As I stated before it was also brought up at the TARAS meeting in Calgary and I know there has a mumber of letters drawn up from down south and sent to our sister city.

As TARAS cannot really do much more than offer to help educate people the resonse from the society is as follows...


As a result of the current outrage voiced by a large number of TARAS members and by other concerned reptile hobbyists, TARAS (The Alberta Reptile and Amphibian Society) has been asked to state its position in regard to a certain pet store currently operating within this province.

This store is retailing animals, and in particular reptiles, which are routinely kept in deplorable conditions that are extremely detrimental to the health and well being of those animals.

We have been made aware of and shown photographs which provide evidence of general neglect, overcrowding, malnutrition and the failure to properly administer to the needs of the many animals in their care. Many of the animals seen seem to be very sick or near death.

As a society we have no legal recourse other than to alert the local branches of the SPCA and hope that they in turn, will take whatever necessary action they see fit

TARAS would therefore like to issue the following statement:

As a society whose objectives include responsible pet ownership as well as providing education in the husbandry and conservation of reptiles and amphibians, TARAS does not condone the mistreatment of any animal. We would therefore advise our members and all other concerned hobbyists to refrain from buying animals from this or any other source which does not provide reasonable and acceptable care for the animals which may be in their possession.

By TARAS refusing to support those pet outlets deemed guilty of mistreatment or cruelty to the animals in their care, we would hope that those outlets will be forced to change their method of care or run the real risk of losing the support of the community and its customers.

Meanwhile, until the husbandry methods employed by this particular pet outlet improves to an acceptable level, our members should continue to advise others to avoid purchasing sick or dying animals from this or other questionable sources.


I know it may not seem like a lot but by everyone taking notice of this and reading the BOI at Fauna Clasifieds they all know the store in question and I believe that with the already mentioned media attention and boycotts by a vast majority of people will either correct this issue or drive this person/ business to close doors permantly.

Thanks to everybody that is taking part in this no matter how big or small... It shows that we as a community will stand together.