CORPUS CHRISTI — Local veterinarians have been checking over the animals seized from a pet shop at the Corpus Christi Trade Center last Friday.
Nearly 350 parakeets, ten rabbits, a number of lizards and a hedgehog were all seized from that pet shop called Pets and More Plus.
The animals were found living in deplorable conditions, with empty food and water bowls, and in crowded cages.
Mike Gillis, the director at Animal Care Services says, "In one cage alone, there were 44 parakeets... So they were literally on top of one another so that's certainly an unhealthy situation."
Over the next few days, all the animals will be documented and treated. When all that information is gathered, it will be presented to a judge, who will decide what's next for these animals and their owner.
But sheltering and caring for these exotic animals is a huge job for Animal Care Services, so they weren't able to do it alone.
The parakeets and lizards are at a local rescue clinic that volunteered to help. The other animals remain at Animal Care Services. One-by-one, these animals are going through basic health checks.
"So our goal right now for the next few days is just to continue to monitor them and to continue to feed them and keep them comfortable and happy," said Gillis.
After all the parakeets are done with their check-ups at the volunteer animal rescue, they will be sent back to Animal Care Services. Gillis says the volunteer animal rescue doesn't have the staff to keep the couple-hundred parakeets.
"We're not prepared to do that either, but we're becoming prepared, by buying bird cages," said Gillis.
Gillis also says all animals are doing a lot better than the day they were seized. He did mention one hamster died at the pet shop.
Meanwhile, the results of the investigation must be presented to a judge within ten days of when the raid happened, which is next Monday.
The judge will decide if the owner of the pet shop will face animal cruelty charges. If no charges are filed, the owner may be able to get the animals back in his possession.
