You know, I will say that I believe in the cause of these organizations: Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue and The Society for Horned Lizard Preservation (both run by the same guy, as far as I can tell). I completely understand that spur-of-the-moment purchasing a lizard that I don't know much about is generally not the smartest idea. HOWEVER, I bought him so that he could get the care that he needs and deserves, which it didn't seem like he was getting from the seller. I didn't know that these little guys are often ganked out of the wild. I would not have been happy with that. Would that have stopped me from buying him? I don't know, but it's not likely. I don't really believe that it's the right thing to do to leave someone in a bad situation when there is another option. If I hadn't bought him, some other person would have. My point is that laws need to be put in place to stop the underground or illegal pet trade. That is bigger than me. And for the record, I did not break any laws by purchasing Koopa. It is not illegal to buy or own horned lizards in Alabama.
All of that being said if I have knowledge of how to care for an animal that you have or that you want to have - I will tell it to you. I WILL TELL IT ALL TO YOU because I care for that creatures well-being. I think education is SO VERY important and I really feel like guilt-tripping people is counter-productive to any cause. It makes people not want to deal with or support you. I think that yes, VERY YES, some people are stupid and thoughtless and will just never get it. But often when someone has tried to help an animal their heart is in the right place and they care. That is a damn good foundation for a new volunteer or advocate. Intentionally being rude just does no one any good - especially the animals.
So even though the following statement appears right in General Info section of the Society for Horned Lizard Preservation the guy has refused to help me because he doesn't like where I got the lizard and because he feels that I am emotional. I think that's pretty crappy. Check out his statement and see what you think: "Each individual represents the whole of them, and is no less important. This is how we will save them." That being said, I find his actions to be very hypocritical.
After a few email exchanges where I felt that he was unnecessarily harsh I sent him this message:
"I'm not getting emotional on you. I haven't taken anything you've said personally, but I will say that I've learned from experience that guilt-tripping people for not knowing something usually doesn't get anyone on your side, no matter how noble your cause. The tone of your emails is harsh, and while I DO understand and YES, even agree with your position, I don't think that people generally want to deal with someone that is making them feel bad. I believe that education is the most important thing, and you can do that without making people who have their hearts in the right place feel like shit for what they've done. Those are the kinds of people that you actually have a chance at getting to be on your side.
I can deal with you and have chosen to overlook the tone of your emails because I know that passion for these animals is what drives a rescuer, but for dealing with the general public you might want to re-think the way you talk to people. While you may be doling out much-needed facts there IS a distinct attitude in your messages that is not appealing. If you were unaware, then you needed to know. I will point out that this is not me being emotional and I am not trying to insult you. You seem knowledgeable and like you genuinely care for these lizards, so that is just some honest feedback for you.
As for the money and the mail-order bugs, that's not a huge deal-breaker for me. I did read that he needed ants that I would have to order before I bought him, so I knew that going in. I have never before dumped an animal just because they took some work and effort and I will not start now. My main concern is his well-being - as it always was. Otherwise, it wouldn't have even crossed my mind to send him to you.
Seeing as how I've never shipped an animal, can you tell me how to do that? Do you use UPS or Fed-Ex or US Mail? Is there anything special I would need to do to pack him up? What is the address that I would be sending him to? And who are the people in ID? I will check everyone out before I send him anywhere. I guess I have a lot to think about.
In the mean time I'm going to PayPal you $20 for some ants. Little guy needs to eat. That is not a sure sign that I am keeping him, but it will give me a chance to mull things over and check everyone out. I would appreciate it if you sent me all of the information I need for shipping, as well as some information on who would be rehabbing / releasing him if it comes to that.
Thank you for your time."
To which I get this gem in response:
"K you just went in the wrong direction with me. I read about two sentences. I'm not going to bother with the rest of this tripe. You absolutely are candy ass level emotional. If you feel "guilt tripped" then that's your goddamned problem, not mine. My job is not to make YOU feel better about your uninformed impulse buys, you nitwit. If you had any amount of real rescue and rehab experience you would have known better. I put out info as it lies, without any regard to how you want to take it. You want to get ass hurt? Be my guest. You'll now do it elsewhere. My email tone is not "harsh". The tone of my email is facts to someone who claims he knows better, but doesn't look like it from where I sit, so you need a good dose, and I don't give any little crap how you want to feel about it. I gave you direct factual information based on experience. It only shows that you have not the ability to process critical information which might make you "feel" bad. Grow a pair...then find yourself someone else to buy ants from. I select my customers. They don't select me. If this is you who paid the $20, I'm assuming for the manual, for the sake of this lizard I'll send it and then hope your ass reads it and learns something before you kill the lizard. As to anything else, your money and patronage is not welcome here again."
And I'M the emotional one?! So then he goes on to shit-talk me on both of his Facebook pages. That's lovely. When I was Googling horned lizard care last night I kept seeing his user name in all of the forums and he was just as rude, mean, immature, condescending, and unprofessional there. He claims he's the only person in the US who can care for these lizards and that everyone else is going to kill them because he's the one with the FACTS. I've seen his YouTube page and while I'm no expert, he does seem to be good at what he does. It's just so unfortunate for the animals that he has to act like such a douchebag. 🙁
I feel like if he really cared for all of the animals that he'd put the information out there in hopes that people would learn and do the right things. His rescue is having financial difficulties according to one of his Facebook pages and all I can (sarcastically) think is "I wonder why?"
I have been debating about whether to buy his care sheet or not. I'm leaning towards not and just taking Koopa to the vet if he doesn't thrive. We have two of the best reptile vets not far away at all, so I'm not extremely worried.
To anyone who read this whole thing, congratulations. The purpose of my post was to state my side publicly, since I'm being trash-talked elsewhere on the internet. Every time I'd try to respond to any of his posts he just deleted it and blocked me, so I thought I'd come over here to my page and have my say. And for the record, Mike, if you come over here responding this - I'll show you that I have the bigger balls by not removing your posts. I'm not ashamed of anything I've said or done, but you certainly should be.
