Hi All, Have you observed herp abuse, or do you suspect that it is occurring in a store, food market, private collection or elsewhere? It can be difficult to know for sure, and even harder to decide what to do about it. The following article may be of some help, and I’ll do my best to advise those who post questions and concerns. Unfortunately, animal abuse is a serious and surprisingly common problem in the USA. The applicable laws vary from state to state, and it can be difficult to determine which agency is responsible for enforcement. Regulatory agencies are often under-funded, so many rely upon citizen complaints. It is important, therefore, that concerned people learn how to proceed when they suspect that animal abuse is taking place. This is especially true where reptiles and amphibians are concerned, as they draw less interest than mammals, and mistreatment is difficult to detect by the inexperienced. Please be sure to post your own observations below, and let me know if you need help in deciding how to report a problem. Read article here http://bitly.com/Ut6sJa Comments and questions appreciated. As I do not place notices here each time I post a new article on That Reptile Blog, you may wish to check in periodically or subscribe; you can do so here That Reptile Blog. Please also check out my posts on Twitter http://bitly.com/JP27Nj. Thanks, Frank My Bio, with photos of animals I’ve been lucky enough to work with That Pet Place welcomes Zoologist/Herpetologist Frank Indiviglio to That Reptile Blog | That Reptile Blog That Reptile Blog Face Book http://on.fb.me/KckP1m
Thanks for the post findi, I rescue and breed many reptiles and have encountered some gruesome sights in the past. From rotting pets living with other pets to animals on the brink of starvation. It is so sad the conditions some animals end up in. But I believe reptile and pet stores may be to blame. While people come in to purchase there new pet they see it currently living in a small and cramped housing condition. While this may be ok for the few days the animal will be spending at the store, it's not how the animal should be living. Without many reptile zoo's around people rarely get to see the proper way for reptiles to be housed. Same happens with fish and small mammals. It's just like if someone adopted a baby and never took it out the crib for its life. I encourage any who see's any animal abuse to do something about it.
Thanks for your concern; I encourage folks not to buy at all from stores that keep animals poorly; even a few days will sig affect health, immune system, plus this is a sure sign that animals were held in bad conditions earlier, shipped improperly, etc...pet store usually just tip of iceburg. Best, Frank
Herps are terribly abused in Russia. Even native ones are often being killed on sight - all snakes along with legless lizards, toads coming into gardens, etc. There's no animal protection law for reptiles & amphibians (only birds and mammals are mentioned in it), so if the species is not endangered we can kill or torture the animal without even being fined.
Relatively recently, a man was detained in Cornellà de Llobregat (town adjacent to Barcelona), found in possession of various illegally obtained firearms and 40 illegally obtained reptiles, most of them venomous snakes, among them a Komodo dragon which was found in a very bad state; missing a front foot and blinded by disease. Three varanids, including the V. Komodoensis, the others being a V. Varius and this V. albigularis, and three helodermas of two different species, have been taken in by the barcelona zoo, but on account of their policy against venomous snakes, such animals have been taken in by other institutions, like the CRARC and La Escola de la Natura. Here is a newspaper article concerning the case (in Spanish): Localizado un dragón de Komodo en un local de Cornellà de Llobregat I've uploaded pictures of some of these rescued animals, now on exhibit: Banded Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum cinctum): New at the zoo! | ZooChat White-throated monitor (Varanus albigularis): New at the Zoo! | ZooChat
A couple years ago near where I live, a man was arrested for selling illegal drugs. After cheeking his home afterward, they found a very obese Painted Turtle and sent it to a local animal rescue facility. But the turtle wouldn't eat anything. That is, until someone noticed the turtle seemed very interested in the Doritos an employee had brought for a snack. Turns out this guy fed the turtle nothing but Doritos for a couple months. By the way, the center got the turtle to eat normal food and is now happy and healthy.
