AR-News: (NY - US) Update on Wallaby at pet store

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

 Follow up on Wallaby in NY pet store -
 
Please cross post -
 
>From I-SPEAK, International Society for the Protection of Exotic Animal Kind 
and Livestock, Inc.
 
 
I-SPEAK would like to thank all the people and groups trying to help the 
Kangaroo in a NY pet store.  After continued contacts with different agencies the 
following is being noted.
 
The Town of Brookhaven Supervisors office has stated that there is no town 
regulation against owning or selling Wallabies.  

The pet store  BEST NATURE PETS OLD TOWN ROAD PORT JEFFERSON STATION, LONG 
ISLAND - NY has a Dama wallaby (also known as Tammar wallabies, they are much 
cheaper to buy.  They are bred and sold by U.S. breeders for around $ 600- for 
babies, much lower for adults, or given away.) and has a USDA permit, per the 
USDA.

The  SPCA checked and stated the wallaby had food and water.  Even if cruelty 
exists this SPCA is well known to ignore or cover up problems.  Upon 
I-SPEAK's lawsuit against the USDA primate enhancement 
<A HREF="http://www.animallaw.info/cases/caus154f3d426.htm">http://www.animallaw.info/cases/caus154f3d426.htm</A>  using the Long Island Game 
Farm as an example, they used an animal exhibitor to go on TV news with their 
members (the exhibitor was even identified as a government agent) to state 
that conditions were all right.  They also use LIGF as a exotic animal 
consultant. 
 
This SPCA refused to stop abuse of elephants from the Clyde Beatty Circus 
from 1996 to present, resulting in the death of four elephants and suffering of 
another recently retired.
 
The SPCA also stated that other pet stores with active animal abuse were 
fine, when police complaints were filed and the Suffolk County police contacted 
the SPCA to ask about the conditions.  BTJ Jungle in Islip had a primate in very 
poor health and mental conditions.  Even a highly credited vet that held a 
position as a supervisor from the NY State Department of Agriculture's statement 
was ignored.  While I-SPEAK feels it is wrong to take matters into your own 
hands, ALF did remove the primate from the store, which we admit most likely 
saved its life.  
 
Any individual can incorporate an SPCA, one per county, with no agency 
overseeing them.  This same SPCA had started as a SPCC (children) but the attorney 
general went after them for non activity.
 
1.  It appears that the best defense for not taking proper action is to deny 
that cruelty exists.
 
2. It is near impossible, if not impossible to have cruelty involving exotics 
corrected in the Town of Brookhaven.
 
----- Original Message ----- From: 

  Me and my friend went to the pet store tonight.  They have a Dama Wallaby 
(Kangaroo) named Tyson.  He came from Texas the sign said.  I don't know if 
that changes anything that we can do about this since it's a Wallaby. The 
enclosure that they have him in is pathetic and sad.  Do you know the pools that they 
have at carnivals where you have to hit the button with a ball and the person 
falls into the water?  Well one section of it is like the pool section of one 
of those and then there's a rectangular section of some sort of wall and 
plexiglass.  The bottom of the cage is lined with a ton of hay on the floor.  
There was a food bowl on top of the hay ready to tip over, no water was visible at 
all. I went up the counter and waited to be helped but was completly ignored 
by three employees.  I finally went up to one guy and played dumb and asked if 
he was for sale, he said no.  So I asked how I could get one just to see if I 
could get them to talk about it at all, he said I would have to speak to the 
owner's wife or girlfriend or whatever she was.  So I took a few steps over 
and waited to talk to her, I was ignored by her for at least 3 minutes while she 
talked to the other employee about paying him $5.00 of pay. I finally 
interupted and said "Excuse me!" and then pretended again that I was interested in 
getting one and asked if the Walaby was for sale and how could I get one.  She 
told me that they don't sell them to individual people and the only way I could 
get one was through the illegal pet trade but that the USDA would eventually 
catch up to me.  So I said "Well then how did you get him".  She claims that 
their friend got him illegally and was about to get caught or something so 
because they were opening up the store they went about getting the proper 
licensing through the USDA and DEC and took him from their friend. I couldn't think of 
anything else to really ask without getting her too suspicious so I asked her 
if he's supposed to have water, she said yes that there was a fresh bowl of 
water in his cage.  So I immediatly said "No there isn't, I was just over by 
him and there's nothing there".  She swore that she just gave him fresh food and 
water and then said unless the other employee just took the water bowl out to 
clean it - if she just gave him fresh water, why would another employee do it 
again? So we left with her giving me the death stare the entire time. Tyson 
looks absolutely miserable.  He was laying down with his back legs stretched 
out in front of him and the rest of his body was hunched over.  He just layed 
there not moving and just staring.  He looks so sad! I don't know what I can 
really do with making phone calls because I work full time and can't make those 
types of phone calls from my job.  What can we do? This place also had a decent 
sized turtle in a cage like a fish tank, it was lined with bedding like for 
mice or rats - no water, no food.  There's crickets running around on the 
floor, rabbits, mice, rats, chinchilla, etc.  The place is disgusting. Please help! 
  
 


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