# The petshop owes me



## zoologist (Sep 2, 2008)

I went home over labor day weekend and had a nice 'talk' with the owner of the petshop i bought Cloud from. 
like i suspected, he refused to pay the vet bill because he said i shouldnt have taken him to a vet, i should have brought him back. i said "bring him back so he could die?! no thanks, i'm going to keep him". 
He said the reason why he got them so cheap was because they came from a big farm or something, and illness is common. i retorted with "so you sell them so cheap because you know they're sick!" he got very offended, haha. 
i told him i liked his store, and i always shopped there because it was a local business and i want to support the local businesses. i also told him i bought my turtle here, but buying a sick hedgehog is just unacceptable. 
after getting into a 10 minute altercation in front of his employees and some customers, he gave me $75 (the original cost of Cloud) and told me to never come back to the store again. 

i cried the whole way home and i don't know why.
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i'm happy that is over but now i need to know exactly who to complain to about the way he keeps his animals. I don't think Animal Cruelty should be contacted since they all seem to have food/water/shelter. the only thing he is doing wrong is denying the animals the vet care they need because he doesn't check them often enough to see that the animals are sick. I don't know who to talk to about that. Does any one have any ideas?


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## hedgie7908 (Aug 29, 2008)

Food, water, and shelter are basic needs for the animals. If this pet shop owner is denying the animals medical attention that they need, THAT IS ANIMAL CRUELTY. Contact the proper authorities.


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## lilhoglet (Aug 28, 2008)

I was hard on you on the other boards, as I was frustrated that it looked like you've been letting them slide for a while- and mainly because I wanted to stress that no matter what you should turn the guy in. Sorry for being that way, I just wanted you to see that you should stop this from happening to anyone else. I know you liked the store, but clearly they don't care much about customer service or the animals.

It seems that he might be buying them from a mill that mass breeds animals for a quick profit rather than for health. Probably why "illness is common".

Please call Animal Cruelty. I saw the pictures of Cloud and it is HARD to miss those cysts - so the only way he couldn't have seen it was if he never interacted with him. If he DID see them then he chose to ignore it. Either way - not checking your animals for health problems and not getting them the medical attention they need is cruel. Didn't you also mention in the other forum that the living arrangements were horrible? That is also animal cruelty. He needs to be turned in and hopefully Animal Cruelty will find a way to have him compensate you for the vet bill.


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## Gnarly (Aug 29, 2008)

Definitely contact your local animal welfare group, like the ASPCA. I feel like you should also contact the USDA (if he's selling hedgehogs he has to be licensed), and Better Business Bureaus. 

There is no excuse for selling animals he knows to be sick, especially if he's not getting them the vet care they deserve. That's just disgusting, illness should not be common!!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Does he have more hedgehogs in the store, or sugar gliders? Is he USDA licensed? If he isn't and is carrying USDA regulated animals write a letter and mail/fax it to the USDA. Explain the situation, conditions you saw and they will investigate. I have turned stores in before and got a letter back a week or two later. The store I turned in had dogs that couldn't fully stand up in their cages, hedgehogs w/ mites, sugar gliders that were in the smallest of critter keepers, etc. The cleaned up their act.


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## zoologist (Sep 2, 2008)

i'm not sure if he has permits to sell these animals. he doesn't carry sugar gliders, but he does have one more hedgehog. i'm pretty sure it's cloud's sister because they arrived at the same time and are the same color.

i will look into contacting them today!


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## zoologist (Sep 2, 2008)

lilhoglet: thank you for the apology, and i appreciate it  there is nothing wrong with being passionate about animals! no hard feelings


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

For anyone who doesn't know, you can look up to see if a pet store or a breeder is USDA licensed: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfar ... ndex.shtml


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