Shut Down Pocket Pets Kiosk in the Town Mall of Westminster, MD

When you go to your local mall, it is not out of the ordinary to find a pet store selling cats, dogs, and other small pets. Though many people know that most pet stores sell animals obtained from mass-breeders (breeding mills) who often neglect and abuse the animals they sell, many people are totally unaware.

Too often are people lied to and manipulated by pet sellers - especially those selling exotic breeds. Moreover, they locate themselves in very convenient locations (such as malls) to grab the attention of shoppers and their children. This is what is happening at the Town Mall in Westminster, MD. This holiday season, while you shop for sweaters and video games, Pocket Pets, a company based out of Cape Coral, FL has set up shop in-front of the interior entrance to Sears inside the Town Mall. They are peddling their main attraction - exotic, non-native marsupial Sugar Gliders.

Pocket Pets claims to be the "nation's leading resource for Sugar Glider care and information." However, this is anything but the case. Their website, plastered with animated cartoon-like images of sugar gliders with pacifiers in their mouths or swinging from branches with the slogan, "Perfect Pint-Sized Pockets of Fun" is cleary a marketing ploy to make people think these fragile, non-native creatures are just like any other pet, and perfect for kids. Their Kiosks are equipped with two-to-three sales men proclaiming to the crowd the many "advantages" of owning a Sugar Glider. These claims include saying their feces and urine are odorless, they can be trained like dogs (including being trained NOT to be nocturnal) and how wonderfully attached they become to their human owner(s). While witnessing their sales pitch to the many intrigued passers by, the Pocket Pet reps constantly refer to well known companies such as The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet - claiming these media giants have stated sugar gliders to be the best household pets out there. This is another keen marketing ploy, as they know people will simply hear them refer to these trusted media giants and assume Pocket Pets is being endorsed by them. However, if Pocket Pets were in fact endorsed or supported by these companies it would most definitely be posted to their website, but they don't, so it is not.

The truth is, Sugar Gliders have very specific needs and though some house holds may in fact be able and willing to care for a Sugar Glider appropriately, many people who buy these animals under false pretenses find that a Sugar Glider requires too much time and attention to live a happy, healthy life. According to Best Friends Animal Society, Sugar Gliders are also prone to certain diseases when living in captivity, such as:

• Rear Leg Paralysis, Cataracts, Urinary Tract Disease, Skin conditions, Digestive Disorders and more.

Unfortunately, so many of these defenseless animals then end up being neglected, abused, tortured, or (in the lucky cases) are abandoned at animal shelters or rescues.

By signing this petition, You Pledge NOT TO SHOP AT THE TOWN MALL OF WESTMINSTER UNTIL THE POCKET PETS KIOSK IS PERMANENTLY REMOVED AND THE TOWN MALL AGREES TO NOT ALLOW POCKET PETS OR ANY OTHER EXOTIC PET COMPANY TO SELL ANIMALS ON THE PREMISES IN THE FUTURE.

For more unbiased information on proper sugar glider care and what to consider before rescuing a Sugar Glider, please refer to this PDF file provided by Best Friends Animal Society (as seen on the National Geographic show Dog Town).

Please sign this petition, to be delivered to the General Manager of Town Mall, Robyn Clark, in Westminster, MD to shut down the Pocket Pets Kiosk for good.
Show your support for these helpless animals who have no voice -  please, lend them yours!