Shout it out, or lay low

[Neal]

So now that I've had some time to really process everything that happened with us this past week, there are a lot of things going through my mind. When a situation like that happens you only have a short time to decide how you are going to react, in our case with such small and fragile tortoises being involved, time was certainly of the essence.

Our approach was to "shout it out", blasting the forums, calling pet shops, posting flyers, etc...our reason for this is that we can pretty well determine the people who took them had no idea what they were doing (leaving the more valuable animals behind), so there was a good chance they took them with intent to sell. Given the time pressure we felt, we chose this approach and we will stand behind it.

Now, I've been thinking there could have been another way to approach this. Shouting it out is going to put a lot of pressure on the thieves, and it could possibly back fire if they are too afraid to approach anyone to sell them off to, and eventually the tortoises would end up dead. I was thinking that laying low would make the thieves more likely to try and sell them publicly and therefore you would be more likely to get them back maybe. Laying low wouldn't mean not saying anything, but maybe instead of posting public threads, sending PM's to local individuals, still calling pet shops and really keeping it at that.

I don't want to talk about preventive measures just yet, and I know there are a dozen other ways to approach something like this. I don't want to discuss what I or what others should do...the purpose of this poll is I just want to know which of the two methods you feel would be the more effective approach if your tortoises were stolen...as improbable as that might be. Also if you wouldn't mind, please tell us why you chose what you did.

 

[Yvonne G]

First of all, I would make a police report. Then I would do exactly what you did...let everyone I can think of know what happened. I would even put up fliers on utility poles in the neighborhood.

 

[cherylim]

My plan if anything ever happens to Emrys is to shout it out.

 

[Neal]

First of all, I would make a police report.

I agree, whatever you decide to do, start with a police report. We did this, and when we contacted the pet shops we told them to contact our city's police department if they came in contact with the tortoises.

 

[DeanS]

I say 'lay low'...and this is why. You mentioned the CL ad the other day (in the other thread). I, for one, would appreciate any help rying to recover something that was stolen from me. But that ad was too obvious (provided it was someone here or another friend of yours). There should've been separate ads. Now, in my case, if it was Aladar? I'd be posting REWARD signs EVERYWHERE! with NO QUESTIONS ASKED. But, this is your dilemma, and I understand your conundrum. You lost a few babies...and you feel violated. You want justice! You want vengeance! But, mostly, you just want to feel better! You just want it to be over! I know you've heard this before (and you're probably sick of it), but you're gonna hear it again! It could've been a lot worse!

 

[Jacqui]

My first instinct would have been to shout I am sure.

However, I think quiet might work best.(still telling police, pet stores, vets, animal control, various "friends") Why did they break into your house? We think for money. I would have appealed to that belief, by putting ads out wanting to by young turtle and tortoises. I would add the turtle part because they may not know what they have. They may have taken them because they could easily slip them into pockets and carry them off. Now with time, cute is wearing off, they may want money over them.

By making their stolen status public, you have made those tortoises into a hot item, perhaps one too risky to try to sell in the open.

---

Neal, just hope your not beating yourself up with all those nasty "what ifs", "couldas" and "shouldas". You can't go back in time. You made what at the time felt like the best choice or the only choice. Either option is full of sink holes and dangers.

 

[Neal]

Good points there Dean and Jacqui. Sitting on an arm chair and trying to evaluate my response in such a situation and saying "I wish I would have...", or "I should have done this", is not something I am going to do to myself. Dean's right, it could have been a lot worse, and now that the anger is subsiding I am trying to move forward with this and hopefully have a positive effect on how we protect our tortoises and maybe how others protect theirs. I really do see a huge positive side to keeping things on the down low, maybe it's not so black in white...the effectiveness of the response would be dependent on the situation type of thing?

 

[Tony the tank]

My experience has always been to keep your plan close to yourself...file a report, contact a few reputable pet stores ...whatch out for them... You make it known your aggressively looking to get them back and prosecute... Will only make the thief put up his A game or discard the animals...

As for pet shops... Some of the smaller shops I'm sure will not hesitate to buy the animal cheap and play Micky the dunce... so I would visit them on occasion to check there inventory..

But something like that I would guess was a kid... Saw the opportunity and took it.... Probably going to keep it..untill he gets bored then unload it...

Majority of (lets say pro) thieves are looking for a quick flip on something they know they can get $ for...

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

I would combine the two: shout it out...but only to your reptile community. Which I think you've done. Tell every local herper you know to help comb CL ads, shopper ads, etc. notify local pet stores, etc. But I don't think I would put a big wanted poster in the newspaper for the entire populace to see, for the same concerns you mentioned. I think sooner or later a herper will get wind of them.

 

[DesertGrandma]

I voted shout it out. My hope would be that there would be a connection with someone who has knowledge of the crime or the lost tortoises and would report back. In this case there were/are lots of people on the lookout in the tortoise world. It is also possible that the thieves might learn something about what they have and take better care of them, if there intent was to have them as their own pets. They might still surface, let's hope so.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

I did vote shout-out. IN the off-chance the thieves get arrested for something entirely different, the police will know who to return the tortoises to!

 

[Zamric]

I voted to lay low but only because I'm the type to catch a violater on my own and have Law Enforcement on speed dial!

 

[bikerchicspain]

First of all, I would make a police report. Then I would do exactly what you did...let everyone I can think of know what happened. I would even put up fliers on utility poles in the neighborhood.

I agree, I would of done exactly that.

 

[clarkrw3]

Like others have said a combo approach is what I would have, and have done in the past. Your biggest asset in situations like these are the forum communities. I have found, up to a year later (bike) by forum members remembering the post I made and finding someone that didn't look right riding the same bike. I would let the forum community know (the only reason the thief would think of looking on a forum is if they planned on keeping it and wanted to learn about care and this is very unlikely). Then let the stores in your area know and to keep an eye out for it. Then keep a close eye on CL and have members of the forum keep an eye on internet ads including CL...then set-up a buy or alert authorities when something surfaces. I wouldn't second guess yourself, you did everything you could!! I just think you want all the "right" people to know and none of the "wrong" people to know they are being hunted. Just my .02.

 

[wellington]

I voted lay low. I feel i would have a better chance of catching them in the act of selling them. I would be afraid that if I shouted it, they would get scared and dispose of them in a way that maybe wouldn't be found out. I also am a revengeful type person. I would hope i could catch them, if you know what i mean! That's why I vote as I did. But whose to say what anyone would do until it happens to them. You can't do the could of would of should of. You did what you thought best. Maybe is was the best thing to do, maybe it wasn't. You'll probably never know. The most important thing is that you cared enough to do something. I know some animal owners that do love their animals, but the loss of their animal to them is not like it is to most of us. We are heart broken, them not so much. Good luck, keep an eye and ear open and I sure hope they get caught, and your torts are returned safe and sound.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Based on what I know about law enforcement and investigations, I would first file a theft report and let law enforcement conduct an investigation. However, they might not put much effort into the investigation.

 

[Tom]

I say put the word out like you did because given what was taken and what was left behind, I'm guessing the thieves are not part of the "tortoise community" and would probably have no idea that you were hunting for them.

The one possible pitfall is if one of the thieves has a friend or relative that works at a local reptile shop. Then they would know to lay low for a while, sell them off one at a time and try to move them in a different area. That's where WE might come in. Because you made it known on the forum, a lot of tortoise people around the country are just waiting to hear about some babies for sale...

 

[FADE2BLACK_1973]

I voted lay low also. Christmas is getting close and theives like to sell their stolen property to make money. That is the main reason why they steal, to make some money buy sellin it to someone else. And keeping all the petshops updated and to look out and post rewards, would also be the best bet, imo.