiles By Mack?

Originally Posted by dieselfan

Maybe you missed the part in the video were you can the the employee wearing Reptiles By Mack t-shirts? Or you missed were John Mack was viewing this thread for the better part of an hour and said nothing? That speaks volumes to me.

I don't think you read my whole post. I'm aware this was at Mack's facility, but again, this is how things are run at all wholesalers. They just don't care.

Originally Posted by MCMB-2

I don't think you read my whole post. I'm aware this was at Mack's facility, but again, this is how things are run at all wholesalers. They just don't care.

My apologies Nick. I hate to see any group of businesses pigeon holed because of the nature of their work. It seems like this video is going to be another black eye for our community. Hopefully John Mack chimes in and explains what has been going on and what he plans to do about it.

I agree, it makes all of us look bad. The fact is that most of these animals aren't worth enough for them to care about whether they survive or not. If they actually treated them/fed them/housed them properly it would no longer be profitable for them. I absolutely don't agree with it but it's reality.

If any of you get the "opportunity" to go through a wholesaler's facility you'll see what I mean. It's almost overwhelming but there's nothing you can do. At the point where this is the only way to remain profitable it might be time to consider raising the prices.

And for those that breed and sell what they breed (for the most part) I am little insulted by the ad I see go up every day saying "Breeder Direct". I always question when a large volume company sells adults, a breeder and jobber but certainly nothing to be admired in their lack of compassion for the animals they sell. If they get them in the shape where I saw them dying I would think they would pass the blame but if they end up like that because they lived in Xenia for a while then shame on them.

Originally Posted by MCMB-2

If any of you get the "opportunity" to go through a wholesaler's facility you'll see what I mean. It's almost overwhelming but there's nothing you can do. At the point where this is the only way to remain profitable it might be time to consider raising the prices.

Then maybe they need to stop worrying so much about milking every penny out of the animals and start putting money into proper care. I would much rather see prices rise than have crap like this going on.

Originally Posted by SPJ

Then maybe they need to stop worrying so much about milking every penny out of the animals and start putting money into proper care. I would much rather see prices rise than have crap like this going on.

I completely agree. If it's not possible to provide the animals with proper care and still profit then stop selling them so cheap. The problem is that if they won't sell at the bottom prices another wholesaler will, it all comes down to making money.

The big retail stores offer x dollars for x animals and that's the bottom line. Either you fill it or someone else will. At some point something has to change, either when fish and wildlife cracks down or people start caring. I'll venture a guess it will be the first before the second.

The interesting thing about their prices is they are asking double what other breeders charge for most of their inventory.

I am mildly shocked .. though I think several of you have identified the downside of large wholesale where there is money in numbers/quality ... individual animals do suffer. It has been a few years since I last dealt with them but when I have it has always been pleasant (post 15) ... and communication has always been great. Couple things to keep in mind is first and foremost the source of the video .... I have a # of shirt from vendors I could throw on and represent them ... not saying that is the case here but it could be done. Does anyone know if RBM is the supplier to PetSmart ... I kn ow Petco uses a different vendor. Regardless ... it is sad the conditions some animals need to live in.

Curious..... I'm sure I am going to hate posting this later on, but right now this all just really rubbed me in a way obviously different from many others responding here.

How exactly did PETA get the run of the place at RBM and how long were they there? Was PETA purposely allowed access or did they get some people hired there specifically to do that obvious smear job? How many did they say they have already "exposed"? Six? Well, gee, now why do you suppose they are doing this? And do you think perhaps their choices of which videos to show were entirely random and non-biased?

Heck, any moderate to large concern who works with live animals is going to have deaths, injuries, dirty cages, mistakes, accidents and neglectful people, or an insufficient number of people working for them. It's the nature of the business. Even small pet shops are NOT going to be able to avoid mortality, sick animals, or dirty cages. Animals die. Animals get sick. Animals crap. Cages get dirty 30 seconds after you clean them. Unless you only have one single animal and monitor it 24/7/365 it's cage will get dirty and stay that way till you look in on it and clean it. How many people here have cleaned a cage and then watched the animal take a dump right after you put it back in that clean cage? Multiply that times 10,000 or more, which will be the case at any and all wholesalers and what do you have when some people LOOKING for such things in the worst possible light start taking video and photos..

So does that mean there should be NO wholesalers of animals? Let me know how that works out for this industry. Yes, there are ugly sides to it, but unless I am very mistaken, you just cannot have the good side without the bad. Do I feel sorry for the animals, yes I do. But I'll feel even sorrier to see the day come when YOU cannot have any animals at all for pets or other reasons. Which is exactly where this is headed if PETA gets what it wants.

All in all an interesting video if nothing else for what PETA's obvious goal is. So I get the impression that we all should jump on the PETA bandwagon now? Go to 2:50 at the end of the video and listen to their goals. Sure let's all get worked up into a lynch mob and help them reach their goals. Boycott pet shops that sell animals! Get ALL animals out of the hands of everyone? And we are going to start with wholesalers! Yeah, that's the ticket!

If pet shops no longer sell animals, what exactly can they sell, and to whom with what, and why? Pet rocks planning to make a come back, because that will be the only option you have? If there are no pets at the stores, because PETA reached it's goals, then what the heck will keep pet shops in business? Designer clothes for pet rocks? Yeah, shut down wholesalers so pet shops can't get live animals to sell. Anyone seriously think that will come to a good end?

And then when they go after the small time breeders who might just have one dead mouse or one water dish with crap an hour old in it, won't things be getting just ducky then? After all, won't these people ALSO be selling to the nasty pet shops still trying to stay in business?

Seriously people, wholesalers of animals are NOT part time hobbyists who dote on their animals and take them out to play every day. So stop thinking of them as being such. They are a BUSINESS. They have to work with large numbers to make a profit. They deal with losses and unpleasantries as best they can, but it's all just part of that type of business. If you get just one out of one hundred that dies, gets sick or gets injured, and multiply those statistics by 10,000, then you can see how some PETA spies with hidden cameras can get this kind of emotionally charged video to try to further their cause.

But instead of seeing it for what it is, no, people will instead want to burn someone else at the stake because they have no concept of what the reality is and only have their own experience of the handful of animals they are taking care of to use as a yardstick of how they think everyone else MUST be.