[Applause]
do you trust me trust me to give you
information beneficial facts that I
personally think will help you your life
or maybe even the world probably do
whether it's because you know me because
the big red sign behind me because that
sign means that I've come here with
research quadruple-checked facts that I
personally and wholeheartedly believe to
be true so you have no reason not to
trust me
but yet I don't want you to I want you
to question everything about to tell you
because it is that trust that has led a
lot of you pet owners out there to have
been exploited at some time in your life
so that's just a fact of society the
fact is that societies run on money and
these businesses who want your money I
finally not had a better market every
single day it'll make that kid over
there beg his mom at the check out for
something you don't really need
it'll increase your dangerous impulse
buys
see it's time everyone in this room
becomes a smarter consumer because if
you don't it will be at the cost of your
precious pets well-being see all pet
stores have secrets they don't want you
to know about and I am sick and tired of
seeing animals in pain because an
innocent Peck her owner was sold
something that wasn't as safe as they
thought or told something that wasn't as
true as they believed to explain what
I'm talking about let's take a trip
together see whether you own a pet or
not you've most likely been in a pet
store once in your life so let's walk
through those automatic doors get hit by
the earthy smell of fish tanks and dog
food and turn to the left here we see
the small animal section where you might
see a mess of colorful tubes and fun
cages I see three times two small cages
that leads to aggression and anxiety the
shapes of princess castles doll houses
race cars and rockets
it's to sell these animals as toys for
kids to see toys can be given as a
present even if the kid doesn't really
know what he's doing toys aren't a
responsibility and toys can be impulse
bought without much guilt and see more
impulse buys means more money next we
see the wheels we see barred and mesh
ones the cheapest ones but also the ones
that cause broken legs an infected feet
next to it you see the bedding the
cheapest ones again the pine and the
cedar the biggest bang for your buck but
also the ones that cause respiratory
infections and almost every animal
they're marketed for not the end we see
big boxes with fluffy adorable happy
bunnies and them outside and hutches but
see what that marketing disregards is
the fact that rabbits are extremely
sensitive to temperature both outside or
both hot and cold and it also disregards
the fact that rabbits can literally die
a fear at the mere sense of a predator
did I mention they can sense a predator
from two miles away the next style you
see desert reptiles such as leopard
geckos and bearded dragons housed in
tropical environments in correct
humidity in correct temperature that a
new reptile owner would know no more
than to copy as well as calcium sand a
popular betting choice but also one that
causes impaction and that I dusted
system and can usually cause death in
the next style
you see bird cages too small and
incorrect diets a commonality we see all
over the store including the dog and cat
Isle see a lot of the big brands that
you may even use for your dog or cat
have ingredients in them that would
shock you such as BHA a common
preservative found in animal feed as
well as rubber and
petroleum products known to cause tumors
and the national toxicology program says
it's a cancerous additive another
ingredient animal by-products a cheap
and honestly economically good way to
give your animal a boost of protein but
it's not quite well regulated see your
dog may be eating well processed
well refrigerated leftovers from a
slaughterhouse while your dog might be
eating hoofs feathers and other
unmentionable body parts from zoos as
well as diseased euthanized animals from
animal shelters let that sink in for a
second a lot of you are probably
surprised I mean I was surprised when I
first found out about these
misconceptions see I saw that princess
hamster castle and I went to my parents
and I had begged them for a hamster they
said no Bleich any other little kid I
took that as a try again later
so again and again and again I tried
they just said I wasn't responsible
enough and as an eight-year-old fair
statement but little ll took that as a
challenge see I picked up my little
Kindle Fire and I started to research
everything I possibly could on hamsters
soon after I found a YouTube channel a
girl no older than 13 explaining some of
the things I'm explaining to you today
that moment I was hooked every day I
would go home and I wouldn't play with
Barbies I would watch videos and you
know wasn't a troll I didn't quite
understand profit over quality I just
knew it was wrong and as I grew up sorry
to volunteer at rescue events adopted
for more for her babies I it just
disgusted me to see these lies that we
are told and right about now I think
you're probably saying why trust me I'm
a 15 year old at the degree
nothing not even a high school diploma
so don't just take my word for it
especially cuz I told you not to in the
beginning listen to the words of the 41
different animal Weber's I contacted
from all over the country before I came
to talk to you
I contacted longtime animal owners two
veterinarians shelter owners and workers
as well as even pet store employees and
small business pet store owners and the
second I asked them about mis-education
and animal consumerism what did they
have some words to say to me even some
pet small business pet store owners
couldn't help but jump on board they
told stories of having to literally
re-educate people after the came of the
wrong information they told stories of
having to take in surrendered pets after
that Mis educated person realized how
much work and how much money actually
went into that animal and I heard
stories horrible stories such as one
from a longtime reptile owner as well as
previous pet store employee he told me
of his first experience with bearded
dragons so he went to the store and he
was told to buy tube you drag ins
because they're social animals but if
any of you own a bearded dragon or know
anything about reptiles you would know
that these are extremely solitary
creatures and they can fight to the
death so for months and months they
fought until eventually they died but
not from the fighting they died because
of a fungal infection they had both
gotten but where did they get this
fungal infection from I'm assuming most
of you have heard of puppy mills or cat
mills disgusting inhumane breeding
factories the pet stores get their dogs
and cats from they recently got a lot of
media attention which is why most pet
stores which is Petsmart and Petco don't
sell dogs or cats anymore but what
people don't understand is that every
other single animal in the pet store
comes from a mill
reptile mills small mills fish mills
each dust as disgusting as the last
animals in cramped quarters not well-fed
dead cramped together with the living
it's awful as eye contact more and more
people I understandably heard different
opinions I heard different opinions on
whether pet stores do correct or they do
correctly target audiences or whether
small mom-and-pop pet stores are really
that different from the big-box ones but
one thing every single person I talked
to agreed on was research see throughout
this talk I've mentioned a few items to
avoid but if I was to stand here and
tell you every single dangerous item in
a pet store every single lie a pet store
employees ever told or sketchy
manufacturing company I would be here
for hours and let alone I don't even
know them all so that isn't what this
talk is about this talk is about
learning that there is a problem and
figuring out how to fix it so how do we
tell truth from false fact from fiction
everyone's gonna have a different method
and that's okay but for those of you who
maybe don't know where to start here's
mine I personally asked myself three
questions I asked myself Who am I
getting this information from why are
why are they telling me this information
how many people are telling me this
information let's do an example I
mentioned earlier the example that
rabbits should live in outside Hudgens
or in small cramped cages we hear this
from pet stores pet store manufacturers
and rabbit meat farmers why do we hear
this from them well as stores and pet
store manufacturers their goal is to
widen their consumer pool and see a lot
of people wouldn't be willing to section
off a four foot by two foot carpeted
part of their house to a rabbit but a
lot more people will be willing to put
it on
kids desk or outside where they can't
smell it see rabbit meat farmers no
benefit from selling selling you a cage
where why rabbit what they do benefit
from is the reassurance the reassurance
of people that their rabbits are living
happy healthy lives we do also hear this
from a lot of people just why it's
always important to look at the other
side the veterinarians the long-term pet
owners the shelter owners see they don't
economically profit off of this
information I'd argue that veterinarians
probably profit off of your animals not
well-being well they tell you this
because this world is filled with animal
lovers people who just morally want to
make sure you are okay so these
veterinarians this other group of people
the opposite side tell us that we need a
back up our knowledge with research with
backs so they tell us it's time to
accept that although most pet stores are
filled people who I'm sure would want
nothing more than to make sure you and
your pet are happy and they are given
outdated or false information there is
nothing stopping them from passing it on
to you see animals are amazing adorable
living breathing creatures who deserve
the correct care and heck we
domesticated them whether for work or
for companionship I think we owe them
more than a quick glance at a wikiHow
page or clip a quick flip through one of
those cheap pest or manuals I think we
owe them to buy more than just the
starter pack filled with usually the
worst and cheapest supplies as well are
usually missing a few key items see I
could just take care of my own pets do
my own research
but that's just not who I am I can't sit
here on the sidelines and witness
confused frustrated pet owners and pets
and pain I can't I just can't stand here
and witness uneducated pet owners by
impulse by innocent animals see all of
us whether you have personally been
affected by this not correct system or
not all of us as compassionate and
assertive people need to stand up and
shout make it clear that for years now
we have had the world at our fingertips
there are millions of pet care videos on
YouTube thousands of Facebook groups for
specific animals and hundreds of rescues
just begging you to read their care
sheets it's twenty twenty people and it
is no longer acceptable to not do your
own research so don't trust me don't
blindly trust anyone be scared be
shocked and go home look at where your
pet lives what it eats what it plays
with and google it is it really as safe
as you thought and if it is I am so
happy I am so proud and if it's not
that's okay it's never too late to make
a change so he was only in the past few
months when I realized my dog and cat
food wasn't as safe as I thought so I
changed it the helped my veterinary and
of course I understand how much it hurts
to be wrong especially when it comes to
someone or something you care about but
see I'm so proud of you for willingly
looking into your previous knowledge
backing it up with facts and research so
do your own research and witness the
health and happiness it brings both you
and your pet thank you so much
[Applause]