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DH and I stopped in to a mom&pop type pet store a few towns over today. We were horrified at the condition of some of the animals there. Right as we walked in we saw a ball python nearly encased in shed, being kept in an aquarium with SAND for substrate, no apparent heat source, and no hides; there was shreds of shed all over the cage (I can only assume from the snake's PREVIOUS shed) and feces smeared all over one end of the cage.
In another cage was a cockatiel who was sneezing and seemed in obvious distress, standing on a ladder and rocking back and forth. There was an indoor pond filled with what I think were koi fish, but several of the fish were just lying on their sides. There were many cages of hamsters and other pocket pets filled with aspen mixed with a lot of droppings. There were a couple of parrots (not sure what species) in cages that seemed much too small for them. One seemed to be missing some feathers on its back.
There were other cages that were labeled "Rat Terriers", but those cages were empty. We did see a couple dogs through a window that looked to be rat terriers walking around in the back area of the store.
MIL tells us that she saw that pet store on the news not long ago. Apparently some people went in there and found puppies in squalid conditions and confronted the store proprietor, who did not respond favorably. So the people returned and purchased ALL the puppies and brought them to the Humane Society and reported the pet store. Apparently this did not do any good for any of the other animals there.
Not sure what, if anything, I can do for those poor animals. I was very tempted to buy the ball python just to get him out of those awful conditions, but the thought of giving that store a nickel was too abhorrent. (The really awful thing is that no one who knows ANYTHING about ball pythons would pay the price the store was asking for that snake either.) Has anyone run into this type of situation before?
In another cage was a cockatiel who was sneezing and seemed in obvious distress, standing on a ladder and rocking back and forth. There was an indoor pond filled with what I think were koi fish, but several of the fish were just lying on their sides. There were many cages of hamsters and other pocket pets filled with aspen mixed with a lot of droppings. There were a couple of parrots (not sure what species) in cages that seemed much too small for them. One seemed to be missing some feathers on its back.
There were other cages that were labeled "Rat Terriers", but those cages were empty. We did see a couple dogs through a window that looked to be rat terriers walking around in the back area of the store.
MIL tells us that she saw that pet store on the news not long ago. Apparently some people went in there and found puppies in squalid conditions and confronted the store proprietor, who did not respond favorably. So the people returned and purchased ALL the puppies and brought them to the Humane Society and reported the pet store. Apparently this did not do any good for any of the other animals there.
Not sure what, if anything, I can do for those poor animals. I was very tempted to buy the ball python just to get him out of those awful conditions, but the thought of giving that store a nickel was too abhorrent. (The really awful thing is that no one who knows ANYTHING about ball pythons would pay the price the store was asking for that snake either.) Has anyone run into this type of situation before?