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Bad Guy D&M REPTILE RESCUE

You did the right thing in my opinion. I don't see how people expect you to fix this mess by yourself when you aren't even responsible for it, lol. Also you're right, /just/ cleaning the cages and taking care of them wouldn't fix the root of the problem. You would probably have to volunteer there for the rest of your life to make sure the animals are well-kept, because as soon as you left, their enclosures would become filthy again. These people shouldn't have animals if they don't feel like doing things the right way.

Businesses, whether they are non-profit organizations or not, should be kept very sterile. It is so unprofessional and irresponsible to have all that garbage laying around, attracting disease-ridden pests. Yes, the animals are rescues and are in bad health, but that's NO excuse for the filthy environment.

I'm sorry you got attacked on the other forum. I saw the posts there and I was shocked.
 
This whole thing is heartbreaking, no one wants to hear of an animal rescue doing poorly. I live in Tucson and we badly need a well ran reptile rescue. When I was managing a local pet store there were dozens of reptiles surrendered every month to the store. D&M has been the only reptile rescue in the area I have been aware of. While I was working in the store people said they were surrendering their animals with me instead of with D&M because of the poor conditions at D&M. Their $100 surrender fee that is supposed to go to vet bills and food is another complaint I've heard. I personally have never been to the rescue but I did have the young lady who filmed this video over to my house last night, I heard her story and saw the pictures, it was heartbreaking. I hope the community can come together and help these animals. Charlotte Gillis
 
Maybe I missed it, but has Law Enforcement been contacted?

They are the ones that can and should be acting on the cruelty issues.

This includes Animal Control, Police, or Sheriff Departments.

I've received some reptile cruelty confiscations and it needs to be done by LE who need to take pictures and weigh the animals to build a case.
 
She told me the local authorities have been contacted, pima animal control and the animal cruelty task force. I believe she did that before making this video and was frustrated with their lack of timely response.
 
She told me the local authorities have been contacted, pima animal control and the animal cruelty task force. I believe she did that before making this video and was frustrated with their lack of timely response.

I have found contacting the media can fix this problem.
 
how about talking to d&m reptile rescue your self.

She did an interview with herp nation, I hope she posts a link when it's up.

hi my name is david I run d&m,s reptile rescue, the day this person came out to volunteer her time to help clean and feed the reptiles, was a day when we clean all the cages on saturdays. we do not pay anyone to help us clean and feed.I do all this rescue work out of my own pocket, no grant money or large donations given too us.yes the torts cage was dirty it was cleaning day what do you expect when they walk all over there food If people have aproblem with us please let us know about it so it can be fixed. we have been doing this for 12 years here in the tucson,marana area this is the second time the person went to the authorities instead of us first so the problem could be fixedIf you want to talk to me call me at 520-256-7747
 
David, why were there metal twist ties and plastic in with the tortoises food? If this is done every Saturday how did it get this bad? Why has that iguana with no jaw not seen the vet? Can you respond to the allegations and the photos please?
 
yes the torts cage was dirty it was cleaning day what do you expect when they walk all over there food

Isn't it pretty much a well known fact that fruits/veggies/greens should be removed after 4 hours of not being eaten? That looks like at least a couple of weeks' worth of food laying there in the pen.

What about the tegu in the enclosure baking in the sun?
 
Also I was wondering why you think once a week is enough? We have well over 300 animals we care for (most of them feeder rats) in our home. My enclosures can not wait a week to be cleaned. The rats have to be done up to 3 times a weeks, the monitors almost every day, the snakes get cleaned as soon as they poop or shed and we check on everything twice a day. My home doesn't smell bad, my animals are healthy and there are only two of us to do all of this while raising children and working full time. If you can't keep up with your animals, you shouldn't have them well meaning rescue or not.
 
he said I would get paid and use time doing the work to get a snake

I do all this rescue work out of my own pocket, no grant money or large donations given too us.


It seems to me as if the OP was going to use the payment she expected to receive plus bartering work done for a snake.
Operating expenses may not completely (or perhaps at all) out of dm's pocket, he is allegedly spending critters to pay for work.
It would be interesting to find out what kind of 'adoption fees' are requested of potential adopters. Is this actually a pet shop masquerading as a rescue?

this is the second time the person went to the authorities instead of us
I would think that if one walked in on a situation where the conditions appeared to be harmful to the critters involved, one would not wait to hear the spin given by those who put the critters in such conditions. I think the alarm sounded by the OP was justified.
 
I would think that if one walked in on a situation where the conditions appeared to be harmful to the critters involved, one would not wait to hear the spin given by those who put the critters in such conditions. I think the alarm sounded by the OP was justified.

normal boas are like 200 bucks but he wanted to sell the true red tail for 400 but guess what? red tail died and it took a while of digging around in the "set up" to realize the true red tail was "missing", after a min or so he said "well i guess it was the true red tail that died", I responded "howd it die?"- his? "sometimes it just happens". There is a 100 dollar surrender fee that is suppose to go to vet care, I called the orange grove and every other herp vet in tucson, no one has seen him in quite a long time and even orange grove said the place was bad. It has gotten so many reports and people rather than dropping them off there actually drive all the way to phoenix (two hours) to surrender them to the herp rescue there stating how bad it is. He doesnt use any of the money to give the animals any vet care, you can ask charlotte (cgills) that the iggy in question has been seen for quite a while and "at the tucson reptile expo he brings in the sick animals." Said by Debbie at the herp rescue in phoenix. I can try and get her to give testimonial though she is rather busy, I have also asked Dr. James L. Jarchow to also write here although I am sure he is busy as well.

The 100 dollars isnt used towards vet care, the food is donated by whole foods. There is enough aquariums to sell to feed a small army so I dont understand why the animals are in so poor of condition. All the snakes are emaciated or have RI's. The beardie had ONE lamp and was in my opinion too small for it. The tegu is far too small and emaciated. There is no place for it to hide in the sun and uv cannot go through glass.


The phoenix herp rescue has offered their hand in taking all animals at a moments notice and giving them the vet care they need. THEY NEED VET CARE- NOW. The carpet pythons felt like panty hose, their skin all saggy and they were so light it didnt feel like a real animal. They were thin and he said he got them from a guy who died, and thats probably true but how all four are so thin with bad skin and dehydrated is beyond me. Its perfect for an egyptian Uromastyx /maaayyybe/ but not rainforest animals. The boas are similar. One boa is so badly thin you can see every bone in her, her tail especially which is a shame because she is a beautiful animal.
 
I forgot to add he just uses captured pack rats from the desert to feed the snakes, so thats no good either. I cannot edit my above post to add this and i just thought about it.
 
when I looked at the website, it said adoption fees were between $50 - $300. That is on TOP of the $100 he already got when the owner surrendered the animal.
 
when I looked at the website, it said adoption fees were between $50 - $300. That is on TOP of the $100 he already got when the owner surrendered the animal.

If he is not taking the critters to the vet, and if the food and supplies are donated, and if he gets people to do work in exchange for critters, AND if he is getting all that cash, I bet the IRS would love to take a little look at his operation after all the animal welfare organizations get through with him.
 
David a group of us that live in the Tucson area would like to come by your rescue facility and see the conditions for ourselves. Can you please return our emails and phone calls? We are truly concerned about the welfare of these animals and we can help find them proper homes and I will donate rats to help feed them if you're overwhelmed. May we take pictures of your animals and enclosures if she isn't telling the truth? I let her take pictures of my animals when she visited my home. Can you prove that anything the OP is saying isn't true?
 
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