........
Let me just say this.. It's amazing how so many reptile dealers are able to continue ripping people off all of the time and never get in trouble for it. Either all the people that say they have turned these matters over to authorities or lawyers (in civil cases) haven't, or the law just doesn't give a crap about reptile-related cases.
We've got pay seng buying animals on credit and not paying people back, and then selling sick and/or wc animals as captive born, and most of his animals usually die for some reason. We've got people selling het for albinos that are either wc or just cheap normal no hets..... People editing their snake photos in photoshop.... We've got people selling animals they don't own or even have access to... People trading stuff they either don't own or have mis-informed people of.... and pet shops housing their animals in horrific conditions. Most, if not all, of these people/businesses are still in business.
Something has to be done. All of the legitimate reptile businesses should put aside any differences that they have and come together and propose a national alliance, all having to agree upon certain set-standards of business. A non-profit organization with volunteers that would investigate complaints of deals gone bad, as well as for the health of the animals.
Stores/breeders/dealers would be visited by volunteers for general inspections every couple months or so, and when a complaint is filed against them. For members of the national alliance, they would only have to be inspected once a year, and would get a yearly certificate, which would be placed on a wall at their place of business, stating that they are an accepted member of the alliance; however, if a complaint is filed against them by a customer, they would have to be re-visited and investigated by the alliance to determine if the complaint had any merit, and if so, in the case of a business deal gone wrong, the company would either have to make it right or have its alliance membership taken away. All inspections would be surprise inspections.
This proposed alliance would work closely and collaborate with law enforcement, wildlife commission, dept of agriculture, the humane society, the FBI, and the better business bureau, as well as with other members of the alliance itself.
A database of members would be available via webpage, for customers to choose the "right" pet shop(s) in their area. It would also have a database of businesses that have unsolved complaints, which could be business deals, unhealthy animals, or a combination of the two.
Now, we just need to get a person or group of people to map out a nice plan, as well as to have a well-written speech as to why, and then find a good way to spread the word around.
Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking "what if only one alliance member was in a certain area? who would be an authority figure?". A neutral volunteer could be trained in that area, in person or via the internet. I know there are also a lot of breeders that don't allow people to come to their houses and all. They would either have to make an exception to the national alliance, or not become a member.
I've been thinking about something like this for a long time, but when it comes to how much time it would take to work with the idea, I just don't have time it would take to be the self-named president of the organization. Someone with a lot of time, a lot of dedication, and maybe even some money would help out a lot.
The foundation is there.. One just has to build upon it. Enjoy!
uke: