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I appreciate your time in reading the following review.\r
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Unfortunately, and after introducing many customers to this aquarium store, I now refuse to shop at the business. During my last visit, I noticed an aquarium filled with dying American Toads, which had seemingly been hand caught and placed in a tank filled halfway with water (for those unfamiliar, Toads are a terrestrial species). This habitat had caused them to fungus, in addition to their inability to hunt, which led to the starvation of at least the dead toad that lay at the bottom.\r
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I have kept reptiles and amphibians my entire life, and felt a responsibility to try to restore the animals back to health. I asked a sales rep to inquire on the price for the whole tank (bare in mind, these toads were obviously dying and, with the exception of one healthy specimen, would never have sold). After a lengthy wait, the rep returned and informed me that the business owner (who I've previously found to be, at best, ill-informed about the species he keeps) would sell the toads for $5 each if I bought them all. Regrettably, I could not afford such a price. He then told me that the toads were purchased from a herp farmer and had been living in the tank for a couple weeks. This is hardly a testament to their health, as amphibians can go about that long without eating, as these most definitely had experienced. Also, because American toads are a PA native species, it would require documentation of this fact as well as permits for each toad saying that it is allowed to be sold in the state. Of course, the obviously healthy toad had been recently added, so the story is more than likely fabricated, at least in part.\r
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I told the sales rep that I would no longer be shopping at the business, which is a shame because I am an avid aquarist who has spent a great deal of money to try to support a local pet shop, which so frequently go under. This is one such store, however, that should be allowed to fail. I rarely criticize pet shop owners who struggle to make ends meet, especially when the victims are fish that may go home to die anyway. However, when a native amphibian in decline is taken from the wild and subjected to suffering and starvation, the neglect is no longer excuseable, and is a reflection of profound cruelty.
Cons: Supporting Animal Cruelty
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