But that’s in someways like asking why you got into the reptile, fish or any type of exotic animal…
How many animals died in shipment or in cages from being wild caught or improper husbandry to become the trade we know today?
How many chodropythons were in freezers before established breeders found the proper husbandry and way to breed in captivity?
Heck, blue tangs have only been sucessfully bred in captivity since 2012, they were all WC like many saltwater fish.
Parti-color yorkies and double dapple doxies were culled from litters until breeders realized people would pay big money for a dog you can’t show.
This is the kind of **** PETA wants you to remember for everything.
The only thing you can really do is remember that some people who work/worked for those big box stores DO want things to improve and have tried to keep the animals as happy and cared for as they could. I know I did while working one. And remember that if you DO want to see change that there needs to be a bigger change than just " Eww, don’t buy there" because that honestly doesn’t change anything. The problem is people seeing the animals sold there as being disposable and that’s the major change needed to stop that from happening.
Dog becoming ‘part of the family’ and how cruel puppy mills are is the only reason pet stores are starting to shy away from selling dogs. It’s very unlikely that will ever happen in our lives with reptiles in the mainstream.
There are still issues with not all breeders being ethical in any space as well. Heck I remember one up and coming BP breeder saying his oldest BP is only around 3 years old and was selling ‘imperfect’ animals on this site. So even saying go to a breeder is sometimes a crapshoot.
I think that sums up the last of my thoughts on the topic.