I have a question about hoarding.  As I have said in previous postings I
work at a PetCo in Richfield, MN (no flames).  There is a young man about
10 or 11 who comes in with a lady friend (sister or aunt or something
similar) or his mother and purchases a pet each time he visits.  I have
spoken to his mother on one occasion who has told me that he has autism
(sp?) and has obsession problems.  Apparently when he sees something he
wants he becomes extremely attached and obsessed with it.  His mother and
this lady friend will purchase these animals for him and say he has at
least a hundred dollar a day spending habit.  When I spoke to him mother,
she told me that they have a dog, 3 cats, countless reptiles and to
recently purchased birds (one a cockatiel and one green cheeked conure).
I am extremely worried about this.  I am certain that this young man is
not educated in the care of birds, and fear that he may come back and
purchase another one.  At Petco, we have problems with people coming in
and purchasing birds who we know already have TONS of them.  We will not
sell birds to them.  However, this young man only has two (which is not
an unreasonable amount of birds).  I just don't want things to get out of
hand.  Also, I have spoken with one manager who said since we have no
formal rules on selling animals to uneducated individuals and he is not
yet hoarding, we can do nothing.  The young man seems very bright and has
educated himself well on the care of reptile of all sorts, so he may be
learning a lot about his birds as we speak.  However, my main concern is
his uncontrollable disability and how that will affect him as a good pet
owner.  I intend to take it a step futher today when I see the DM today
at a training meeting.  Hopefully he will have some insight to this
situation.  I will keep updates on this and hopefully things will work
out.
 
Nicole, Silly Girl and Daisy Dooks
[Posted in FML issue 3866]