Quote Originally Posted by rivkah View Post
If you frequent this store and are otherwise satisfied with it, I would educate the shop owner about the process, about how un-natural it is and that some will only buy this frog because of the color, what will happen to the frog, or his reputation, when the color fades? And are the few extra sales worth that?

I have found that if I have a good relationship with a store owner and calmly, very calmly (and sometimes with a little humor), explain my concerns for the creature and for the store (more importantly), the owner generally will do what I want, which could be as simple as posting a notice such as "that these frogs are un-naturally colored" , also explaining just how delight ACF can be, in this case.

I recommend that instead of just walking away from a store you have had a good history with, try to educate so that every creature purchased would be wanted by the buyer for what it really is and for its natural life span. Its better for the creature and actually better for the store.

I have certain favorite stores, and the owers are so used to me being a brat (or is it a different "b word"?) that I get away with too much, including changing descriptions and getting major discounts.

As our mothers used to tell us "you catch more flies with honey than you can with vinager".

Two sides to this coin,..

I did some research into "animal dying" a while back.
In Asia it's very dangerous to the animals, the application, the long term effects, the danger to the people who handle the animal afterwards etc.. b/c asian markets use dangerous (sometimes toxic dyes) as they're cheap and easy to use and last longer with more vibrant colors. The benefit$$ outweigh the lost animals in the process and there's not really a lot of animal sympathy in Asia in the first place.

In the US frogs and fish are unharmed in the process.
In the US All the dyes are veggie based in most cases and for amphibians/fish/reptiles actually have nutrients mixed in so it's actually like a vitamin booster.
Those dyed froggies aren't be harmed, and are actually handled better b/c they now have additional time and effort put into them and are more expensive to lose. But if your frogs are from the US they should be fine and the US has started cracking down on imported dyed fish/frogs b/c of the toxicity of the chemicals (it may be completely illegal as an import by now.

Any mammals (again in the US) (mice/rats/bunnies etc..) no harm,.. They're just "dipped" and while I'm sure it's not the greatest thing in the world, it's not any more traumatic than a bath and it's safe veggie dye so... 50/50

Baby ducks and chickens in the US and other places however are a completely different process,.. Many are often harmed (even though the dye is safe and all external) because they're difficult to color they have to be "mixed" in with the dye, and get physically hurt in the process. Essentially they put them in a big bowl 10 deep, pour in the dye and toss them like a salad,.. it's horrible. In the middle east they violently throw a few crates of chicks into a giant tub and ram their hands in and stir them up... if you put in 50 chicks and one or two are maimed/killed,.. that's fine, slowing down costs you more money than a few lost chicks.... totally makes me sick.