Brooklyn Aquarium on 9th Street Closing

This is the store that was selling sick rabbits and rabbits way too young to be away from their mother (under 2 months). These little pet stores often treat animals like crap, but these guys were really bad.

Good riddance.

bought a goodly number of fish there when I had a tank, mostly cichlids and goldfish. The employees were always cool but the two guys who ran the place always were a bit rude I thought, too bad though. Petland is a joke in comparison.

I hate to see old timers close up but not when they are mistreating animals. Perhaps I was one of the "yuppies" the old timers thought was rude when I politely suggested that the rabbits needed shade in the front window. Talk about a rude reply! So I reported them to the ASPCA and was told there were numerous complaints filed against them for birds not being fed, birds and animals in the hot sun without adequate water, dirty cages etc. I can't get my violin out over the closing of that store i am afraid. Good riddance!

Subject: Re: Brooklyn Aquarium

Diane wrote: I have dealt with the two guys you refer to for years and I have to come to their defense. They are both old time park slopers and very genuine - not phoney. You should have heard them talk about the good old days when they enjoyed their customers and the customers appreciated the service and expertise they freely offered. I'm certain one of the reasons they aregetting out of the business is their view, expressed to me, about the"yuppies' and their attitude when they visit the store. Believe me, some of the stories they told me were shocking. Surprisingly, theft, was a problem they were experiencing with the "yuppies", not their earlier day customers.

When my daughters snake refused to eat and I was desperate for an opinion, one of these guys came to my house to try and feed the snake and give me some advise.

Sounds like we know why they are going out of business now. With that type of attitude, no business would survive around here. It's no more appropo to treat all "yuppies" as one big homogenous group than it is to do the same to any other. Good riddance.

Oh please-those guys were NOt bad! Are you kidding me? We have bought all of our freshwater fish from them for the last 18 years and we have fish that have lived for 6, 7, 8 years now. I also bought my son's gerbil from them and she is as healthy as a horse and 2 years old now! Don't talk about things you do not know! And, that front window? The animals had access to the inside and plenty of food and water!

I really like Petco. Its where I adopted my two little kitties. We used to get all our fish there (when we had a fish tank) and they seemed ok to me. What I really like about Petco is they allow shelters to hold adoption days instead of selling the cats and dogs.

I'm curious, is the pet store/owner being evicted or is he retiring?

guest101 wrote: Oh please-those guys were NOt bad! Are you kidding me? We have bought all of our freshwater fish from them for the last 18 years and we have fish that have lived for 6, 7, 8 years now. I also bought my son's gerbil from them and she is as healthy as a horse and 2 years old now! Don't talk about things you do not know! And, that front window? The animals had access to the inside and plenty of food and water!

I don't know anything about other animals, but I know rabbits, and they were mistreating their rabbits.

I have no problem with wanting old neighborhood institutions to stick around. Heck, I've no problem with prejudging their new yuppie customers. But these guys were treating animals like crap, and that sucks. So, yeah, good riddance.

guest101 wrote: [quote=steve]For the record, over the years I spent quite a bit of money there, despite the fact I felt like the owner/manager/whatever were rude. Diane's report only underscores my experience. Just because you own a small business, that doesn't entitle you to prejudge people. I hope that a good local business opens in their spot, and not another cell phone store, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over those two jerks.

You always come across so lovely in your posts Steve. I hope I never have the mis-fortune to meet you

OK, OK - lets not get personal here. Settle down everyone. Can't we all just get along?

Subject: Yuppies

I'm sorry if I misled anyone. In one conversation I had with the ower
he was talking about the changing neighborhood and that he had noticed
a real difference in recent years. YUPPIE was MY word. I do not believe
he catagorizes people as a group. He seemed to treat his customers
the way they acted toward him. Yes, occassionally, he did seem a little
gruff/rude but don't we all. He often spoke about his fishing trips,
and how he hired kids that needed a break. etc. He teased me that I
always had a cup of coffee in my hand. And honestly, if they did mistreat the animals then of course that would be horrible but I never noticed any animal looking mistreated. The staff always seemed to be
working, cleaning the fish tanks. Filling up the bins of pet food. etc.

By the way, the owner, I believe decided to sell the building.

Anonymous wrote:
I don't know anything about other animals, but I know rabbits, and they were mistreating their rabbits.

Yes, that is painfully true. A few months before they closed, I saw that a rabbit in the window looked to possibly have head tilt - a condition that can escalate into a really nasty situation if not treated. I came back the next day with a friend to see that the rabbit in question was gone, but there was another very young rabbit that was so mucus-matted, she could barely breathe.

I'd intended to just take pictures of the rotten conditions that day, but this little girl was so ill, and had another little bun with her that couldn't have been more than 3-4 weeks old. I asked the gentlemen in charge if they'd be receiving medical attention, and they LAUGHED at me. I said then I would buy them, to which one of the gents replied, "Why do you want those sick rabbits? I'll get you some good ones instead. Hell, I have a big, crazy male one I can't get rid of. I'll give you that one for free!" I told them I was buying them (at $50 each, mind you) so that they could get some medical attention.

Yes, I know one's not supposed to buy animals from a store, but I could NOT just leave them there, and knew that at least I'd possess evidence I could use against them should I start a complaint.

Brought them right to Animal Kind, where the doctors were absolutely appalled by how young, sick, and filthy these rabbits were, and noted that they'd also had complaints about the store not only administering drugs to sick rabbits people were bringing back in - they were unlicensed to do so, AND the WRONG drugs.

The older rabbit was euthanized at the hospital that night. The younger rabbit lived one day longer. I made it my sworn business to get the store's animal vending license taken away, and I shed not a tear when they closed.

Just because a business is local, doesn't mean that it's got some moral superiority. The sort of disregard they were displaying was shameful.

malphigian wrote: This is the store that was selling sick rabbits and rabbits way too young to be away from their mother (under 2 months). These little pet stores often treat animals like crap, but these guys were really bad.

Good riddance.

Were animals actually being abused by the store workers?