As one of the active “helpers” of Geckogen and an eyewitness to such confrontations with Kasi, I will give the first factual summary regarding this matter. As most of you already know, Kasi previously posted a BOI with the title “Bad Guy Edgar Machuca from Geckogen” because of a silly disagreement they had. In short terms, Kasi aggressively questioned Edgar’s care for his animals and made false assumptions in a public forum regarding such matters. This lead to Kasi’s “friends” to jump down Edgars throat and also begin accusing him of mistreating his animals. This obviously upset Edgar, just as it would any other person who truly cares about their animals. In anger and frustration, Edgar responded by telling her to suck on a gecko’s tail and calling two of her nagging friends a bitch. Lol I’m sorry but it is difficult to not laugh at the fact that a grown adult would throw such a tantrum over juvenile name-calling. This apparently made Kasi feel justified in posting a thread on the BOI that will in fact affect Edgar’s livelihood. Not only has the thread been viewed over five thousand times, but now when you google Edgars full name or Geckogen or a mix a both, the first thing that pops up is “Bad Guy Edgar Machuca from Geckogen.” Not to mention Edgar is a molecular biologist (which makes questionig his knowledge even more ridiculous) and if he interviews for a different job, and they choose to search just his name on google, we all know what they will find. As a gecko enthusiast and somebody who makes a living off of reptiles, I think it is disgusting that Kasi would take such hurtful measures to obviously seek revenge. And lets not forget her personal reasons; juvenile name-calling… After viewing the BOI and all the hurtful comments that were made by misinformed individuals, Edgar was truly upset. But rather than participating in such behavior and trying to “one-up” Kasi, Edgar took the high road and chose not to respond. This of course became quite trying because Kasi’s mob was constantly provoking Edgar through the thread to comment because apparently not responding means your guilty of mistreating animals and being a bad guy… once again, much of Kasi’s and her mob’s assumptions make little sense. I helped convinced Edgar not to respond because such malice would show everyone Kasi’s true character and my god, if this didn’t I don’t know what will. So anyways, Edgar never responded or spoke to Kasi so we were hopeful that Kasi was done trying to hurt Edgar’s reputation and livelihood; of course we were wrong. Edgar then received a phone call from Herp World explaining that some girl named Kasi wrote an email bashing Edgar and requesting that he not be allowed to attend the San Jose Reptile Expo as a vendor! It was shocking to Edgar and I to discover the lengths that she would go to fulfill her spiteful vendetta. Even after being informed of this email, Edgar still took the high road and didn’t contact Kasi or respond with any hateful threads. For the second time, Edgar and I made the mistake of thinking that our lack of response was going to lead to an end. We then found out a week before the show, once again from herp world, that Kasi’s husband called them saying he was as officer of the law and this all needs to stop! What?!?! We still are completely unaware what he was referring to because Edgar was staying quiet and hadn’t responded to anything! Once again, the actions made no sense! BUT STILL, Edgar kept quiet and took the high road AGAIN! So, yesterday was the first day of the San Jose Reptile Expo and Geckogen was excited and ready to go! We were informed by Herp World that Kasi would be at the show but that her booth would be on the opposite end. This didn’t faze us because we ONCE AGAIN made the mistake of believing our silence would lead to an end. As the show was about to start, I noticed a man with a badge pacing up and down in front of our booth. It was clear that he was making a point about flashing the badge around on his hip and attempting to intimidate us with not only a stern, but hateful look on his face. Due to hearing about the phone call by Kasi’s husband, I asked Edgar if that was him because he was wearing a badge and making a point of it. Edgar said he didn’t think so and dismissed it because he didn’t think Kasi could stoop any lower. As the man continued to pace only in front of our booth, we both became more and more suspicious. He then entered our booth, while still flaunting his badge and glaring at us. He went over to the geckos and Edgar said, “hi, how are you doing?!” in a nice and enthusiastic voice just like he would with his customers and any vendors. The man smugly answered ok and continued looking. Edgar then asked him if he were a vendor. The man replied, “yes.” Edgar said that was great and asked what booth he was representing. The man tried to avoid the question so Edgar asked him again what booth he was representing. The man aggressively answered “Party Gecko” and promptly left the booth. At this point, with the confirmation that Kasi was now using an officer of the law to attempt to intimidate us at our booth, enough was enough. We had let so many things slide but this just wasn’t right! We will not stand for any further harassment and intimidation and I hope if any other individuals have had to deal with such matters that they will do the same. At that point, something had to be done. Edgar approached Herp World and explained to them the unbelievable circumstances. Edgar was then advised by Herp World to ask for the man’s badge number and jurisdiction. Edgar approached Kasi’s booth and did just that. The man refused to give Edgar any information besides that he was from the BIA so Edgar walked away. Other participating vendors witnessed the man’s behavior towards us and urged that we protect ourselves and call the police.; so Edgar did just that. An officer abusing his power to intimidate people is nothing to take lightly and will not be tolerated. The Officers told Edgar that he did the right thing and that he should further his investigation on this injustice. They admitted that there was little that they could do but they gave him advice on all that he could. We were informed later that the officers had spoken to the man but we don’t know what the conversation entailed. Although the experience was horrible for Edgar and his team, it made things a little bit easier with all of the support from the officers and neighboring vendors. There was no further communication between Geckogen and Party Geckos. And despite the rocky start to the show, Geckogen persevered and had an amazing show! Which is strange because why would so many happy customers be taking home geckos from Geckogen if Edgar is bad guy and treats his animals poorly?! lol I’m sure much of you think the story ends there but it appears there is no end when it comes to Kasi seeking revenge. Just as a reminder, her revenge stems from juvenile name-calling, wow! We of course found another comment on the original “Bad Guy Edgar Machuca from Geckogen” thread from an individual who conveniently made their profile yesterday and claimed that they has also had harassment issues with Edgar. Sounds a little fishy to me Kasi; constantly bringing others in to do your dirty work. It’s really just so embarrassing! To follow, another BOI thread was created by someone who clearly appeared to be associated with Kasi and stated that Edgar shouldn’t be allowed to be an exhibitor anywhere. Of course Kasi chimed in and once again made Edgar out to be some maniac and her the victim. It’s quite shocking how the one constantly attacking can also be the victim in these situations. Maybe some people on this thread will believe Kasi’s accusations, but Edgar and I have found that the true powerhouses in the reptile world are just seeing Kasi’s true colors, and they aren’t pretty. So, I spoke my peace, I truly wish I didn’t have to waste my time doing such a thing, but any amount of time is worth standing up for what is right. Some of you may wonder why I am posting this as a BOI and may even think it’s slightly hypocritical, but this truly is an issue that everyone needs to be aware of. Reptile enthusiasts beware, if you are rude to Edgar he may tell you to suck on a geckos tail, but if you ever come across Kasi she may do everything in her power to destroy not only your reputation but your livelihood. I feel the severity of these warnings clearly differ, but I’ll let everyone make their own judgment calls. That being said, I don’t plan on spending my time combating Kasi or her friends regarding this issue so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear much more from me. I told the truth and nothing but the truth so I don’t need validity from anyone. And in case any of you are wondering, Edgar will also have a response in the next couple days.
P.S.- Kasi, take your own advice and be kind to others. This could have been over a long time ago but you have taken things too far. Edgar and his team still wish for the end of this but it needs to be a two way street. If you end your antics, we are more than willing to move on with no further action.