Urge Purple Ape to Ditch Hermit Crab Sales

Upon hearing that Purple Ape—a store that specializes in tourist sundries, apparel, and personal-watercraft rentals in Westerly, Rhode Island—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 these animals, impulse shoppers buy countless hermit crabs 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 wild 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, PETA’s investigations of major suppliers have exposed a horrific industry that profits whenever hermit crabs are purchased.

Please join PETA in urging Purple Ape to do the right thing and stop selling live animals at its store—then, share this alert with everyone you know!

Please send polite comments to:

Thomas Jasulavic, Owner
401-596-6169
[email protected]

Please feel free to use our sample letter, but remember that using your own words is always more effective.