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Bad Guy Petland's neglect of a bearded dragon

C

Chaseakamrmute

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Hello. I'm Aaron Mutimer. I went to the pet store in the Pittsburgh Mills Mall to look at some animals. I came arose a bearded dragon and I noticed that it didn't look right. It looked liked like it was dehydrating or something, and I noticed that there are yellow rings around it's eyes. I may not be a herpetologist, but I can tell something is not right with this poor lizard. I am posting this because a friend from Facebook told me about this site and told me to post my concerns onto the Board of Inquiry. I love reptiles, and i don't want to see it suffer. Is there anything you can do?
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I'm sorry. I guess when I took the pictures it flipped it 90 degrees. But anyways, they are at 151 Mall Cir, Tarentum, PA 15084
 
he does seem a little dehydrated but with out a good picture from above it is hard to tell exactly how bad as for the yellow around the eyes to me that looks more like color scales not drainage. tell them that the bedding is not good for a dragon. it should not be on repti-bark it can cause impaction. lighting could also be an issue. my best advise is stop being on the bench go to that store and buy him and help him/her yourself and give him the home he needs
 
Chaseakamrmute said:
They say if the animal is being abused or neglected, don't buy it because you'll just support the business and make way for another animal to suffer.
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I know a lot of people believe in that but ask yourself can that believe justify allowing a animal to suffer and since you called out this pet store for animal neglect on this forum where the pet store may or may not come to defend it self. then should it not be your responsibility to try to fix this?
 
GMTIRRILL said:
I know a lot of people believe in that but ask yourself can that believe justify allowing a animal to suffer and since you called out this pet store for animal neglect on this forum where the pet store may or may not come to defend it self. then should it not be your responsibility to try to fix this?
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Seriously???

That is a horrible thing to do, guilt someone into buying an animal they may not want or aren't ready for. And yes that action DOES support the store. You are giving them money and business and they will just continue to bring in sick animals and not take care of them. How can YOU justify that!?

I do not judge anyone who impulse buys to save an animals. I absolutely do not agree with it but I understand why they do it. But the bottom line is, you may be helping that one animal but you are supporting the misery of the next animal that takes it's place.

The best course of action would be to go to the pet store's manager or write a letter to the company about why this is not acceptable and that you will no longer shop in their store until they fix this issue.
 
GMTIRRILL said:
he does seem a little dehydrated but with out a good picture from above it is hard to tell exactly how bad as for the yellow around the eyes to me that looks more like color scales not drainage. tell them that the bedding is not good for a dragon. it should not be on repti-bark it can cause impaction. lighting could also be an issue. my best advise is stop being on the bench go to that store and buy him and help him/her yourself and give him the home he needs
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Bad advice to suggest someone buy a animal that looks or is sick.
All you do is tell the pet store it doesn't matter how they treat their animals someone will feel sorry and buy it.
The best thing you can do is alert the store and if they don't care post a Youtube vid and use Facebook.
 
1 I do not agree with allowing an animal to suffer
2 he brought this as BOI and i asked him why he wasnt willing to try to save the animal that's not guilt tripping to buy the dragon
3. without better picture of the animal none can truly say the animal is sick
 
also clarify anyone who thinks I advocate for the pet store you are wrong I just get tired of people walking away from an animal that needs help and then stating they don't want feed the machine. that in a way just compounds a bad situation
 
GMTIRRILL said:
also clarify anyone who thinks I advocate for the pet store you are wrong I just get tired of people walking away from an animal that needs help and then stating they don't want feed the machine. that in a way just compounds a bad situation
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You don't get it and likely never will.
 
GMTIRRILL said:
1 I do not agree with allowing an animal to suffer
2 he brought this as BOI and i asked him why he wasnt willing to try to save the animal that's not guilt tripping to buy the dragon
3. without better picture of the animal none can truly say the animal is sick
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I was told to come here to BOI by a referrer from Facebook. Therefore i am new.
 
Chaseakamrmute said:
I was told to come here to BOI by a referrer from Facebook. Therefore i am new.
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Aaron, welcome.

I think there are many choices in your situation. You could try just talking to the manager. There are all kinds of managers, and one could hope he might be new too but amenable to suggestion.

I too have heard that buying sub par critters is just feeding the machine. As a nurse, sometimes I just can't walk away.

I think though that if you go there and they are willing to take advice, that might be best. That helps this critter and subsequent ones too.
Try it, if it doesn't work, I think many of us can offer more suggestions.
 
jusmebabee said:
You don't get it and likely never will.
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You see I do get it I am a person that has gone into pet stores and nailed them for bad husbandry and even had one shut down for it and rescued my first set of dragons that way ones that were a lot more in trouble then the one showed in this thread and I didn't walk away, I bought them and rehabbed them back to health at great expense and time on my part. Now I could have walked away in the believe that if I buy them another animal will get the same treatment but I decided to step up and do something. and they lived for another 8 years before they passed on of old age. so yes I get it and I always will since I have been there before
 
This is always a heated topic of debate. I would like to think that the store would be receptive to improving their husbandry; I can't see 'honest' stores ignoring potential bad publicity and lost sales.
 
One way to approach the store manager would be to go and ask his advice on care and then ask whether he sees any signs of dehydration there. It might be as simple as just pointing out that there might be a problem, in a non-confrontational manner.

I think you are right not to buy it, I know that that is the first impulse, to save that one animal, but it doesn't stop the actual long-term problem.
 
I don't think anyone should buy sick animals from a pet store, no matter how hard it is to walk away. If you have a hard time doing this, then don't go into the stores anymore. Buying the animals just shows them that there is a market for sick animals. I personally also believe that people shouldn't even buy dry goods from the pet stores that have clearly sick animals and won't do anything about it when it is called to their attention (and you should call it to their attention, preferably in a non-confrontational manner, as they very well might not know anything is wrong.) If you don't support how they care for their animals, don't support the store at all. They make most of their money from dry goods anyways.

I don't keep, or really even know, bearded dragons, so I don't know if that animal is in bad shape or not. If it is, I would talk to the manager about your concerns and see if they can/will do anything about it. Also write to corporate about it as well. If they refuse to do anything, sometimes reporting them to whoever licenses pet stores in your area can help. If they receive enough complaints, they might do something about it. Have your friends do the same.

Also keep in mind that some things are set by corporate and cannot be changed by the managers (like certain enclosure elements.) Sometimes they are not much of an issue, and other times they are. Just something to consider since the display enclosures are meant to be temporary (example: for many species, a smaller than recommended enclosure usually isn't an issue for a short period of time, but keeping an animal that requires high humidity and amounts of water in an enclosure with minimal humidity and scarce amounts of water could be pretty bad.)

Gordon, it seems that according to your logic, you should be buying every subsequent sick animal at the pet store. Since you bought the animals that were sick, you allowed them to put more (very possibly sick) animals in their store. Since you have done this, should it not be your responsibility to buy and rehab every sick animal that replaces the ones you bought?
 
Hello! You seem like a good hearted person and I commend you,as others have here,for trying to do something.I have been on the side of the coin that has 'caved' and bought a sick animal(a small Quaker parrot not a reptile) I know it is a burden to purchase a sick animal(I am not speaking of financial) It is hard getting an animal spur of the moment. I too suggest you talk to the store manager.If you live close-by the store,perhaps in person.If not,by phone.Is this a 'big box' store, in your area? I didn't google it before I responded. I hope you decide to stay here at fauna,you love animals and you can be an asset to the forum for that.Let's hope your actions help the little guy.Either way you have taken action...always the right move.
 
teetee said:
Hello! You seem like a good hearted person and I commend you,as others have here,for trying to do something.I have been on the side of the coin that has 'caved' and bought a sick animal(a small Quaker parrot not a reptile) I know it is a burden to purchase a sick animal(I am not speaking of financial) It is hard getting an animal spur of the moment. I too suggest you talk to the store manager.If you live close-by the store,perhaps in person.If not,by phone.Is this a 'big box' store, in your area? I didn't google it before I responded. I hope you decide to stay here at fauna,you love animals and you can be an asset to the forum for that.Let's hope your actions help the little guy.Either way you have taken action...always the right move.
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Well said and I agree.

laterob said:
This is always a heated topic of debate.
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Just to add to that: it seems to me that those who have participated previously in heated topics sometimes sound if they are simply regurgitating stock answers. Woe to the innocent who wanders into the subject for the first time.

There is a complex line dance here in Texas made famous by the song Boot Scootin Boogie. One goes through a bunch of dance moves, and then one turns and repeats the moves three more times (it is a 'four wall' dance.) That's what I think of when I see participants in some of these heated topics that have been through the topic previously.
 
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