Urge South Carolina Beach Store to Ditch Hermit Crab Sales!

Upon hearing that Bargain Beachwear—a company with 11 stores that specializes in tourist sundries and apparel in South Carolina—sells hermit crabs during the tourist season (April to October), PETA asked the owners to adopt a policy that prohibits the sale and display of live animals. But our concerns appear to have been casually dismissed. Your help is needed now!

Lacking the knowledge, resources, or desire to meet the extraordinarily specialized husbandry needs of hermit crabs, impulse shoppers buy countless ones as “pets” annually. In nature, these complex animals shun human contact, travel in colonies that number up to 100, and can live for up to 40 years. But in captivity, they typically die between the ages of 1 and 4. Taken from their homes (because they don’t breed in captivity), peddled as cheap trinkets, confined to small “habitats,” roughly handled, fed improper diets, and forgotten when the novelty wears off, these animals are doomed from the moment they’re captured. Furthermore, a PETA investigation into a major supplier exposed a horrific industry that profits whenever hermit crabs are purchased.

Please urge Bargain Beachwear to do the right thing by not selling live animals at their stores—then, share this alert with everyone you know!