wow - what a thread to read this early in the morning
the pet trade . . .
in a sense we all are the pet trade and charged with changing it
I haven't bought live animals other than feeder fish or crickets from a store in a long time, and so I can somewhat tune out things that happen in that segment, but I do buy their stuff and did just this morning shoot off an email to let them know that yes, I'm sending them a photo of the damaged item, but I consider it environmental insanity to ship them a largish item they're just gonna toss and if that's what it takes to get the item replaced, I'll absorb the cost
I've also complained to Flukers about the insanity of shipping water crystals already expanded - shipping water in essence, but oops, I forgot - that's routine here, because the average person around here would rather drink unregulated water that's been sitting in plastic for a few weeks and has been shipped all over the globe, than risk their regulated municipal water supply, or invest in a filter
but this is america and gas is cheap - or at least it was when I last had a car . . .
when you have some extra time, watch this:
The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard
and if you don't have the time, I just want you to know that the most shocking piece of information I got from it is that in the US a whopping 99% of consumer goods end up it the landfill within less than six months
so, in a culture with this level of disposability, how do you expect people to think of their pets any differently
the fact that we have a pet trade makes animals just another consumer purchase - it's easy
so my personal dilemma is this:
which and how many animals will I breed? because I want them to go to good homes and not just make money and frankly, I'm not comfortable selling to a store
my babies are mellow and handleable and it's not about the money for me, but the care they'll receive