An idea to combat pet shop abuse

[Shelly]

Regarding pet shops that keep animals in deplorable conditions, I have an idea.
Give the owner care sheets outlining what needs to be done, and why.
If they appear to not care, and take no action, contact them again and tell them that you will be leaving them a negative review on YELP, or any other consumer review website, and will encourage others to do so as well.
Watch how fast they clean up their act...

 

[Madkins007]

I appreciate your concern, but this is a pretty one-sided approach if you look at it from the viewpoint of the store owner. Here some random customer comes to him and demands that he make changes based on THEIR opinion, then threatens a form of blackmail?

The reality of the pet store is to get animals in and out as quickly as possible at the most profit possible. Crowded habitats (for all animals) allow them the most profit per foot (a common way all retail operations figure profit is to see how much money they make per square foot of floor space they pay rent or utilities on.) Easy-to-clean set-ups mean lower labor costs, etc.

Most pet shops get this sort of thing often- the birds are overcrowded, these fish should not be in this sort of tank, you should not be using that bedding for that animal, etc. They get kind of a thick skin about it.

This is just me, but I think the better answer is more of a buddy approach. Get to know the person who makes the decisions for that area in the store. Just talk to them about the animals and build a rapport and let them see you know your stuff without being judgmental about things. After the rapport is reached, start to ask why they do this one thing (temps or substrate, for example) and suggest that a change here might keep the tortoise healthier and be a cost-effective solution.

Of course, this sort of thing means you need to be a bit of a regular customer and does not work well with big chains. I am basing this advice on my own experiences on both sides of the conversation in years of retail ales experience and tech support.

 

[methos75]

Another issue is that the laws regarding how animals, especially Reptiles, are kept are really loose and the authorities more than likely just will not get involved at all

 

[Shelly]

Another issue is that the laws regarding how animals, especially Reptiles, are kept are really loose and the authorities more than likely just will not get involved at all

Who said anything about involving "authorities"?

 

[methos75]

Well I think that is the only way to combat the issue, dealing with local Petstores in my area as well as seeing the deadends the Colorado herptological society has hit trying to deal with them, I think its futile without their help. Sadly though, at least here, they just do not seem to care. I turned in a store last summer that had roughly 50 baby RES in a 20 gal tank all on top of each other, nothing was done even though the four inch rule was broken and they were overcrowded. With the authorities unbothered by this and the average consumer uninterested, what more can be done?