30/08/2025
Good evening friends.
We had an interaction this afternoon that was absolutely unacceptable. First time dealing with someone like this in the years we've been operating.
I had a 14 minute video recorded, but unfortunately I cannot get it to upload here for whatever reason, so here I am typing this all out.
We were contacted by an individual on August 13th in regards to an ill bearded dragon. This individual had taken possession of this beardie as well as another beardie that he stated he rescued from an improper situation. He stated that he'd had them for a "few weeks" and that the one beardie was doing well, but the other was declining.
This individual had also reached out to us back in both May and June about adopting from us, and stated at that time they had multiple reptiles and mentioned opening a reptile store in their city of residency. They never followed through with the adoption process, thankfully.
I explained to this individual that we were not able to take on the beardie at this point in time, and why.
We are on a limited intake basis for the time being until we manage to complete our facility we have been working so hard on for the past few months.
I did take the time to give the reccomendation to run a f***l sample in to a vet, because odds were high that the animal very well could just have a heavy parasite load and a deworming could possibly be extremely helpful in such a case.
He read it, but never replied.
Fast forward to this afternoon. This same individual messaged us again asking if we would take this beardie.
I advised him at this point, that we would be willing to intake him here but that we would request that he paid a $50 donation/surrender fee that would be applied directly to this animal's Vet bill, which would absolutely supersede $50.
Well apparently, he did not like this answer, and his demeanor immediately switched to name calling/cussing. At this point, I was on an errand and our Miss Mary had taken over the messenger and she (understandably so) proceeded to reciprocate that energy.
His last message to us was a threat of physical violence, at which point he was blocked/banned from this page.
We are VOLUNTEERS. We are all volunteers here. This is not a paid gig. We are not funded by the state nor any other agency. We are a non-profit organization. This is a labor of love and dedication.
We have some amazing supporters within you all, who help us drastically to continue to be able to do what we do here. That being said, even with support we do get, the majority of our expenses are still out of our own pockets. ALL rescues are struggling to stay afloat right now. All of them. Add to the fact that we are one of the only active reptile rescues in this region, and you will understand why we stay so busy! We work not only with citizens from surrounding areas/states but also with our surrounding shelters, police departments and even the state's F&W dept.
It was absolutely not unreasonable for us in this specific case under these specific circumstances to request a nominal donation to be applied for this animal's veterinary bill that would absolutely exceed that amount at this point, because the animal appears to be in critical shape.
I would like to also state that if you choose to take possession of an animal that was not kept in proper conditions and is doing poorly, please be aware that you are very likley to incur medical expenses for said animal.
Anyhow, I will be attaching screenshots for FULL transparency stemming back from the very first time this individual contacted us.
I would say 'gentleman' rather than 'individual,' but any grown "man" that threatens a woman with physical violence is anything but.
Please keep in mind we are all doing our best here. We have managed to help COUNTLESS animals and people to date and will continue to do so to the best of our abilities, but we are also human beings just like you all and we will NOT tolerate verbal abuse and especially not physical threats. Professionalism goes out the window once that occurs.
Anyhow, here are the screenshots below so you all are fully informed in regards to this situation.
