Ashley Caspillo-SakaraGT4/Sakara *Possible Buyer Beware!*

I might have missed it, but has Elizabeth had a chance to get her animals tested yet?

Originally Posted by Abish

I might have missed it, but has Elizabeth had a chance to get her animals tested yet?

I hope so, I'm anxious to hear about it. For her sake I hope they come back negative. Though from all things presented, I doubt they will. Fingers crossed for Elizabeth anyhow.

Been hard to read lately with all the piss an vinegar flyin around here... and assuming the unrestricted egos have been properly mod smacked...

HAS THERE BEEN ANY WORD ON WHAT BECAME OF PHOENIX??

No word on Phoenix and now we are wondering where Akira, another RTB disappeared to?

Originally Posted by ed hummel

maybe if you try to pay attention you will see we are talking about ASHLEY going to the show in TEXAS...

try taking your HEAD out of your PIE HOLE sometime and maybe you'll get it

I have to say, this literally made me LOL.

I'm disappointed that so few people are willing to take a stronger stand against preventing the unethical people in this hobby like Ashley from continuing to expose others to the diseases that are eating away at this hobby from the inside out. It may seem unfeasible to check ID's, pass out flyers, etc. -- but where there is a will, there is a way. The amount of staff at such a large show should provide adequate support for some type of effort. If people genuinely cared about stopping Ashley from obtaining new animals, selling animals, and possibly exposing others at the largest show in Texas to a deadly pathogen that she may be carrying on her hands, clothes, hair, etc. -- then they would find that way. I know if there was someone here in Wisconsin that had a virus of this magnitude in their collection and was doing the things she is doing, I would be out there spreading the word at every show, meet, forum, reptile shop, and pet store that I could find. I would do everything in my power to alert EVERYONE to the issue and gather whoever I could to make a difference.

For lack of a better word, the...I'll call them "lapdogs" do not want to see any type of ACTION being taken. They prefer to maintain the "status quo" and reduce the BOI to an ineffectual tool.

They want posters to talk and talk and talk, forget about suggesting any viable actions. To actually have someone suggest a viable plan of action and have it carried out... that might make the BOI too powerful if the whole community could come together through this medium.

So, everytime someone suggests a plan of action..there will be someone coming to post how "impossible" it is; how "ridiculous" and they will pick out some one that they think is most venerable to bully and ridicule and try to make that poster back down.

It's sad..but that's what I see happening everytime something of this nature or a bad guy thread pops up..there will be someone trying to prevent any suggestions of actual legal actions taking place.

And yes, I am talking about the ASHLEY situation, but it's just an example of what's happening across the board.

I agree with Deb and Jen, hence why I posted that picture of her and the one of her and her friends. That's what she looks like so anyone not wishing to add to a problem can refuse a sale to her.

Yes, I did post pictures of her friends. So many people say they are innocent parties in all this, but both of the people pictured hang out with her and her animals often enough to warrant concern. Both of them have come here to defend Ashley, although much of that was irrelevant to the issue of IBD. Those people might try to sell or acquire animals for her. We don't know for sure, but it is better to err on the side of caution.

This isn't just about the TX Reptile community, this is about the reptile community as a whole. The people that choose to shove this under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist or call efforts to thwart this type of behavior "impossible" add a little to the problem. Collectively, it is very damaging. This is OUR hobby and if we as a community want to reduce the spread of infectious diseases and the scammers and the liars we MUST be proactive and we must speak out.

I believe that if Ashley truly cared about the animals in her possession she would be here every step of the way defending the animals themselves, even if she knows she is in the wrong. People will defend what they love; they don't try and grasp for straws behind closed doors while the people like us wonder and publicly speculate what she is really up to.

Originally Posted by sally-dog

I agree with Deb and Jen, hence why I posted that picture of her and the one of her and her friends. That's what she looks like so anyone not wishing to add to a problem can refuse a sale to her.

Yes, I did post pictures of her friends. So many people say they are innocent parties in all this, but both of the people pictured hang out with her and her animals often enough to warrant concern. Both of them have come here to defend Ashley, although much of that was irrelevant to the issue of IBD. Those people might try to sell or acquire animals for her. We don't know for sure, but it is better to err on the side of caution.

This isn't just about the TX Reptile community, this is about the reptile community as a whole. The people that choose to shove this under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist or call efforts to thwart this type of behavior "impossible" add a little to the problem. Collectively, it is very damaging. This is OUR hobby and if we as a community want to reduce the spread of infectious diseases and the scammers and the liars we MUST be proactive and we must speak out.

I believe that if Ashley truly cared about the animals in her possession she would be here every step of the way defending the animals themselves, even if she knows she is in the wrong. People will defend what they love; they don't try and grasp for straws behind closed doors while the people like us wonder and publicly speculate what she is really up to.

Well said. It was all about attention. If she'd have cared about the snakes, NONE of this would have been an issue, because she'd have taken care of them the best way she knew how and protected other animals.

I just want to add:
Whether her friends like it or not, they are a part of this mess, just like Elizabeth, Rachel, Kyle & Yvonne. Ashley's actions have drug a LOT of people's collections into a potential problem.

Her friends involved themselves in this by obtaining snakes from Ashley, or putting themselves in close contact with her collection repeatedly.
Elizabeth & Rachel have taken precautions and steps to protect their existing collections, and test any who have been exposed.

While Yvonne has not come here publicly to state what she's doing to protect her snakes, she has been in contact with others regarding her plans, and appears to be pursuing testing as well.

Kyle has intentions to get his snakes tested, and not breed/sell any of the snakes until more is known.

Unfortunately there are still others who have stated this is not a serious matter, and continue to put their collections at risk regardless of the potential.
IMO until their collections are also cleared of the mess Ashley has brought to theirs and other people' collections, their collections should be considered a potential risk as well. I certainly wouldn't buy anything from them.

In any case, Ashley has affected a LOT of people with her negligence and irresponsibility. That alone should be cause enough for individuals to keep an eye out for her and her friends.

Originally Posted by sally-dog

This isn't just about the TX Reptile community, this is about the reptile community as a whole. The people that choose to shove this under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist or call efforts to thwart this type of behavior "impossible" add a little to the problem. Collectively, it is very damaging. This is OUR hobby and if we as a community want to reduce the spread of infectious diseases and the scammers and the liars we MUST be proactive and we must speak out.

Exactly. Everyone needs to step up and do their part, regardless of what state they live in. Ashley is in Texas, so it needs to happen there. If this issue is in Wisconsin, it needs to happen here. If this issue is in California, it needs to happen there as well. The same applies if someone like Ashley goes to a show in another state, like Daytona or Tinley -- for instances like these, the entire hobby comes together for that event and thus everyone needs to have a say in what happens. If the hobby as a whole cares as much for the animals we keep and our right to keep them as they claim, then the hobby as a whole needs to do whatever is necessary to protect it.

"You must spread some karma around before giving it to sally-dog again."

Sorry, I tried.

While we're all in the action mood......

...hands up - how many of you have given a donation to Dr. Jacobson's research?

Better yet - how many of the people who have had contact with the Caspillos animals or bought animals from her have had them tested?

I seriously did not want to get involved in this but I feel like I should say something even though it will probably not make any difference...

It is ridiculous to expect herp keepers in Texas to police other herp keepers in Texas.

From what I understand, there has been no legal action taken against Ashley by anyone thus far. The only thing we have to go off of is hearsay. I am not saying that she doesn't have IBD in her collection. I am saying that there has been no legal case made against her. That leads me to believe that posting her face around a show saying not to sell to her could be considered defamation of character.
Here is a quote from a website.

"Defamation of character is notoriously difficult to prove in court, although the actual effects can be quite evident and damaging. If a disgruntled customer of a restaurant tells numerous people that the head chef has AIDS, for example, sales for that restaurant could fall and the employee might lose his job or find it difficult to work. Because the customer's slanderous statement concerns a specific person and an unproven accusation, the chef may have a legitimate case of defamation of character."

I wanted to also point out that policing ourselves can backfire in our faces. It will make the community look really bad. I think reptile keepers would look much more responsible if we used the law to our advantage. Pointing fingers just makes us all look like we can't handle ourselves in a proper way.

I just think there is a right way and a wrong way to go about situations like this one. Anyone who reads this thread probably won't want to have anything to do with Ashley. She most likely will not be able to vend at any Texas expos and will have a really hard time selling her animals anywhere. Including on websites like this one. Just my two cents. From the evidence posted here I think she most likely does have IBD in her collection. I also think that anyone who used this info in court might have a chance in getting something accomplished. Such as causing her to have her animals taken away or something along those lines.