How can one make someone make change?
Chinchilla lovers, I come to you with a request for aid, or advice. Or both...
I went into a pet store today, on a lark, while I was visiting a friend in the city. At first, I was overwhelmed by the heat, but noticed that they had mostly reptiles in their care. Said reptiles looked well-fed, healthy, and quite pleased with the temperature. It didn't ruffle me overmuch, until I reached the back of the store.
The temperature was uncomfortable for me, in my tshirt. It must have been upwards of 80-85 degrees F (or about 30 degrees C)
...and there were chinchillas back there, among the fancy ("oops" litter) rats, mice, and hamsters. Ideal temperature for chins (as you all likely are aware) is about 17-24 C ... beyond that point, they start to enter the range of heat stroke. Hell, at the 25 degree range, they can potentially begin to show symptoms of heat stroke. The store didn't seem to have AC, and I didn't notice any fans running. Possibly because by the time I should have been checking, I was seeing red. My friend had to haul me out of the store as I stammered and spluttered uselessly. "But he-! But I-! They should-! How could-?! I ought to-!!"
I was livid.
I AM livid.
But I've tried steering stores in the right direction before via gentle, non-confrontational informative nudges (ie: "Hi, I'm a long-time chinchilla owner, and: the wheel you have in your chinchillas' cage can cause spinal problems because it's too small and reverses the curve of the animal's spine." ... "Hi, your chinchillas need something other than a fish bowl to hide in, being constantly exposed puts undue stress on the animal" ... "Hi, your chinchillas should have access at some point to a dust bath/clean drinking water/ pine shavings are known to cause respiratory diseases in rodents/ etc etc etc" ...) I've spoken to managers, clerks, grunts who seem genuinely interested, and nothing gets changed. I return to the store, hopefully and ready to become dewy-eyed, and nothing has happened. I doubt this place will be any different.
I don't want to ruin an independent business, but I also am wholly galled by the ignorance of someone caring for and intending to sell these stressed and at-risk-of-serious-illness-and-possibly-death animals.
It doesn't make sense to me - from both an ethical standpoint (because it's unquestionably abusive to the poor creatures, and it's OBVIOUS) and from a business stand point (the animals are worth MONEY. sick animals and unhealthy-looking animals DON'T MAKE MONEY, and dead animals are a LOSS of money, both from feed and bedding 'sunk' into them, and because they didn't make a profit by being sold).
I want to call tomorrow, and try something like "Hello, I was in your store yesterday, and noticed that you had two chinchillas, and might be interested in purchasing them - but... temperature too high, stress on the animals, etc etc"
I hate feeling so helpless. I can't motivate myself to "save them" (because then they make money and buy more rodents doomed to suffer) ... but without "saving" them, the current critters are damned to suffer in undeniably-wretched conditions.
Understandable, if vile, for the feeder rats - though I think they should be afforded at least SOME concern - heat exhaustion leads to stress, stress leads to susceptibility to disease, and feeders are bred with the intent to be made into meals. Who wants to feed their pet sick food?
But this is not even remotely 'understandable' for the animals that are intended to be sold as pets.
What should I do?
I can't head back into the city tomorrow because of personal reasons, and even if I could, how could I get the clerk, or owner, or manager, or whomever to listen to me and actually DO something about this maltreatment?
Cross-posted on chinchillin
I went into a pet store today, on a lark, while I was visiting a friend in the city. At first, I was overwhelmed by the heat, but noticed that they had mostly reptiles in their care. Said reptiles looked well-fed, healthy, and quite pleased with the temperature. It didn't ruffle me overmuch, until I reached the back of the store.
The temperature was uncomfortable for me, in my tshirt. It must have been upwards of 80-85 degrees F (or about 30 degrees C)
...and there were chinchillas back there, among the fancy ("oops" litter) rats, mice, and hamsters. Ideal temperature for chins (as you all likely are aware) is about 17-24 C ... beyond that point, they start to enter the range of heat stroke. Hell, at the 25 degree range, they can potentially begin to show symptoms of heat stroke. The store didn't seem to have AC, and I didn't notice any fans running. Possibly because by the time I should have been checking, I was seeing red. My friend had to haul me out of the store as I stammered and spluttered uselessly. "But he-! But I-! They should-! How could-?! I ought to-!!"
I was livid.
I AM livid.
But I've tried steering stores in the right direction before via gentle, non-confrontational informative nudges (ie: "Hi, I'm a long-time chinchilla owner, and: the wheel you have in your chinchillas' cage can cause spinal problems because it's too small and reverses the curve of the animal's spine." ... "Hi, your chinchillas need something other than a fish bowl to hide in, being constantly exposed puts undue stress on the animal" ... "Hi, your chinchillas should have access at some point to a dust bath/clean drinking water/ pine shavings are known to cause respiratory diseases in rodents/ etc etc etc" ...) I've spoken to managers, clerks, grunts who seem genuinely interested, and nothing gets changed. I return to the store, hopefully and ready to become dewy-eyed, and nothing has happened. I doubt this place will be any different.
I don't want to ruin an independent business, but I also am wholly galled by the ignorance of someone caring for and intending to sell these stressed and at-risk-of-serious-illness-and-possibly-death animals.
It doesn't make sense to me - from both an ethical standpoint (because it's unquestionably abusive to the poor creatures, and it's OBVIOUS) and from a business stand point (the animals are worth MONEY. sick animals and unhealthy-looking animals DON'T MAKE MONEY, and dead animals are a LOSS of money, both from feed and bedding 'sunk' into them, and because they didn't make a profit by being sold).
I want to call tomorrow, and try something like "Hello, I was in your store yesterday, and noticed that you had two chinchillas, and might be interested in purchasing them - but... temperature too high, stress on the animals, etc etc"
I hate feeling so helpless. I can't motivate myself to "save them" (because then they make money and buy more rodents doomed to suffer) ... but without "saving" them, the current critters are damned to suffer in undeniably-wretched conditions.
Understandable, if vile, for the feeder rats - though I think they should be afforded at least SOME concern - heat exhaustion leads to stress, stress leads to susceptibility to disease, and feeders are bred with the intent to be made into meals. Who wants to feed their pet sick food?
But this is not even remotely 'understandable' for the animals that are intended to be sold as pets.
What should I do?
I can't head back into the city tomorrow because of personal reasons, and even if I could, how could I get the clerk, or owner, or manager, or whomever to listen to me and actually DO something about this maltreatment?
Cross-posted on chinchillin