Pet snakes ‘suffer a life of deprivation’ in SLO company’s enclosures, PETA lawsuit claims
The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — PETA — filed a lawsuit against a San Luis Obispo-based company that sells products for pet reptiles, claiming the business encourages consumers to buy enclosures that could be harmful to snakes.
The national nonprofit organization, known for its aggressive activism, filed the lawsuit Sept. 24 in Superior Court in Washington, D.C., against Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc., which has an office on Sacramento Drive and is described as a major global supplier of reptile products to retailers such as PetSmart, Amazon, and Walmart.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges the company represents to consumers that snakes only require enclosures that are “no shorter than half the length of the snake” and that all of its enclosures, which PETA says are “small and inadequately enriched,” are not only appropriate but also ideal for pet snakes.
Snakes in enclosures that are too small can die from maladaptation, stress, malnutrition, emaciation, infection, and other disease, PETA says.
“These snakes deteriorate and can die, following weeks or months of pain and other suffering, because Zoo Med lies to consumers,” PETA says.
The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that the business violated the law as well as a court injunction and a host of monetary damages exceeding $25,000, including an assessment of $1,500 per violation and attorneys fees.
A request for comment from Zoo Med Labs was not returned as of Friday.
Tanks have ‘deadly consequences’ for snakes, lawsuit says
PETA alleges that Zoo Med Laboratories continues to violate the District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act by telling consumers that snakes only require enclosures that are “no shorter than half the length of the snake” and that its small and “almost barren” enclosures will allow pet snakes — which the group says can grow as long as 10 feet — to thrive.
But PETA says that, according to reptile experts, snakes need complex, enriched enclosures longer than their bodies, in which they can bask, burrow and explore.
The organization says that, before filing the lawsuit, its agents purchased relevant products to evaluate their appropriateness, and found they were deficient.
In addition to enclosures of sufficient size, PETA says snakes need appropriate lighting, temperature, humidity, ventilation and substrates. It says those requirements “can be impossible to provide in the only 20-inch-long tanks that Zoo Med sells.”
Some of Zoo Med Laboratories’ products don’t come with any equipment to measure humidity levels or timers for controlling the heat lamps — lamps that, if worn out, can give off light without providing the animals with warmth, but inexperienced guardians may not realize that, the complaint says.
Additionally, the company’s tanks have under-tank heaters, and snakes who seek out warmth can be burned by a tank’s hot glass or scalded by urine at the bottom of a tank, it says.
PETA describes snakes as “sentient beings with individual personalities who are highly aware of their environments” that, in the wild, have access to abundant space and lead “complex, lives enriched by a number of natural behaviors.” “These include the pursuit of prey, companionship, courtship, exploration and relaxation,” the organization said.
PETA says pet snakes are the most common among the more than 9 million reptiles kept as companion animals in the U.S.
Among other requests of the court, PETA is seeking an injunction to halt the company’s allegedly deceptive marketing and sales of inadequate snake enclosures; to inform all customers who have purchased Zoo Med Labratories’ snake enclosures that, in fact, these reptiles require enclosures at least as long as their bodies; and to provide corrective advertising that informs the public about the animals’ true needs.
“(Zoo Med Laboratories’) unlawful conduct has deadly consequences,” the lawsuit says. “PETA brings this suit to prevent defendant from continuing to peddle in myths and outdated folklore husbandry that can cause snakes to suffer and die.”
This story was originally published October 4, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to correct the jurisdiction in which the lawsuit was filed.
