Hermit Crabs and Reptiles Need Your Help

BACKGROUND

Wild and exotic animals suffer tremendously in captivity. PETA has asked the executive of Sunsations Inc.—a retailer that specializes in tourist sundries, swimwear, and apparel—to adopt a policy that prohibits the sale and display of hermit crabs, chameleons, bearded dragons, and snakes in all 35 of its stores. Sadly, our concerns appear to have been casually dismissed.

Every year, countless people give in to temptation and purchase wild or exotic animals on a whim as “pets,” but very few have the knowledge required to meet the animals’ specialized husbandry needs or the inclination to commit to the years-long responsibility of caring for them. Stolen from the wild, peddled as cheap trinkets, confined to small “habitats,” roughly handled, fed improper diets, and forgotten when the novelty wears off, these animals are doomed from the moment that they are born. 

With so many harmless products to offer tourists, Sunsations could make a profit without causing suffering. Please join us today in urging the executive of Sunsations to do the right thing and stop selling live animals at the company’s stores!


WHOM TO CONTACT

If you live in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, or Florida, please also call your local Sunsations store and ask its management to stop selling live animals!

Please send polite comments to:

Avi Sibony
Executive Sunsations, Inc.
avi@sunsationsusa.com


SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Executive Sibony,

I was shocked to learn that Sunsations sells live animals, and I am respectfully requesting you discontinue. Please allow me to elaborate. Animals are sentient creatures with the capacity to experience complex emotions; being subjected to noisy environments, loud noises, bright lights, and continuous interference from unconcerned and curious consumers causes untold suffering, including confusion, pain, and fear.

Every year, countless people give in to temptation and purchase wild or exotic animals on a whim as “pets,” but very few have the knowledge required to meet the animals’ specialized husbandry needs or the inclination to commit to the years-long responsibility of caring for them. Stolen from the wild, peddled as cheap trinkets, confined to small “habitats,” roughly handled, fed improper diets, and forgotten when the novelty wears off, these animals are doomed from the moment that they are born.

With so many harmless products to offer tourists, Sunsations could make a profit without causing suffering, but as long as you continue to unnecessarily and selfishly capitalize on the suffering of animals, I will not financially support you and will promote a boycott by informing family, friends, and members of online communities.

Please make both the ethical and financially-responsible decision to discontinue selling live animals immediately: join an increasing body of corporations who are listening to a concerned and attentive consumer population who refuse to be complicit in the inherently cruel industry of animal commerce.

Thank you for taking the time to read this important message.

NAME

these wild beings,
do not good pets make
caring for them is
precise,
and most people
just “fake”
so please do not
encourage, sell
or display,
by doing so you take
their lives and
their freedoms,
away

Karen Lyons Kalmenson