 | Posted by: | Tina, starme169@hotmail.com | | Subject: | Reporting pet stores | | When: | 9:45 PM, 09 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 129.219.72.169 |
Today I went into a local pet store to pick someting up for my girls and I noticed they were selling gliders so I went over to take a look and see if they were being taken care of and I was appaled at what I saw. There were several gliders in a cage that was mabey 1 foot by 2 feet. They were only being fed dog food, that parott stuff and sunflower seeds. Needless to say one of the gliders was very obese-mabey 3/4 the size of a baseball. And they were all filthy-their white fur was a yellow brown. I spoke with one of the girls and tried to educate her on gliders eating needs and tried to tell her that these gliders were in serious trouble. But of course she looked at me like I was an idiot. Is there someone I can contact or write to try to get this store to not be able to sell gliders.
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| Posted by: | dagny | | Subject: | none | | When: | 10:23 PM, 09 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 24.18.196.238 |
you can call a local animal rescue leauge or ASPCA and report them. is there a glider rescure leauge in your area?
| Posted by: | Barb, blooprints@yahoo.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:37 PM, 09 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 63.180.48.6 |
You might take note that even pet stores must have a USDA license in order to sell sugar gliders. Do you want to report them to the USDA? Where is the petstore located???
| Posted by: | Bourbon | | Subject: | none | | When: | 5:46 AM, 10 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 216.248.35.210 |
Tina the sad thing is , that usda regs are so minimal that they can just about get away with anything. here is a quick rundown on what you CAN NOT do anthing about.
1. cage size, minimum for usda says they only need to stand up and turn around, so in essence they can be placed in just about anything from a 1'X1' cage to a gallon jug.
2. food, as long as they can show something that says this is what they should feed them, old outdated books, any book, it doesn't even have to be correct, a print off from a website. again, it doesn't have to prove to be healthy.
3. fur color,, as they can say this is normal coloring , as many books show gliders with stained bellies.
What we CAN do something about.
1. USDA Licensing, ask if they are USDA licensed, if so ask for their Number. If not their is your best chance. Also the most common for having gliders removed from the sales floor, they are given a time period to comply, if they do not, the gliders get confiscated and taken to another USDA licensed breeder or rescue home in the area.
2. Direct Sunlight into their nesting area. they must have a sleeping object that protects them from the lights, and CAN NOT be in direct sunlight or exposed to the elements.
3. Bugs, and pests within the enclosure, food left for several days etc..
4. Stress location, if they are in the bird areas, with birds that are allowed out of their cage, that could traumatize them, surrounded by snakes etc.. as these are natural prediators. In the midst of loud dogs barking etc.. If the cage is in an area that it is being bumped, and vibrations that could traumatize it. Right beside the phone, or cash register. etc.. where loud noise can disturb it.
5. If the gliders are sickly, or needs medical attention.
The best you can hope for is to call the USDA rep in your area, and hope they get right on it. I personally deal directly with the APHIS page The will notify the person responsible for the area.
I myself have been able to get several gliders pulled from the stores, mostly based on no licenses, those that did comply, at least had a copy of the regs, and tried to maintain them. Those that didn't well, they are not selling gliders.
| Posted by: | possum007, possum007@hotmail.com | | Subject: | Another alternative | | When: | 1:39 PM, 10 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 209.48.144.34 |
This might sound crazy, but you could try calling the Better Business Bureau. When you call the BBB, you will most likely have to explain what a sugar glider is to them, and you'll also have to explain that this business that you're reporting has horrible living conditions for this animal. I know that the USDA is responsible for the health conditions of animals, but the BBB can also become part of this because the pet store's products are not what they should be. I know its not right to refer to a sugar glider as a 'product', but that is how these pet stores treat them.
Let us know if you have any luck with either of these orginizations. Also check the phone book or your city's website to see if there are any animal rights orginazations close by.
Eric
| Posted by: | Kerry, gryphon214@aol.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 2:23 PM, 10 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 152.163.207.84 |
This is an idea I've had in the past that I thought I would run past you guys in response to this. I think the best way to deal with these pet store problems is through education!
Is there anyway that a bunch of glider lover and certified experts (i.e. vets, zoologists, etc) can put together an official flyer or brochure on the care, feeding, maintance of sugar gliders? Including warnings about how this info is always under research, about how high maintnance these pets are and that kinda of stuff? That way, anyone of us or others who are concerned by the treatment of sugar gliders can order these (or download copies to print up) to give to our local petstores, for their own use or for them to hand out to prospective owners? If we have something that is this official then we don't look like just a bunch of people who think we know it all. It seems that alot of petstores get their info from breeders who use out of date info, or other out of date publications and these, to anyone, seem like a better resource then the random person off the street who comes in and tries to tell the petstores that they know better.
Are their any national non-profit sugar glider rescue organizations that could lend their name and aid to this project?
Kerry (with Jack and Gus-Gus)
| Posted by: | Teresa, tree_burgard@yahoo.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 8:00 PM, 10 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 209.207.51.195 |
Call PETA or go to their website. They will take care of pretty much everything. Just give them the store and address. I called them about a petstore in Milwaukee and they fined them and made them get a license.
| Posted by: | Tina, starme169@hotmail.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:34 PM, 10 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 149.169.66.116 |
I plan to go to the store tomorrow and ask about their license. The gliders cage is probably about 1 foot from a bird cage housing around 10 birds. Within 5 feet are dogs not in cages but rather on open platforms. The store is very noisy due to barking dogs and constantly chirping birds. I know that these gliders probably never sleep and I am sure that they are very sick. The petstore is located in Tempe Arizona. How do I go about contacting the USDA?
| Posted by: | Bourbon | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:31 AM, 11 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 216.248.35.237 |
you can start here, it has the regulations. and an email addy, just contact them, I haven't had any problems seeing immediate results
<a href=http://www.aphis.usda.gov/reac/>http://www.aphis.usda.gov/reac/</a>
| Posted by: | Lin | | Subject: | none | | When: | 12:16 PM, 11 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 152.163.213.67 |
I hope those gliders are helped A.S.A.P.! On the other hand, I bought my glider from a USDA approved place only to find out that she was sick and then died 10 days later. Its very possible that this horrible pet store is licensed also. So I hope that some organization can help these poor gliders very soon. How much are they going for there in AZ? Good Luck Tina
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