I can't remember the website where I made the complaint you have posted on your site from March 2005. I've got some updates to submit. I didn't say anything earlier though I should have. An associate tells me the latest 'behind the scences' when I go visit.
A month ago they informed me about two baby Leopard Geckos that were near dead that she was trying to adopt to save, but Ed (assistant manager)only let them save one. The following day when they tried to save the other, they found out Ed (assistant store manager) had dropped it in a tub of mealworms to be eaten alive. The associates didn't find it in time to save it from this horrible cruel death.
They currently have some bony patternless Leopards that need help fast. They're vomiting up the mealworms Petco demands be in all tanks probly due to being unable to digest them because they're so skinny.
The new Store manager also has a dumped off Ball they are trying to sell that only eats live. He acxcepted the dumped off ball python because 'he had never seen a snake eat live' and later proceeded to through a rat in the tank on the sales floor on a Saturday morning during open hours. They covered a little of the tank then had two managers standing to either side to block customers so they could watch the snake eat the live prey, one of their own rats!!!!!!!!!!
The Ball would get them in trouble with there own bosses, but the rest need help.
This is an example of some of the animals we get in to care for. Many of them have severe burns and some don't make it. There is a long rehab for these animals and I am sure it is painful. Yet they are very patient and loving while we care for their burns and wounds. The rehab is more than a year and we pay for all of this ourselves. Our volunteers love these animals and are more than happy to care for these animals. Much of the problem lies with the lack of understanding these animals and some is just plain neglect!!
You can almost see the torment these animals have gone through
This ball python was burned all the way down the side.
THIS PAGE CONTAINS MONTHLY EVENTS AND NEWS
There are many events going on in the herp world, these will include shows for those interested in captive bred animals.
There are many items in the news about reptiles and exotics which will be included in this page.
Monthly reports
This is a picture of our beloved Samoyed, Katie. She is an 8 year old spayed female, with a gentle nature, that was stolen from Livingston, TX on Sunday, June 19, 2005. She is a medium size dog, approximately 35 pounds, with apricot coloring. She has a microchip for identification (#024 529 071). We are offering a reward for her return. We are notifying as many veterinarians, animal shelters and rescue agencies in the Central and East Texas area as we can. Please pass this on to as many people or other agencies as you can, and it would be great if you could post it to any message boards that you have access to! Should our Katie be so fortunate as to be dropped off at or near your facility, we would so appreciate hearing from you. She is the love of our neighborhood. Thank you for your help.
On August 13, 2005 the Houston Divisions had an adopt-a-thon by appointment only.
It was very successful and we got many good homes for our animals.
We wish to thank all invited for adopting and giving our animals great homes.
Name: EAGLE EYE Breed:
Doberman Mix Sex: Male Approx. Age: 5 years Altered: Yes Color: Black & Brown
GWK:
Unknown; he is great with adults and teens. GWD: Yes, but prefers self.
Rabies Vaccination:
Tag# 04-6801 Date: 8/5/04 Date Needed: 8/5/07
Canine Heartworm Check:
Negative on 8/5/04 and has received monthly Ivahart
Comments:
Came to shelter after being rescued from a group of kids who stabbed Eagle in the left
eye with a stick. Eagle's left eye was removed at Kelliwood Animal Clinic.
Mr. K's No Kill Animal Shelter that desperately needs several temporary foster homes. It's very sad what happened to its eye. ( Eagle the beautiful dog ) Mr. K's is having to find fosters and/or adoptive homes for many of its animals due to requirements by the County and SPCA. Like this dog, many are considered "unadoptable" because they have been injured, etc., They need lots of help.
If not, please forward to all your animal-loving friends. Thank you for helping these wonderful dogs.
JUNE 1, 2005
Abilene, TX - Pet Stop - Burned & Stolen
This has been such a nightmare. The shop attached to ours in the back was the first to be broken into. They took an ax and a hammer from that shop, and a bunch of old chemicals. They then broke into our side and spread the chamicals around and set it on fire. The police found very very good fingerprints, and blood. So they have DNA.
Not found after the fire. One blue and gold macaw, two handfeeding baby quakers (one feathered out, one with only down fuzz), two lovebirds we were handfeeding, one green cheek conure, one headgehog, and one sulcata tortise. Dennie, I know you know a lot of bird people. Please make sure they know to be on the lookout for these birds and animals.
Thank you for your prayers. I can only hope that the fingerprints, the DNA, and the animals will lead to them finding who did this.
The store, everything in it, and all but a handfull of the animals were lost. I only hope that the animals fell asleep before the fire got them.
Please forward this email to everyone you know so we can all be watching for these animals.
If you are suspicious of anyone, please call Detective LYNN BEARD of the Abilene police department.....325-676-6613
Thank you for your help! John Stevens Greg Pace
This story was sent to you by: Amanda
-------------------- Iquana breeding out of control; trapper captures them to be euthanized --------------------
By Rhonda J. Miller Staff Writer
June 5, 2005
The iguana population is exploding, and it's probably too late to stop the non-native lizards from moving deeper into landscaped neighborhoods in Palm Beach County.
Thousands of them are devouring expensive plantings and leaving droppings that can carry salmonella, said Kenneth Krysko, a herpetologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida.
"Every year it just gets worse and worse. Ten years ago it was rare to get a complaint on an iguana. Now we get a few iguana calls every week," said Dan Szychowski, Boynton Beach animal control supervisor.
Krysko gets iguana reports from Loxahatchee and Palm Beach Gardens to the Keys.
"They're breeding out of control and they're everywhere. They're a huge problem," he said.
The population boom is most visible now, as vivid green iglets skitter out of burrows on canal banks through June and July, peak hatching time for iguanas in South Florida. In a few years these iglets, an endearing term for baby iguanas, will darken and grow to be 4- or 5-foot lizards. The adult lizards, dark olive females or reddish-gold males in breeding mode, are most active in the warmest months.
The green iguanas'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">green iguanas reach maturity in two to three years and often live for more than 15 years, Krysko said. "Iguanas can really pump out a lot of offspring over their lifespan," he said.
Scientific literature documents the first iguanas being turned loose in Florida in the 1960s, according to Krysko. With Florida weather perfect to warm their cold-blooded systems and natural predators left behind in Central and South America, iguanas are thriving.
"In Palm Beach County, the thing to do is remove them before the population explodes like it did elsewhere," he said.
Boca Raton residents Rollie and Sheryl Martin are taking a defensive approach, spraying garlic-based iguana repellent around their flowers after the reptiles destroyed a Hong Kong orchid tree and ate rows of impatiens.
"Anyone can go into a pet store and buy a baby iguana for five or 10 bucks," Krysko said. "They get a 10-gallon tank and within a year, it's too big for the aquarium. The next thing you know it's three feet long. If it's a male and it's mature, it can become aggressive in breeding season."
But one man's fascinating lizard can be another man's plague. Some people harbor both views and wrestle with the contradiction.
Iguana control falls into a no-man's land.
As a non-native species, they're not protected by state or federal laws, except the Florida law that prohibits cruelty to animals, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Willie Puz said. Nuisance iguanas can be humanely and privately trapped, but they have to be killed or kept as pets because it is illegal to release them.
Delray Beach homeowner David Johnson says he has captured 356 iguanas.
"Number 356 is the most gorgeous one yet," Johnson said, gently clipping fishing line'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">fishing line from the neck of a neon green iguana he lassoed in his back yard along the C-15 Canal, on the Delray Beach and Boca Raton border.
Johnson slips No. 356 into a clean plastic crate and drives it to Delray Beach Animal Control, where officer Ginny Feldmann shuffles it into a cage to join Nos. 354 and 355, delivered by Johnson earlier in the week.
Next stop for the iguanas that Johnson dubs the "three amigos" is Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control -- for lethal injection.
Johnson, a software engineer, spent two years researching iguanas and trying to minimize their damage in his Pelican Harbor neighborhood. He became a state-certified trapper and created a Web site, www.iguanatrapper.com.
Iguanas' biology leaves them in a near-stunned state in cool temperatures, so Johnson tried freezing them as a form of euthanasia. That prompted a neighbor to file an animal cruelty complaint with Delray Beach police.
Johnson was cleared of the charge after police checked with state and local agencies and found his methods legal and humane, but he decided to leave euthanasia to the county. He has earned accolades for thinning the herd and gets pleas to help clear other communities, but threats keep him looking over his shoulder.
The Martins asked the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for guidance, but they use their own ingenuity to clear stubborn iguanas from their yard in Spanish River Gardens along the El Rio Canal.
"At first they're a novelty, especially the bright green ones," Rollie Martin said. "But as they get older, they get uglier."
Four or five adult iguanas sometimes show up in their yard, and a few have jumped from treetops to their second-story roof. "I don't think I'd mind them if they didn't do so much damage," Martin said.
The Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale gets about 1,000 iguana calls a year and admitted almost 200 sick and injured iguanas to its hospital last year from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
"Iguanas are usually afraid of people, but they could bite or swat with their long tail if cornered," said Diane Watchinski of the care center.
Watchinski encourages humane trapping and even adoption, if people have space for an iguana habitat. But adoption is for the chosen few, and iguanas' swimming ability allows them to commute easily between neighborhoods.
"I've never heard of a case where iguanas have been in a neighborhood and disappeared," said Bill Kern, an assistant professor at the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center.
For more information on trapping and a list of authorized trappers, go to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Web site at www.myfwc.com or call the commission in Tallahassee at 850-488-4676.
Rhonda J. Miller can be reached at rjmiller@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6605.
