The Rescue Conundrum
What’s up reptile fans!? I hope everybody had a great holiday, or for those outside the US a fantastic weekend! I wanted to write a quick blog today to address something that has been bouncing around my mind lately. I see a complete lack of respect or attention given to the non sexy part of the hobby…animals in shit conditions needing rescues and those that will or do rescue them.
The majority of the hobby has become all about the breeders, and those who aspire to be breeders. Many of us have forgotten or ignored what is likely the largest demographic group you could sell animals to which, is actually the everyday pet owner. The folks who just want one or a couple pets in a display in their living room or bedroom. Now this is also the very group that would adopt rescued animals and give them an amazing home. What is it that has me thinking about this issue?
Firstly as most know, for me it’s always the animal first. Their care and need to thrive is the priority. Some of you may know that my wife and I are also dog owners. We own a Siberian husky, and now we just adopted a second mixed breed, likely part snow dog. Why do I bring this up? Because all 4 mammals(2 cats also) in the house are rescues. Being a part of the husky community has opened my eyes to the sad state of affairs for their breed with so many people having them and then disposing of them because they are not equipped to handle the breed(sound familiar?). The amount of huskys in rescues right now and shelters, doing absolutely awful is heartbreaking. In that environment they go down hill very fast and it becomes that much harder to find them a home. There are some amazing rescues and organizations however that dedicate themselves to rescuing these animals, rehabilitating them, and adopting them out to qualified homes so they get a new lease on life. This is a concept that should be celebrated.
If you can’t see the parallel to that and our hobby of reptiles, you either haven’t been around long enough or have lived under a rock. For to long the focus has been how sexy it is to be a breeder and becoming a big name in the hobby. The truth is we actually have a cancer attached to our amazing hobby. The huge number of animals that have ended up in the wrong hands, and now are either still there, or are in rescues. Hundreds of thousands of them. Who’s to blame? Nobody. Everybody. The truth is many have ended up this way from big box pet stores, but just as many if not more have from the hobby’s lack of personal responsibility on the breeders. We all see it at shows, vendors selling animals with no moral or otherwise responsibility…they just want the sale. How many can honestly say they ask the important questions of perspective buyers? Especially when the species in question has specialized care and husbandry requirements.
So you see, we are all a bit to blame here. We are the ones who allow most reptile shows to have those vendors. We have done our part to allow animals in unqualified hands. The hobby is huge with many different aspects and it’s a complicated discussion all around. But we need to admit we have done a poor job of promoting and helping the best rescues. We have done a poor job of creating a better environment for those who would like to adopt, or rescue. Just like the Siberian husky, these animals require specialized care, and deserve to be put in the right hands. We shouldn’t shame those who realize they shouldn’t have an animal and want to adopt it out. What we SHOULD do, is create the culture around rescues that would motivate some reptile lovers to become those beacons of hope for individual animals. There should be a positive light put on the good rescues, and the happy ending adoption stories. The hobby really needs to stop shunning this issue.
I don’t want you to think I wrote this putting down breeders. Quite the contrary actually, I want to commend those rescuing and adopting. My friends, I’m a breeder myself, and I do no rescuing or adopting at all to really speak of. The fact is I have a few rare species that I work with and am working on producing that can be fragile, and bringing in potential pathogens(even with quarantine) from rescued animals would be reckless at best. I’m also a realist and an advocate for the best care possible for animals. We need to stop putting down those who rescue or adopt, or even buy from pet stores to save an animal(as long as they know what they are doing and getting themselves into). This whole ideology of it’s not a rescue if your buying from a box store is a bit skewed. It’s not wrong to say at the end of the day that money will just turn around and put another animal in the same place. And by all means, if their care is poor, address it with upper management. But if you think about it your not going to stop those stores anyway. Your moral high ground doesn’t mean shit to them or their bottom line. But….the person taking that animal and setting it up correctly, and maybe even spoiling it a little(as long as it’s healthy spoiling)…well to that individual animal -it means EVERYTHING.
