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Posted by cwatbay on September 18, 2000 at 10:54:38:

In Reply to: Hi, Wanting to volunteer at a reptile rescue. posted by Christy on September 18, 2000 at 10:04:28:

I also live in the Bay Area. I have contacted: The Santa Clara Valley Humane Society, The Santa Cruz County Humane Society (SPCA ) and the Monterey County Human Society (SPCA ). However, I have not had any luck. I have talked with the directors and staff, but so far, no one has ever called me back or taken me up on any offers of help.

It seems that some of these agencies have certain people that are involved with reptiles and that is it, period. Meaning that they have one person who they contact if a reptile comes in, if that person takes it, then fine, if not, then the animal is euthanized.

I believe that what has happened in the past or perhaps happens currently, is that (1) these are government agencies that have set rules and regulations regarding animals and who takes care of them and who they can assign animals too - if you fit the profile -ok, if not, your not; (2)I am assuming that they get a lot of calls from let's say naive and eccentric types - who may think that they are qualified to take of animals, but really aren't ( kinda like the person that has 500 cats in their house or like a person that we had on the forum some time ago that claimed to have 20 or 30 igs and other reptiles - but was homeless ); (3) Bad experiences - certain policies may have been written restricting who the agency deals with because in the past there were problems ( and bad publicity ) with allowing people to pick-up animals that turned out to be bad for the animals and bad news for the agency.

Whatever the case, getting into the SPCA, Humane Society and other animal protection agencies is not easy and extremely fustrating.

There is another group in the Bay Area ( Palo Alto ) called BAARS - Bay Area Amphibian and Reptile Society. They have a web site by the same name. They seem like good hearted people, although I found the members at meetings to be pretty eccentric ( like the 500 cat person ).

This is what I would do:
1. Contact vets and reptile vets in the area and tell them what you are doing and if they know any reptile rescue groups that you can contact.
2. Contact BAARS and ask anyone you can get a hold of if they know any reptile rescue groups
3. There is a Northern California Herpetological Society ( web page of the same name ) based in Davis, CA that may also know of reptile rescue groups.
4. Do a web search. I have done this myself, but have found that the reptile rescue groups listed either don't exist anymore or don't leave enough contact information to get a hold of them. They also tend to be individuals rather than groups.
5. You can contact me via email and let me know where you are and I can see if I can steer you in the right direction.

Good luck

Cliff

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: I also live in the Bay Area. I have contacted: The Santa Clara Valley Humane Society, The Santa Cruz County Humane Society (SPCA ) and the Monterey County Human Society (SPCA ). However, I have not had any luck. I have talked with the directors and staff, but so far, no one has ever called me back or taken me up on any offers of help. : It seems that some of these agencies have certain people that are involved with reptiles and that is it, period. Meaning that they have one person who they contact if a reptile comes in, if that person takes it, then fine, if not, then the animal is euthanized. : I believe that what has happened in the past or perhaps happens currently, is that (1) these are government agencies that have set rules and regulations regarding animals and who takes care of them and who they can assign animals too - if you fit the profile -ok, if not, your not; (2)I am assuming that they get a lot of calls from let's say naive and eccentric types - who may think that they are qualified to take of animals, but really aren't ( kinda like the person that has 500 cats in their house or like a person that we had on the forum some time ago that claimed to have 20 or 30 igs and other reptiles - but was homeless ); (3) Bad experiences - certain policies may have been written restricting who the agency deals with because in the past there were problems ( and bad publicity ) with allowing people to pick-up animals that turned out to be bad for the animals and bad news for the agency. : Whatever the case, getting into the SPCA, Humane Society and other animal protection agencies is not easy and extremely fustrating. : There is another group in the Bay Area ( Palo Alto ) called BAARS - Bay Area Amphibian and Reptile Society. They have a web site by the same name. They seem like good hearted people, although I found the members at meetings to be pretty eccentric ( like the 500 cat person ). : This is what I would do: : 1. Contact vets and reptile vets in the area and tell them what you are doing and if they know any reptile rescue groups that you can contact. : 2. Contact BAARS and ask anyone you can get a hold of if they know any reptile rescue groups : 3. There is a Northern California Herpetological Society ( web page of the same name ) based in Davis, CA that may also know of reptile rescue groups. : 4. Do a web search. I have done this myself, but have found that the reptile rescue groups listed either don't exist anymore or don't leave enough contact information to get a hold of them. They also tend to be individuals rather than groups. : 5. You can contact me via email and let me know where you are and I can see if I can steer you in the right direction. : Good luck : Cliff

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