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Bad Guy Goldfish Plus

S

SaintJimmy

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Location
Glendora, California
1027 N Grand Ave Covina, CA 91724‎

Here are the pictures I took inside Goldfish Plus.

Mistreated animals. Never buy from Goldfish Plus, whatever you do. The store is crowded like a hoarder's house, the animals are stressed and crowded.. etc.

http://imgur.com/a/8vZt1
 
Apparently according to most people here, you can't post a BOI bad guy post unless you've done bad business with the company/person.
 
Emily, did you bring up your concerns with the owners when you were there? Curious what they had to say. Otherwise you can try reporting them to local authorities, like the local animal control. Sad to say, it seems like a fairly typical reptile store. :/

kouneli said:
Apparently according to most people here, you can't post a BOI bad guy post unless you've done bad business with the company/person.
Click to expand...

The rule is "This forum is designed to serve the purpose of giving anyone interested in the buying and selling of herptile related merchandise the opportunity to inquire about, or find already existing information concerning a person or business with whom they are considering doing business with." It is generally preferred if people post an "INFO" thread for this type of report but there is no rule on which tag must be used.
Rules for posting on the BOI can be found here:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8880
any further discussion or feedback of this topic should be taken to the feedback forum located here:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=44
thank you
 
AbsoluteApril said:
Emily, did you bring up your concerns with the owners when you were there? Curious what they had to say. Otherwise you can try reporting them to local authorities, like the local animal control. Sad to say, it seems like a fairly typical reptile store. :/



The rule is "This forum is designed to serve the purpose of giving anyone interested in the buying and selling of herptile related merchandise the opportunity to inquire about, or find already existing information concerning a person or business with whom they are considering doing business with." It is generally preferred if people post an "INFO" thread for this type of report but there is no rule on which tag must be used.
Rules for posting on the BOI can be found here:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8880
any further discussion or feedback of this topic should be taken to the feedback forum located here:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=44
thank you
Click to expand...

Reported him to local animal control already. I hope this is the right place to post.

I rescued a jacksons chameleon because I already had a set up and lights available for it. It looks as if it was force fed, and it was being kept in a tiny cage, very dirty. Only a food bowl and one string of leaves for a habitat.

No lights or anything, either.

And all of his other reptiles and fish were experiencing overcrowding and the cages were dirty as well.
 
SaintJimmy said:
Reported him to local animal control already. I hope this is the right place to post.

I rescued a jacksons chameleon because I already had a set up and lights available for it. It looks as if it was force fed, and it was being kept in a tiny cage, very dirty. Only a food bowl and one string of leaves for a habitat.

No lights or anything, either.

And all of his other reptiles and fish were experiencing overcrowding and the cages were dirty as well.
Click to expand...

What are the indications that a chameleon has been force fed?
 
Wilomn said:
What are the indications that a chameleon has been force fed?
Click to expand...

There is sort of a chip in his lip. Looks like a bug bit him in his sleep (hungry crix will bite baby chams) or he was force fed the crickets (push food near his mouth) and it bit him.

Either one is completely possible, both signs of improper care... Unless force feeding is done correctly.

Leaving crix in cage w/o a piece of fruit for them to snack on might cause them to munch on the unsuspecting Cham.
 
SaintJimmy said:
I rescued a jacksons chameleon because I already had a set up and lights available for it. It looks as if it was force fed, and it was being kept in a tiny cage, very dirty. Only a food bowl and one string of leaves for a habitat.

No lights or anything, either.

And all of his other reptiles and fish were experiencing overcrowding and the cages were dirty as well.
Click to expand...

Forgive me, but isn't this the cardinal sin of a situation such as this? Demand just increased and the owner got validation that people will purchase animals in that condition.
 
Occidentalis said:
Forgive me, but isn't this the cardinal sin of a situation such as this? Demand just increased and the owner got validation that people will purchase animals in that condition.
Click to expand...

You don't understand. You don't think I didn't know this when I bought him?

I could not just leave him there when I have a space available for him.

I reported the owner to animal control anyway, so at this point the 50$ isn't going to help him much.

I always ALWAYS keep these things in mind. Would I rather leave the animal there and NOT "support" him? No.
 
Sure 50 bucks isnt much, but then its 60, then 70, then 100 and so on. Its tough, but you have to fight temptations with these abuses and neglectful keepers and businesses. Your 50 isnt going to make or break but if 50 people spend 50 bucks in an abusive or neglecting situation, thats 2500, more than likely an nice profit to go out and buy more in bulk and neglect more animals.

Now that I got that off my chest, Im interested to see if/what they have to say, if anything
 
I'm just not seeing it. Looks like a pet shop... No worse looking than the chain stores. Not how I would keep my animals but they have to keep quite a few animals in a small space.

I see what appears to be feces free cages with water and the animals appear to be fairly healthy. My beardy is a lot bigger than those but I spoil her.
 
For what it's worth I have to agree with Sanguine84...I see healthy looking animals in clean cages with what appears to be fresh bedding and water....some of them are crowded, but the argument has always been that animals in a pet store are only there temporarily; they don't have the space or resources to set every animal up individually the way you would at home. Not a fan of selling reptiles in pet stores, but as such establishments go this one looks better than a lot I've seen...
 
I gotta agree with Even and Shelley. Water dishes are clean, water is clear. Bedding looks decent and the greens in the dragon tank look fresh. I don't really see what I would or could call abuse or neglect or sickly animals. Overcrowded, yes ... but not criminal.

Yeah, the Jackson's was in a Kritter Keeper. No, not totally ideal, but there was a strip light over the top of the keeper and a clean water bowl (though I know chams don't drink from bowls).
The Kritter Keeper might actually have been beneficial in helping maintain humidity, at least until the cham got larger.
Sure, it could have used a little more foliage. But again, not quite abuse or criminal at that age.

You, yourself, claimed that aside from what does look like a small cricket bite on his mouth, he was "otherwise healthy" as far as you were concerned. Also looked healthy to me.

So, how's the cham doing now?
 
I disagree. Sure the animals look OK if you were to take one out and place it on a paper towel and take a picture, you would think yea, it's a decent animal.... but this kind of stuff is EXACTLY why the general public perceives us to be hoarders and whack jobs. Pet shops are literally the front page of the reptile hobby to the average person. It is really no wonder that so many people think the reptile hobby is terrible when you have so many shops that treat their herps in this manner.... 10 baby boas in a cage, and those poor skinny garter snakes in a bare cage with just a bowl of water. Actually most of the animals don't have any sort of hides... that alone is setting a very poor example and is also stressful on the animals.

Shops that keep animals like this are exactly the reason that people buy these animals and then take them home and put them in the SAME kind of minimalistic and borderline cruel setups. Shops set examples, and people will follow them! Honestly, how can so many reptile people sit there and complain about seeing animals in cages like those on craigslist, when we have shops that are doing it and basically showing people: THIS is how you keep reptiles! This is how everyone does it! This is perfectly acceptable!

I say no.... no it isn't acceptable. There is literally zero reason to have 30 baby bearded dragons at one time in a pet store in one small cage. They really don't sell THAT quickly. And honestly, it is NOT hard to place several of them in a cage and give them a real hotspot. The adult dragons don't appear to have sort of real hotspot either.

I don't see a problem with basic setups that WORK and meet ALL of a reptile's needs (that includes shelter... a bare tank sitting in the open provides no sense of shelter to a snake) Such as rack systems, where the animals are in an enclosed space (and one per cage, not 3 or 10) and they actually feel secure.

I think hobbyists need to take shops a little more seriously and remember that when you tell someone you are a reptile hobbyist, they're probably picturing whatever they see at their local shop. And that's probably part of the reason when the media is yelling BAN REPTILES! They will follow that cause. There are shops out there that do it right and do a fantastic job with their reptile rooms. There is no reason, aside from cutting corners, for this type of overcrowding and minimalistic setup.
 
aSnakeLovinBabe said:
I disagree. Sure the animals look OK if you were to take one out and place it on a paper towel and take a picture, you would think yea, it's a decent animal.... but this kind of stuff is EXACTLY why the general public perceives us to be hoarders and whack jobs. Pet shops are literally the front page of the reptile hobby to the average person. It is really no wonder that so many people think the reptile hobby is terrible when you have so many shops that treat their herps in this manner.... 10 baby boas in a cage, and those poor skinny garter snakes in a bare cage with just a bowl of water. Actually most of the animals don't have any sort of hides... that alone is setting a very poor example and is also stressful on the animals.

Shops that keep animals like this are exactly the reason that people buy these animals and then take them home and put them in the SAME kind of minimalistic and borderline cruel setups. Shops set examples, and people will follow them! Honestly, how can so many reptile people sit there and complain about seeing animals in cages like those on craigslist, when we have shops that are doing it and basically showing people: THIS is how you keep reptiles! This is how everyone does it! This is perfectly acceptable!

I say no.... no it isn't acceptable. There is literally zero reason to have 30 baby bearded dragons at one time in a pet store in one small cage. They really don't sell THAT quickly. And honestly, it is NOT hard to place several of them in a cage and give them a real hotspot. The adult dragons don't appear to have sort of real hotspot either.

I don't see a problem with basic setups that WORK and meet ALL of a reptile's needs (that includes shelter... a bare tank sitting in the open provides no sense of shelter to a snake) Such as rack systems, where the animals are in an enclosed space (and one per cage, not 3 or 10) and they actually feel secure.

I think hobbyists need to take shops a little more seriously and remember that when you tell someone you are a reptile hobbyist, they're probably picturing whatever they see at their local shop. And that's probably part of the reason when the media is yelling BAN REPTILES! They will follow that cause. There are shops out there that do it right and do a fantastic job with their reptile rooms. There is no reason, aside from cutting corners, for this type of overcrowding and minimalistic setup.
Click to expand...


While I understand the logic of your argument, and mostly agree about the pet shops being the 'Face of the Industry' I will kindly disagree about THIS particular store. Frankly, the photos provided are fuzzy, taken at odd angles, and only show partial cage setups. There is simply not enough evidence in this thread to support Goldfish Plus being labeled a "Bad Guy."

On the same token, as a reptile enthusiast, collector, breeder, whatever you want to call us as a collective... it is OUR duty to educate the public when concerns arise and to defend our passion. Every industry has stigmas. Every industry tries to combat the negative images caused by particular individuals and groups within it. We must do the same.
 
aSnakeLovinBabe said:
I disagree. Sure the animals look OK if you were to take one out and place it on a paper towel and take a picture, you would think yea, it's a decent animal.... but this kind of stuff is EXACTLY why the general public perceives us to be hoarders and whack jobs. Pet shops are literally the front page of the reptile hobby to the average person. It is really no wonder that so many people think the reptile hobby is terrible when you have so many shops that treat their herps in this manner.... 10 baby boas in a cage, and those poor skinny garter snakes in a bare cage with just a bowl of water. Actually most of the animals don't have any sort of hides... that alone is setting a very poor example and is also stressful on the animals.

Shops that keep animals like this are exactly the reason that people buy these animals and then take them home and put them in the SAME kind of minimalistic and borderline cruel setups. Shops set examples, and people will follow them! Honestly, how can so many reptile people sit there and complain about seeing animals in cages like those on craigslist, when we have shops that are doing it and basically showing people: THIS is how you keep reptiles! This is how everyone does it! This is perfectly acceptable!

I say no.... no it isn't acceptable. There is literally zero reason to have 30 baby bearded dragons at one time in a pet store in one small cage. They really don't sell THAT quickly. And honestly, it is NOT hard to place several of them in a cage and give them a real hotspot. The adult dragons don't appear to have sort of real hotspot either.

I don't see a problem with basic setups that WORK and meet ALL of a reptile's needs (that includes shelter... a bare tank sitting in the open provides no sense of shelter to a snake) Such as rack systems, where the animals are in an enclosed space (and one per cage, not 3 or 10) and they actually feel secure.

I think hobbyists need to take shops a little more seriously and remember that when you tell someone you are a reptile hobbyist, they're probably picturing whatever they see at their local shop. And that's probably part of the reason when the media is yelling BAN REPTILES! They will follow that cause. There are shops out there that do it right and do a fantastic job with their reptile rooms. There is no reason, aside from cutting corners, for this type of overcrowding and minimalistic setup.
Click to expand...


I'm not sure how it's done in other states, but in Pennsylvania, Pet shops are frequently inspected by the Department of Agriculture. Any Licenses business that deals with live animals is also under the same inspection.

If you ask most people about Pet shops, reptiles are the last thing they will think of. They associate Pet shops with " Puppy Mills ", since it's been an epidemic for along time, but more in recent years...
 
I hardly post but I finf it hard to bite my tongue on this. Overcrowding for sure,good idea to inform the authorities so it can be addressed as needed.

In the future try to avoid the anthropomorphism though,especially when contacting the proper authorities, you don't know the animals "feelings" of "sadness" and "depression" or if they are not "satisified" with their accomodations and would "like" bigger cages with better furniture.

Overcrowded cages, dirty cages, dirty water/lack of water, improper heating (for reptiles), obvious malnourishment/visible parrisites are your talking points if you feel a pet store owner is not running their business properly.
 
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