been a while since i posted last, but check this out...

[masterswimmer]

Herman, very sound advice. I agree with you. Always makes more of an impact when someone see's their own name on a letter, not an anonymous 'To whom it may concern'. Well said.

Russ

 

[Quang]

Wow, thanks for all the advice guys. I haven't had this much fun and adventure in a while....lol. Herman thanks for the info, but I can't find the email addresses of these guys. However, I have looked around and found the address and phone number (fax too) of Ed Kunzelman. I will print out the email that I sent to their generic contact email addys and snail mail it to his address. I will fax it too. And then call him on Monday to find out if there is another means of sending this letter and send it to that too. I took both Herman advice to change the greeting and Masters' suggestions but I kept it as a question. THis is what I sent to their generic "info", "sales", and "web/tech" email addys. Like fritz said, feel free to copy and mod it and send it to them if you want. It'll be interesting to see their mails flooded with our letters.

"Dear Ed Kunzelman,

I’m a resident of the New York City area. I want to make you aware of how animals, in this case aquarium livestock, are being cruelly housed. I recently discovered that a Petland Store houses a shark over two feet long in a relatively small aquarium, roughly 75-90gallons. Here’s a photo of the shark in the tank. http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/for/130722243.html
From scientific study and proven hobbyist experience, sharks should be kept in much larger, specialized environment than just a 75 gallon glass tank. I spoke to the manager over the phone about the situation and he confirmed that the shark should belong in larger tank but is reluctant to do anything about the situation. I and other members of my reef club (Manhattanreefs.com, over 1000 members strong) feel that this type of animal confinement is more than irresponsible, but cruel. I urge your company to take action on this matter. This incident is a part of wider problem with your Petland Discount chain stores. It’s become the norm to presume that most Petland Discounts stores house dead and/or disease-ridden fish and other aquatic live-stock. As a result, members here at Manhattan Reefs refrain from shopping at your stores. Aside from notifying your corporate offices of this incident, I have two questions:
1) Does Petland have any safe guards in place to monitor the purchase, containment, and treatment of its livestock?
2) How can Petland take a more proactive stance with regards to educating their staff of the needs of these living beings? My phone calls to your establishment (as well as the calls made by my fellow club members) were indicative of the poorly trained staff you have caring for these animals.
I understand that these questions and such incidents are at times extreme and may not reflect what Petland stands for. Please show us that you care for the comfort and health of our pets. My fellow reef members and I are anxiously waiting for your response and action. Thank you, Mr. Kunzelman.

Best Regards,

XXXXXXXXX


P.S. I also urge these other senior members of Petland to be aware of such situation and take appropriate action.

Frank Difatta- President
Greg Hudson- Chief Operating Officer
Brian Winslow- Director of Retail Operations
Jim Whitman- Franchise Development"

BTW here's the website for Ed's address and numbers. Scroll to the bottom http://www.thelittledoglaughed.com/Links.html

 

[janey]

I just called and cursed them out and told i'll never buy from them again.....

 

[Quang]

I just called and cursed them out and told i'll never buy from them again.....

haha janey....did you call that specific store location or their corp office?

 

[nanoreefer22]

I just called and cursed them out and told i'll never buy from them again.....

I don't think this is gonna help matter and really isn't the way to go about business IMO. Whoever you did talk to is probably having a good laugh now about what ever it is you said.
-Kris

 

[Tonyscoots84]

I agree with kris on this one... not a good wat but sometimes we let anger get the best of us... hopefully everything gets taken care of... HOPEFULLY

 

[Quang]

I got a replied from Petland Info [[email protected]]:

"From: Petland Info [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:32 PM
To: Me
Subject: RE: Animal Mistreatment in Petland Store

Thanks for writing. The shark you are writing about was dropped off at the store by a customer. The manager has done the best he can for it while we try to locate a place for it."

Wow....that was a punch in the mouth. I don't know how to respond. :tired:

 

[alrha]

I got a replied from Petland Info [[email protected]]:

"From: Petland Info [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:32 PM
To: Me
Subject: RE: Animal Mistreatment in Petland Store

Thanks for writing. The shark you are writing about was dropped off at the store by a customer. The manager has done the best he can for it while we try to locate a place for it."

Wow....that was a punch in the mouth. I don't know how to respond. :tired:

so much for giving them the benefit of the doubt. that may also explain why they dont have a price on it.
how the hell did a customer have this? (could be he had it smaller and finally realized it is outgrowing his tank).

other option is that they are lying to cover their backs. if this occurs in various petlands, it is not likely that so many customers brought in nurse sharks, if it was only at that one, then it may be possible. still, i dont see why they wouldnt have mentioned that over the phone.

 

[masterswimmer]

My next question would be to the store directly. One of us should call, playing dumb (duh), and say that we have a Pacu that has outgrown our tank. Throw them off the saltwater track, just to see if they even take in customers animals. Mom & pop LFS's will normally be accomodating, but these big chains will not normally be as willing to take in a 'stray'.

I'm thinking Petland Corporate is just playing the political game and placating us. I wouldn't be surprised if that nurse shark is on their ordering manifest from some months ago.

master

 

[Deanos]

just to see if they even take in customers animals. Mom & pop LFS's will normally be accomodating, but these big chains will not normally be as willing to take in a 'stray'.

My local Petland does accept animals from customers. I've dropped off many fish (freshwater) and reptiles (red-eared sliders & leopard geckos) and have seen birds and saltwater fish dropped off by other customers.

 

[herman]

ive witnessed on several occasions customers bringing in snakes, stingrays and sharks. But the fact of the matter is that petland does sell them knowing or not knowing that there is no way for people to house these animals in the long run.

There are so many people selling these animals on the internet, hell there are even sites where you can buy wild cats including tigers.

The only question is why are they selling this? The answer is simply economics! Supply & Demand. The truth of the matter is that over half of the people on this board are at fault also. Ive witnessed on numerous occasions (almost daily), people keeping animals that have no chance of survival in their particular tanks. There are people that think they know everything there is too know about reef keeping but the truth is that even after being in this hobby for 19 years, I know jack! And that little bit of knowledge that I have is exponentialy more than some people here on the board that think they know everything there is to know.

Let me prove my point without mentioning names. Some have very immature tanks and yet I witness them buying and buying and buying. For one there is no way that all that can be held in the small tanks that they are keeping which leads me to my conclusion that these poor animals are being killed needlessly to satisfy the egos of their owners.

Time and time again, we preach patience and research. But people dont listen. Not only do they lose so much of their hard earned cash, but they are also fueling the shoddy business practices of many petstores. How else do you think a petco can afford to have so much livestock die? For every fish that dies in the store there is a sale. And the profits are there to make up for the loss.

So who fuels this?..............................................

 

[Quang]

My next question would be to the store directly. One of us should call, playing dumb (duh), and say that we have a Pacu that has outgrown our tank. Throw them off the saltwater track, just to see if they even take in customers animals. Mom & pop LFS's will normally be accomodating, but these big chains will not normally be as willing to take in a 'stray'.

I'm thinking Petland Corporate is just playing the political game and placating us. I wouldn't be surprised if that nurse shark is on their ordering manifest from some months ago.

master

That does seem like a good idea Master. But in this situation, it'll be somewhat inappropiate to get them that way...gunning at them or entrapping them. I really hate to throw in the towel but they really got their backs covered on this one. I'm still in shock...as Albert mentioned...why didn't the manager mention this on the phone? Maybe he wanted me to waste my time getting there, getting upset, and then feeling like an idiot. :headache: ...Son of a ...:eek1:

 

[kimoyo]

I got a replied from Petland Info [[email protected]]:

"From: Petland Info [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:32 PM
To: Me
Subject: RE: Animal Mistreatment in Petland Store

Thanks for writing. The shark you are writing about was dropped off at the store by a customer. The manager has done the best he can for it while we try to locate a place for it."

Wow....that was a punch in the mouth. I don't know how to respond. :tired:

You should ask them since they accepted it why don't they just put it in a bigger tank. They are petland and I'm sure they would have no problem getting a tank. And its not that hard to setup a fish only tank.

 

[Quang]

You should ask them since they accepted it why don't they just put it in a bigger tank. They are petland and I'm sure they would have no problem getting a tank.

I was thinking the same thing kimoyo but the email does state "The manager has done the best he can for it while we try to locate a place for it." They're making a progessive stance here and that kind of gives us no leg-up on anything to throw back at them.

 

[herman]

You should ask them since they accepted it why don't they just put it in a bigger tank. They are petland and I'm sure they would have no problem getting a tank.

Quite simply because a larger tank to accomodate such a shark takes up more realestate. The petstores are cramped enough as is.

Have you guys seen the prices per square foot in NYC lately?

Not defending them, but why should they dish out the money because some a$$ bought something they could not keep in the first place.

 

[kimoyo]

Nah, man. If you accept something you also accept responsibility for it. I've been in petland (unless this is one crazy small) and they have tanks just sitting there empty for months and the sharks has been there for a while already. Why not just take one of the bigger empty tanks sitting on the floor and fill it? And if you don't have the room why not send it to one of the stores that do?

 

[herman]

If the store clerck accepts something from a customer, that does not make it petlands responsibility. They have nothing stated that they will assume responsibility for any returned or unwanted animals.

The only person to blame are the ones buying these animals. There are plenty of conservation groups that will take these animals for rerelease.

You guys are forgetting that 1. Petland is a business. 2. Its franchised out so that not all aspects of the business can be controlled by the headoffice.

 

[Quang]

Nah, man. If you accept something you also accept responsibility for it. I've been in petland (unless this is one crazy small) and they have tanks just sitting there empty for months and the sharks has been there for a while already. Why not just take one of the bigger empty tanks sitting on the floor and fill it? And if you don't have the room why not send it to one of the stores that do?

Again kimoyo, they said they're currently trying to find a place for the shark which could mean they're setting up a tank. We can call and email and they can say that "we're trying our best." The bottom line is that they look like the good guys helping out a customer and taking better care of a shark than that customer can. I thank kimoyo for your rightiousness but Herman is right, they're a business and they're not require to go to greater lengths. It'll be nice if they did but the public can't condemn them if they don't. That blow in the face knocked the wind out of my sails and the best thing I...we can do is respond to them with the Aquarium's contact info. :sigh1: :happysad: :tired: Thanks everyone for giving a damn like me in the first place.

 

[herman]

Froggie, the fact that you went as far as you did shows that you have great intent. But the letter seemed more like a protester trying to place blame.

It reminds me of the protesters that protest agains globalization and yet they take a plane to get to the destination where the protest is being held. Plane travel is part of globalization and those protesters just dont make any sense.

If anybody truly cares for this shark they would google the groups that have the ability to release these sharke in their proper habitats contact them and then send a letter to Petland giving a solution. Then you can see what the answer is.

I would not expect a different answer than what they have given. They have hordes of people and lawyers to answer mails like that one. We are not the only ones that protest against them you know.

BTW, they are not actively looking but rather waiting for someone to take the shark that willalso buy supplies from them. Like I said, they are a business.

 

[kimoyo]

If the store clerck accepts something from a customer, that does not make it petlands responsibility. They have nothing stated that they will assume responsibility for any returned or unwanted animals.

The only person to blame are the ones buying these animals. There are plenty of conservation groups that will take these animals for rerelease.

If you don't want responsibility for something you don't have to accept it. But even if (and we don't know this for sure) a customer came in the shop and said I'm going to let the shark die if you don't take it, they are now selling the shark for $300. At some point they decided to try to make a profit on the shark (as a business should) and then I would like to ask at what point should the shark be petland's responsibility?