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View Full Version : So mad! Mistreated syrians!


GillyXBean
04-20-06, 08:48 AM 04-20-06
I went to our local Meijer's, which is a lot like a super Wal-mart. They have a small pet section with mostly fish, but also some hamsters, guinea pigs, birds, and assorted small reptiles.

I was there on Monday, and the condition of 1 tank for the hamsters (there's 2 tanks with ham's, and 3 EMPTY tanks) was pretty bad. All the ham's are male syrian's, probably about 3 months old, some even older.

In 1 tank was 4 hams, including one that had wedged his HEAD under the plastic seperator, and got it stuck. In the other tank was 12 ham's. The tank is one of those long pull out drawers, split down the middle. The 3 empties is the same size drawer, split into 3 section. The actual tank size (for each side of the split) is about the floor space of 2 10 gallons, maybe 7 inches tall, forming a square.

Well, the 12 ham's in the one tank did NOT look healthy, including 1 that I was pretty sure was dead. I flagged someone down, got someone from the department to come over and free the stuck ham, and he prodded the "dead" one, and it moved, but it was listless. I told them then that the ham's were NOT meant to live that closely, and that they should seperate them, because NONE were healthy.

It was really gross! I mean, they're all male ham's, and they had their testicals all hanging out and in lots of cases, so enlarged that they were dragging behind the poor things.

Well, he told me he'd talk to the manager about seperating them into those empty cages, and that was that.

I was back today, and now, there's not 12 in the cage. There's 16. They looked even worse today, and get this- they put them on clearance! I'm so mad!

Is there a number I can call to report them for thier horrible treatment? On the front of every cage it has a sticker that says, "We only sell healthy pets!" Healthy pets, my ass. Sure, the ham's are the only ones that are looking sick at all, but my lord! Even an idiot who had never seen a hamster could tell they were sick. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

dwankrista
04-20-06, 09:23 AM 04-20-06
you really need to file a complain with your local ASPCA. that's terrible.

janie36
04-20-06, 10:19 AM 04-20-06
Hi,
I don't know how things work in your country ( i'm in the UK), but here it would definately be a case for the RSPCA which I presume is our equivalent of the ASPCA that dwankrista mentioned. It sounds horrendous, poor little things, I'm sure you had a hard job walking away from that without taking them all with you, I know I would've:-(

GillyXBean
04-20-06, 10:36 AM 04-20-06
I am emailing ASPCA right now. Thank you!

PetLuver21257
04-20-06, 12:42 PM 04-20-06
Ugh, I hate stores like that.

Behind their back, separate them yourself and get all of the bedding and food and stuff that they need from the pet care aisles! ;)

GillyXBean
04-20-06, 12:48 PM 04-20-06
They have all the stuff they need- it's just... 16 in one cage isn't healthy by any stretch of the imagination. I think more than anything, that's what's making them so unhealthy. :(

PetLuver21257
04-20-06, 02:54 PM 04-20-06
Oh, I know what you are saying, I should have said that you should get more tanks and separate them. Because there will be more tanks, and not enough bedding or food or toys to go around, get all the supplies from the pet care aisle...

Moosley
04-20-06, 03:17 PM 04-20-06
just like to add that enlarged testicles is NOT a problem at all! It is perfectly normal LOL

BUT... it is a symptom that they are too hot.... they become enlarged to they have a larger surface area so they cool down quicker....