I've been away [again] and feel it's time to breathe words into this old computer another time. I'm hoping I'll be continuing a possibly never ending series called "Protest." This is for anyone who wants a different view than is commonly held.

I'm known to be somewhat controversial, but in these protests I think I am being rather populist and aiding the common person in making very necessary decisions about day to day issues. While no doubt some find this first protest a bit off beat, I disagree. How many of you have walked into Petsmart, either alone or with your children, and contemplated buying a herp? I think the number is staggering. This is why I posted a poll at the beginning asking how many of you have purchased a reptile, amphibian, heck, even a gerbil...from the giant known as Petsmart.

It was 3 short months ago I thought maybe I'd fit working at a place like PM. I honestly studied this stuff in college, didn't finish the degree but managed to get a part time/temporary position at the Cape May County Zoo as an educational assistant during the summer -- all this leading to the fact that, while I'm not holding a PhD in herpetology at the moment, I am somewhat qualified to base this protest on fact. Indeed, I'm placing it on the basis that I am intelligently informed in this field and also that I have personal experience with the company's product(s).

I was gifted a White's Tree Frog (I'm using trade names to keep things simple) by my then-fiance for my birthday in 2007. It was about a year and a half later he just up and died. He showed no symptoms prior to his death, and for all intents and purposes, could have died from old age. The autopsy...yeah right....we'll skip that idea.

So I thought 'geez, this frog was like my best buddy. We practically grew old together in that year and a half.' So I decided PM was a decent place to buy frogs. I went to the most local parlor (Greer, SC) since there's 3 in the immediate Greenville area, and bought two frogs as a team. Apparently they grew old together too. PM had them on display for 9 months.

A little sidenote - any pets store...ANY....that holds an animal on display for 9 months should be sued. This also gives you the idea of the jacked up profit they're receiving from the sale.

I bought two frogs as a team. One was a Ornate Horned Frog (aka Pacman) and the other, a European Toad. I had the Pacman for less than 13 days before he keeled over. Humidity level was well over 90% and he died. Never ate a single thing I fed him. The Euro was about a week behind him, even though he appaeared to be thriving.

Now I have a Mali Uromastyx from a local pet store I've had for over 6 months and is freakin' awesome. He's about as active as a lizard can be, and he's not from PM. I own 2 Anoles, one caught locally by my wife and the other purchased from the same local store I got Sparticus, the Uro, from. All three are doing so well they pretty much get free reign on the house when the cat's not loose.

I also bought a Box Turtle 10 (that's right, 10) years ago from a local shop in Grand Rapids, MI. She is going stronger than ever. Her former mate, who was from (you'll never guess!) PM, died after 9 years. According to the way turtles age and me calculating that date, both are about 13-15 years old before the male's death. They live to be 35-40 years old.

I have yet to have a wild caught herp die prematurely. I obviously know how to care for them, it's not that hard. So my bone to pick with PM is their enormously inflated profit pricing and the lack of quality their specimen have. It's not the animal's fault it was held in a small cage for 9 months and can't cope with a 50 gallon terrarium upon its removal from prison. This, folks, is the fault of poor maintenance, care, and overall compassion of the Petsmart Corp.

You're probably wondering if this is just a freak of nature occurence 4 times over. Well, let me put it this way. I have friends with similar experiences and they too attribute to the same shotty care that goes on behind the glass doors of PM. There's no reason -- period -- any single animal should die within 2 weeks of being released from jail. That is unless the conditions they were kept in were so well adapted to for that 9 month span of time that they were incapable of being sold. That is an oversight on the part of PM itself.

Had they told me that the amphibious creatures had been there for 9 months, I'd have shrunk away from the situation in order to avoid the problems soon to follow. However, while I'd seen them there for a while, I was pretty much unaware that these guys were held there constantly for so long. Whether or not that meant they were cared for was moot -- these creatures were used to being in that store. Take them away and, well, you've seen the result.

Petsmart's prices are also outrageously high. The Uro I own was a mere 59.99 as a juvenile while PM prices the same exact species for 129.99. Snakes at local retailers are as low as 15.99 and as high as 99.99 (for some of the more rare imports). Petsmart always sells about anything for over 69.99. Frogs in NJ are less than 19.99, while my White's was 29.99 in SC at Petsmart.

There's one thing PM will always have that I will buy: crickets. Other than that, I've removed all intention of ever buying another animal from their stores again. This is why I protest their sales. I don't want to see a 6 year old boy purchase a pacman frog only to see that frog die a week later. It's not fair to him or the animal. The only thing that was ever accomplished was place some fat bills in the overstuffed wallet of the corporate CEOs wo still continue to rob American citizens without ever blinking an eye.